Starlock Locking Washers or Push nuts?

I was installing some new lighting on my 2017 F3 front fenders to replace the existing reflectors.

The instructions were vague except to remove the reflectors...
So after removing the fender mounting bolts, I turned over the long plastic strip that houses the wiring and reflectors only to find these Starlock Locking Washers or Push nuts that are attached to the plastic stud or stems in the back of the reflectors.

I do not want to break the plastic studs, but obvously I need to remove the Starlock Locking Washers or Push nuts somehow.

Anyone know what tool can get these off?
It seems like I might be able to use snap ring pliers or tile snips to try to wedge it off the stud, but it might break or get sliced off.
Or perhaps a Dremmel to cut it in half - but that means a lot of tedious work not cutting the studs and buying new nuts.

Suggestions?

We use an ice pick and a diagonal side cutter. Use the pick to pry up an edge, then cut with the diagonal side cutters. Takes 5 seconds. Push nuts, or speednuts, are one time use fasteners. Replace as required.

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Originally Posted by cptjam

We use an ice pick and a diagonal side cutter. Use the pick to pry up an edge, then cut with the diagonal side cutters. Takes 5 seconds. Push nuts, or speednuts, are one time use fasteners. Replace as required.

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Hey thanks Joe!
How is the new bike doing?

Great! Thanks for asking. Bought February 19, have 15,000 miles on it! Out In Deadwood SD right now. Fun rally. Humid, but such beautiful country!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by bn2wild

I was installing some new lighting on my 2017 F3 front fenders to replace the existing reflectors.

The instructions were vague except to remove the reflectors...
So after removing the fender mounting bolts, I turned over the long plastic strip that houses the wiring and reflectors only to find these Starlock Locking Washers or Push nuts that are attached to the plastic stud or stems in the back of the reflectors.

I do not want to break the plastic studs, but obvously I need to remove the Starlock Locking Washers or Push nuts somehow.

Anyone know what tool can get these off?
It seems like I might be able to use snap ring pliers or tile snips to try to wedge it off the stud, but it might break or get sliced off.
Or perhaps a Dremmel to cut it in half - but that means a lot of tedious work not cutting the studs and buying new nuts.

Suggestions?

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Thanks for the ideas and PM's!

So I tried a lot of tool suggestions.

The cheap snap ring tool from Harbor Freight was very helpful. In normal position, it has a spring that pushes the two pins back together, so squeezing the handle would spread them apart wider than the washer, allowing them to clamp on the washer blades when you release the handle. Meaning they would compress on the washer into the openings at the blade edges. Then turning counterclockwise, the washer could be coerced to unscrew. Sometimes having to use a sharp ice pick to pry slightly from the underside upwards.

But if the star washer was sitting in a cavity (like the first picture) it was too difficult to do it this way. Which led me to my second solution out of wasting too much time... just using the ice pick! prying upwards didn't hurt the plastic pin at all. It took a few positions to get there, but all of these, I just pried up back and forth without destroying anything!

That is my tip for the day! Just pry them off carefully and your done!!