How To Safety Wire Your Bike

Sometimes wires are really not practical, e.g. to secure the rear wheel nut's safety springs (funny, now we talk about redundancy ).
I use zip ties to prevent this parts from getting lost...

(BTW: ask brad51 for pimping those springs to bling level: as far as I can remember he did some nickel galvanisation method to make them look great!)

Now a "completely" different topic (greetings from Monty Python ): securing the handle bar grips with safety wire. All I tried looks like ..... Please chime in and show us how it's done properly!

Gecko said:

Now a "completely" different topic (greetings from Monty Python ): securing the handle bar grips with safety wire. All I tried looks like ..... Please chime in and show us how it's done properly!

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silicone. lots of silicone.


the smoother you apply it, the better it is also for aerodynamics. i think they also make carbon fiber silicone.



for real - the only way i can think of is using shims and longer bolts. (like with the pinch bolts on the front axle)

Gecko said:

Now a "completely" different topic (greetings from Monty Python ): securing the handle bar grips with safety wire. All I tried looks like ..... Please chime in and show us how it's done properly!

Click to expand...

All of Moto-D stuff looks like good quality. They have an outstanding warranty on their tire warmers, best in the market! I think I'll order one too.
As for your bitchy neighbors.... I would start your bike outside of the garage with some type of object to deflect sound away from the complainers, maybe a vehicle or bushes. Just an idea

Gecko said:

If you are new to this topic, I'd like to suggest you two spots to start with. Oil drain plug and oil filter housing is often checked before getting permission to ride on European race tracks. Easy to be done and lots of fun.

You can drill the filter housing bolts yourself, if it doesn't look great, don't you worry. Nobody will ever see it except the track marshall, and he doesn't care

KraiiTech oil drain plug adaptor is a bit of a luxury, you can also drill two little holes into the plastic near the plug and safety wire it there. The OEM drain plug is aluminium, and not anodized. Very easy to drill holes into it, no special tools needed.

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Can I just pay you to do all this to my bike?

Here I used safety wire for flexible installation of the ceramic exhaust heat shield. I took three steel bolts, drilled a hole in their head and placed steel springs between head and heat shield. Never lost any bolt, and the brittle ceramic doesn't get destroyed anymore.

Gecko said:

Now a "completely" different topic (greetings from Monty Python ): securing the handle bar grips with safety wire. All I tried looks like ..... Please chime in and show us how it's done properly!

Click to expand...

determine where you want the wire ends to be - best not finger or palm contact areas.

then start there with the wire and wrap around twice - that you have 2 layers of wire when they meet again where you started, keep a good pull on them while you wrap them, that they cut in the rubber a bit.

then twist the ends a few turns to make it stay in place.

then finish the twist with safety wire pliers, to have about 25 mm twisted at the end, while keeping a good pull on it for the wires to sink in the rubber a bit.


edit: guess that's a good vid on it: https://youtu.be/4E5XHfmDPAk

with the twisted end going up perpendicular to the grip, cut it to about 10-12 mm and form a half - bow towards the center of the grip, until the twisted end of the wire touches the grip. i always do that over a small bolt or screwdriver.

with the twisted end touching the grip now, you take a hammer and tap the center of the bow, while making sure the twisted end cuts into the grip rubber and dives underneath it. tap until flush, done.

let me look for a youtube vid on that, but i found that to be the best method.

Gecko said:

Sometimes wires are really not practical, e.g. to secure the rear wheel nut's safety springs (funny, now we talk about redundancy ).
I use zip ties to prevent this parts from getting lost...

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My solution with safety wire

xpercad said:

My solution with safety wire

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Isn't the spring then scratching the rear stand's pin?

I don't understand, the picture is from the rear hub nut (left side)

xpercad said:

I don't understand, the picture is from the rear hub nut (left side)

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If you put your bike onto the rear stand, it's holding pin goes thru the axle hole, which seems to be blocked by the safety spring thightened toghether with safety wire...

I get what you mean, I have the same arrangement on the right side where my stand attaches and there is no problem. The safety spring can move slightly and the rear stand pin slides through, no scratches ... just checked it

I guess making sure that the safety spring pin goes through the axle is what you are looking for, this way the nut stays in place.