Drilling front axle but for safety wire

Isn't there some redundancy? I mean, not just the nut has to come loose. You still have to loose the bottom bolts torque before the axle can wobble out.

And even if it does start wobbling out, as soon as the far side is out, the rotor is going to drag on the pads and stop the bike before it's a catastrophic failure. Unless it's one heck of a strong rigid axle. Right?

I'm safety wiring as much as possible. But the front axle and brake banjo bolts might be overkill.

my race org requires safety wire on all axle and brake related bolts.

and i wouldn't wanna miss it.

sometimes a tire change in between sessions / races has to be done in a rush, people forget bolts, the right torque, etc.

if it's safety wired, you at least keep pieces where they belong. and most times, you have them torqued properly, because you know where that hole for the wire should be.


cheers,

Phil

If bolts/nuts (axle nuts, caliper nuts, oil sump bolt etc. etc.) are torqued to spec, they won't come loose.

The primary reason for using lockwire/safetywire is to remind Yourself that You did torqued the nuts/bolts to spec. If You fit lockwire/safetywire right after You have torqued a nut/bolt to spec., You always know by looking at the lockwire/safetywire that it is torqued to spec.

Secondary, if the nut/bolt would come loose, the lockwire/safetywire will prevent it of loosening more than say 1/3 of a turn and You will defenately not loose/drop the nut/bolt while racing.

Safety... Safety... Safety.

Isn't there some redundancy? I mean, not just the nut has to come loose. You still have to loose the bottom bolts torque before the axle can wobble out.

And even if it does start wobbling out, as soon as the far side is out, the rotor is going to drag on the pads and stop the bike before it's a catastrophic failure. Unless it's one heck of a strong rigid axle. Right?

I'm safety wiring as much as possible. But the front axle and brake banjo bolts might be overkill.

Click to expand...

That's fair... unless you are obliged due to racing/ track rules, how you choose to mitigate risk is indeed a personal decision. I acknowledge that I tend to err on the conservative side in this regard.

The track presents different risks than the street. Its a safer place to ride in many ways (IMO), but it also places much higher demands on the machine. The consequences of a machine failure can be much greater too.. because speeds are much higher and one is generally not paying attention to much else than where on the fast line one is supposed to be. It's really easy to miss things that on the street would be more apparent (like a coolant leak or a exhaust shield vibrating loose)...things that could easily ruin one's day.

My rationale is pretty simple ... If I can prevent a potential issue (or cascade of issues) by knowing critical bolts/ nuts won't back out, or making them otherwise easily inspect-able, then I do. It's not a guarantee of anything, but it is how I choose to mitigate some of the risks I can see ... the easy ones.

Obviously, there are risks you can't see or readily inspect... these are harder to mitigate. I sold my last track bike because the transmission locked as I was decelerating from ~100mph and setting up for a downhill, off camber left turn. The rear sprocket sheared into many pieces as a result of the torque, and I [luckily] rolled safely to a stop. It could have been much worse for me [and the rider behind me who had to duck to avoid flying toothy metal]. As it was, I had everything professionally repaired and sold the bike with full disclosure and a clear conscience. I mitigated my risk by removing it altogether ... and simultaneously justified buying the Panigale

For track days I may have to lock down:
-oil filter bolts
-oil drain (might just dab Permatex on this, didn't see a whole lot to lock the drain plug onto)
-oil fill
-grips
-r cap (depends on track)
-rear nuts and clips (wow, a Ducati specific rule that depends on track)
-chains master link (depends on track)
-tape wheel weights, lights, remove mirrors, remove turn signals, remove license plate bracket


After investigation tonight, the front axle bolts look easy enough to use on the S models Ohlins Fork. Waiting on my Nutholer tool to arrive. Have the drill press ready to go.

I safety wired the rear axle and drive nuts for the 1st time today. What a pain that was. 3 of them have a little slack, I have two nice tight ones though. Practice makes perfect. I can't help but wonder if 6 large e clips wouldn't do a better job than safety wire on the drive bolts.

I've also been told, as I'm asking around about trackdays:
-the first time I remove the primary gear, to drill it out it's nut and wire the nut to the gear, if the gear has holes.
-safety wire spokes together where they cross (enduro/dual sports etc.)
-header bolts on some bikes
-caliper bolts when it's time to replace pads

No refunds on track days around here. Once it's booked, your $200 is gone. Fail tech, or break down and it's over. First time I've seen my riding buds actually pay attention to fixing up their bikes.

This is very helpful information fellas! give thanks!

I wonder what WERA officials will say to me. I have the fork pinch bolts safety wired, but since I'm using the fast frank quick change kit, the axle is not.

It's not required for CCS/ASRA.


Oil Filter
Oil Drain plug
Oil fill cap

Are the big three as far as the bikes concerned.


Just get in the habit of properly torqueing your bike every time you make changes. and validating after every TD or Race.

Ljuice26 said:

I wonder what WERA officials will say to me. I have the fork pinch bolts safety wired, but since I'm using the fast frank quick change kit, the axle is not.

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you could secure the pointy end with a clip going through, or not?