Retaining rings and e-clips

[D.Fahringer]

One interesting thing about E-clips and Retaining rings is that they should be oriented on the shaft groove relative to the direction that you are
retaining the gear or collar. Take a close look at the clip or retaining ring and you will find that due to the stamping process that made them, the edge will have a radius on one side and a sharp edge on the other. Orient the clip so the sharp side is on the opposite side of the thing you are retaining on the shaft. Otherwise the groove may not be deep enough on some clips to hold in all cases and it will pop off sideways by spreading open! This happened to me once and I was nearly shot with my own motorcycle front fork parts landing from a jump.