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Track Day safety wire "how to"...


Moto-Brian

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I wrote this over on STT's site, but thought it might be useful here. Pretty basic and easy to grasp. Shoot any questions if they come up...

Ok, guys and gals... A LOT of people are either new at safety wiring their bikes or simply may not know where to begin. I jotted down some ideas with pictures in an effort to not only make it a little easier, but give you all something to read over in an effort to make our job at tech a little easier. If you all know, you all will do a good job and the whole process will be easy and quick.

If i missed anything, just chime in and let me know what I can do to make it better. I intend on creating a checklist of things to go over on your bike before a track day, too...

I'm having trouble making the pictures show when I post the info. I did this in Word and I should have done it in Reader or something... Anyways, hopefully this is easy to read:

Track Day Checklist – Things to go over before the event:

1)Oil Drain Bolt: Is the oil drain bolt tightened to spec? Check your owner’s manual for proper torque.

For “I” and “A” riders, this is a bolt that needs to be safety wired or use of silicone required.

Figure A shows how I wire my drain bolt. A suggestion for track day riders who ride street and want to be able to sell their bikes w/o drilled holes – buy a spare drain bolt and drill it. That way, when you go to sell, you can pop in the non-drilled bolt and be done…

Note: On safety wiring any bolt or nut, you need to make sure that you are pulling TIGHT on the bolt. In other words, the wire should be pulling the bolt in a direction of it being tightened. Righty, Tighty as they say… I try and pull from the bottom or side…

Figure A:

darinbolt.jpg

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Now, how to secure the safety wire is up to the rider. I drill small holes in tabs found on the motor. For example, in Figure B, I drilled into the tab off the oil pan. Easy and clean. However, you could also go to a fairing bracket as a good choice to avoid drilling holes in your street bike. DO NOT go to the exhaust or to the tabs of the exhaust. Wrapping around the exhaust is not a great idea although the spring tabs look inviting. The exhaust vibrates a lot and wrapping around the pipes themselves will heat the wire and cause it to become slightly brittle…

Figure B:

darinboltwire.jpg

filter.jpg

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Again, I tie off into a tab off the motor as you can see above. It’s fairly close and is a great point for me to tie into. My bike is 100% track only and therefore, no concern over holes…

However, you can easily tie into a fairing bracket or similar as seen in Figure D. Figure D is a fairing bracket I have, but I do not tie into. It’s just an idea… DO NOT tie around the header pipes. I also would avoid the spring tabs on race exhausts as referred to under the drain bolt section. I just think it isn’t a good idea since the exhaust moves and vibrates…

Figure D:

filtertiepointidea.jpg

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3)Oil fill cap: The oil fill cap should be wired, but isn’t required. I think it and the coolant cap should be as they can often be forgotten about after filling or checking… In any case, for those interested, here’s an idea I use on my bike.

In Figure E, I use a diaper style clip pin safety wired into a tab off the case cover. That way, I can remove the clip and fill oil. I use the same style clip on the coolant fill cap. What this does is still pull on the cap as if it were tightening it, but allows me to remove it instead of cutting wire and redoing it every time. It is basically a convenience deal…

Figure E:

fillercap.jpg

siliconeexample.jpg

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Well, hope that helps a bit. If you have any questions, you can always ask an instructor. That’s what we are here for. Taking the time to do a little work will pay off in not only peace of mind, but will allow you to enjoy a LONG track day and allow you to have more fun. The result of not taking a little time and effort can be a lot of time waiting for the track to be cleaned up or you having to put your machine back together… I’ll take fun any day!!!

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  • 1 month later...

thanks for the write up. I have not done this yet but i'm starting to get the idea. I have seen a oil filter cover like mine wired with all three nuts tied into each other but I can't remember how it was done exactly. any ideas?

http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk112/joshc_469/FILE0018.jpg

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  • 4 months later...

yes im a trackday whore,,,when i can a afford it and get off work,,,only been to mid ohio,,,,been going there for about 3 years,,,,i like it there,,,have not been since the change though,,,,hope to see some of the stt instructors there,,,,they are great group of people,,,brought me a long way,,,,still have a long way to go though

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