Why Use Motorcycle Safety Wire?

Before Harley Davidson started using Loctite on retaining hardware, they used a lot more lock washers, nylock nuts, interference thread nuts, and motorcycle safety wire. Motorcycle safety wire was most commonly used to aid in retaining inner primary bolts on Shovelhead and earlier models.

The heads of these OEM hex bolts were machine drilled with holes for the motorcycle safety wire.
This would assure that, even if a hex head retaining bolt had loosened, it could not back out of its location and wreak havoc within the primary case.

In this video, Mike gives us some pointers on why motorcycle safety wire should still be considered a reliable option when it comes to retaining vital retaining hardware on your Harley Davidson. Mike gives us an example of a performance upgrade gone wrong. Imagine; you purchased a high flow air cleaner assembly. The instructions are straightforward and you own all of the necessary tools, so you decide to tackle the job yourself.

200 miles later, you are stuck on the side of the road while you wait for an expensive tow to your local independent shop or dealership. Even worse; after getting a look at your bike, your mechanic informs you that one of your new air cleaner screws has ended up being sucked through the mouth of the induction module and has found a final resting place in between your rear piston and valves. That small 1/4 X 20 screw has now created a lot of damage and the owner has now incurred a large expense.

If this hardware was properly tightened to its factory torque spec with the appropriate type and amount of Loctite, this could certainly be avoided. This scenario could also be avoided by incorporating motorcycle safety wire to the critical retaining hardware.

Mike demonstrates the installation of motorcycle safety wire on retaining hardware for an older Screamin’ Eagle air cleaner backing plate.

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