Lock Wire as Art

Vince

Hero member
Been a few posts on Lock wiring; it's way beyond my bailiwick, so let's see your examples on Laverdas. Is there anything that cannot be lockwired? I just remembered, I do hand grips. My 3c came with a front axle nut drilled for lock wire. Has anyone ever lost a front axle nut? What do race regs require to be lock-wired? How the hell do you drill those tiny angled holes in hard-to-get-at spots to use lock wire?
 
Vince,

Jigs are normally used for cross-drilling threads and hex heads. Patience, care and cutting fluid are still vital requirements, unless you have an endless supply of 1.5mm drill bits. ;)

piet
 
View attachment 105346
Not on my Laverda but on my final drive pulley to my BST carbon wheel on the big Harley....... I have to rewire each time I change the tire as the pulley needs to be removed. The hardest part of safety wiring is learning to apply the Band-Aids while your fingers are dripping in blood. ;)

I would have installed the final drive pulley before the lock wiring…… but we’re all different 🤷
 
My attempt on disc carrier fixings, there are some absorbing videos on YouTube relating to the aviation industry
Indeed. I learnt lockwiring from a friend who was in the Air Force. He was very precise, and quick!
And all with no bleeding fingers, although he assured me that he “used to”
 
Indeed. I learnt lockwiring from a friend who was in the Air Force. He was very precise, and quick!
And all with no bleeding fingers, although he assured me that he “used to”

The first time I met my wife’s Scottish cousin, an Air Force fella, I asked what his rank was
“Wing Commander”

🤔 What does a Wing Comander do?

“I command the wings to stay put, especially while I’m in the plane”

We get on like a house on fire 🤣
 
Back in the mid 1980's, I worked in the Wind Turbine industry, 300-400 feet in the air, cranking bolts to over 1000 lbs /foot on massive blades that needed re-torquing every 1000 hours of operation. Job security.
The bolts never failed, and safety wiring was standard, but the blades were still killers. I don't have the picture; I wish I did. We saw a blade break loose at the stem and pin a Ford F250 pickup through the cab to the ground, leaving the F250 in a 'Victory V shape'. Three of us were sitting in the truck, an F250, 20 feet away,
The attached image shows the result of a 'Fly away' caused by strong winds beyond operational parameters, when 'feathering' out of the wind is not possible due to the overwhelming force of the wind. Basically, you are fucked, you are at the mercy of the wind. Millions of dollars in the dirt, don't ask about the fires 400 feet in the air. Safety wiring my arse.
A couple of Forum members perhaps remember a fellow named Eric (SF 750) from the old days. I can remember Eric hanging upside down in a safety harness attached to the crane's basket, which I was in, several hundred feet in the air, controlling Eric's lines. His job was to use his acetylene torch to cut the blades loose without setting them on fire so they could safely fall to the ground. ps. Eric and I were on 'Tourist Visas,' the good old days before life became serious. Eric was successful; we were making $10 an hour, no shit, I loved that job. One day, we were up in the turbine's nacelle, and we saw a bear jump into the back of the pickup and steal our lunches. Jose was asleep in the pickup cab, fucker, Jose not the bear. Safety wiring, ha ha
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Last time I saw Eric he'd started a biznis selling motorcycle parts in Perth! Never knew he was in the States with you. Crazy story ... I see turbines in strong winds and they obviously have rev limiters, cos if they didn't they'd get up to 5000rpm and suffer a rapid spontaneous disassembly!!
 
High winds would shut down construction on the high-rise building I worked on, mind-blowing 68 stories up, for the first 2 weeks, and then you get used to it, and then you stop noticing the view so much. Years later, I started getting PTSD a bit, remembering a couple of issues; it's an odd thing. You physically feel hormone dumps, adrenalin ect, remembering these incidents. 10-tonne concrete precast free-falling onto a Dogman and crushing half his body. I was watching the crane driver's face as he was confused as to why the lift had stopped happening. The crane failed; I found out later; never get under a load. I regularly bolted those precasts into position while the crane held them.
 
Last time I saw Eric he'd started a biznis selling motorcycle parts in Perth! Never knew he was in the States with you. Crazy story ... I see turbines in strong winds and they obviously have rev limiters, cos if they didn't they'd get up to 5000rpm and suffer a rapid spontaneous disassembly!!
Eric is alive and well, living in a suburb of Brisbane. Last I heard, he owned an RGS/maybe a Corsa. He lived with me in Rancho Mirage when we worked on the wind turbines. He and another mate took off to discover America in a 1970s monolithic Buick station wagon; gas was around a buck back then.
 
Here's Eric with his Egli framed 750 at my garage in Fulham London. 1984
Later at one of Slater weekends. He sold that 750 and brought the triple.
Last saw him maybe 4 years ago at the Dumbleyung pub for one of our gatherings.
He hasn't changed, still a piss head.
Piet, that's Andy's 750 you restored for him.
 

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