Drive shaft maintenance

[saddlesore]

  When I do maintenance on the rear end I've replaced the stopper ring but in reading in the manual (Clymer) there is a note "Do not install the stopper ring in the groove in the end of the drive shaft splines. It is used only during manufacturing and does not need to be replaced".
  My interpretation is they mean the pinion gear end of the shaft. That doesn't seem right as omitting the ring the shaft it doesn't "snap" in place.
  Am I on the wrong end of the shaft?
  What end is supposed to do the bulk of the in and out travel?
  It seems that the circlip and spring seat could be left out. 
  Sorry but I can't find any info on this, I'm just confused.    

[Chrisj CMA]

You do not want to omit anything on the U-Joint end of the drive shaft.  Many have left out the circlip at the pinion cup.  I never have, always use it, it makes sense to me for it to be there, but that notation is about the rear end of the driveshaft not the forward end.

[sandy]

At 151K I still have the circlip on the pinion cup end of the shaft. But, you're right about not needing it. I still use it to hold the shaft into the P cup while I'm sliding the shaft/drive unit into the swingarm.

[saddlesore]

  I have 145,000 miles on my bike but I've had trouble a couple of times now.  Once in the pinion cup ,total rust and destruction.  Then on the other end the drive shaft got driven into the u-joint.  I use a 3% moly grease and going to switch to Green grease.  I have a feeling it's the grease that failed.   ( or me)
  The holes were plugged in the pinion cup which may have contributed to the failure.

[Gryphon Rider]

#5 is not required because #3 spring pushes the shaft into the pinion cup.  I think #5 might helpful to keep the shaft in position when assembling the shaft and gearbox to the #7 swing arm, but can't say for sure because I've never tried it without #5.

[hubcapsc]

It is hard sometimes to get the shaft out of the pinion cup because
of the clip, but I always leave the clip in...

-Mike

[KY,Dave (AKA Misunderstood)]

It is hard sometimes to get the shaft out of the pinion cup because
of the clip, but I always leave the clip in...

-Mike

Ditto this ^^^^

[doubletee]

It is hard sometimes to get the shaft out of the pinion cup because
of the clip, but I always leave the clip in...

-Mike

BigBF posted a great video that illustrates how to easily remove the drive shaft by twisting it while pulling it from the pinion cup.
https://www.facebook.com/BigBF5/videos/576331115809274/

[Tfrank59]

  When I do maintenance on the rear end I've replaced the stopper ring but in reading in the manual (Clymer) there is a note "Do not install the stopper ring in the groove in the end of the drive shaft splines. It is used only during manufacturing and does not need to be replaced".
  My interpretation is they mean the pinion gear end of the shaft. That doesn't seem right as omitting the ring the shaft it doesn't "snap" in place.
  Am I on the wrong end of the shaft?
  What end is supposed to do the bulk of the in and out travel?
  It seems that the circlip and spring seat could be left out. 
  Sorry but I can't find any info on this, I'm just confused.    

I also have a clymer manual – what they're saying is don't replace it, it doesn't need to be replaced.  They're not saying to remove it, they're actually saying the opposite --leave it alone