So ive heard that there is a possibility of damaging your swing arm if you take a spill with rear spools that thread into the swing arm. What is the consensus with riding with spools or not riding with spools?. It is kinda a pita to remove them and re install them every I need to put the bike on a stand, but if it would mean saving the swing arm it is well worth it. What you guys think?
Only damage is that when the bolt breaks off you're stuck drilling the bolt out. I believe newer models use a bigger bolt so they aren't as prone to breaking off.
Installing an axle slider is prob the cheapest option to save the spools. Or you can switch to a gp stand style setup.
No the damage isn't the bolt breaking off. It's the the swingarm itself cracking. The swingarm is hollow and a good hit to the spool will crack a chunk out of the side of it. Using axle sliders as well typically keeps the spools from touching.
I low-sided on the track recently. Had the spools in, and it appears it actually save the swing arm from any damage. The spool was slightly bent, but came out without any issues - it would depend on the impact, so each situation is different.
It really depends on the crash that you have as to whether or not your swing-arm will be damaged as a result. My swing-arm spool mounting tab was bent when the bike was wrecked in 2012, but that was because the bike flipped and slammed into the ground then slid for a while before coming to a stop against a curb. I replaced the swing-arm and I still use spool sliders (they are always on the bike, I don't remove and reinstall them).
It doesn't matter what they were designed for. That doesn't make the swingarm stronger which is the issue. Just fit axle sliders as well as the spools and and the chances of having a major issue go down a lot.
The rod that goes through the axle sheared and the rod popped out as I was negotiating a hairpin on track and almost lifted the front wheel off the track!
They had been on and off quite a few times with wheel changes so perhaps I overdid it tightening them up or there was a fault. Either way I have stopped using them.
Use aluminum bolts for your spools. They are plenty strong to hold the bike on the stands, but will shear off before damaging the swing arm. And when they do, they are easy to drill out.
I think anything attached to a hard part of the bike has the potential of damaging what it's attached to depending on how the incident unfolds. Like frame sliders damaging the frame.
Was that the 2012 or 2013 model? Obviously they changed the swingarm and I'm not sure how strong the new one is.
Another question for everyone who has broke the swingarm what year of bike was it. I'm wondering if the models with the m6 size bolt for the spools are the only ones breaking.
Cool. Good to know. Our race bike at our old shop was an '06. Had a hole about 3" across. It obviously had the M6 size bolt. Curious to see what others had.
It would need to be a pretty specific crash and impact to the spool to do the kind of damage in the other thread you linked.
It's obviously not impossible but there's also plenty of stories of people's spools limiting or even preventing damage to their swingarm. It's not what they are for in any way but obviously there will be situations where your spool gets ground down and helps and others where it could cause additional damage to the swingarm.
It would need to be a pretty specific crash and impact to the spool to do the kind of damage in the other thread you linked.
It's obviously not impossible but there's also plenty of stories of people's spools limiting or even preventing damage to their swingarm. It's not what they are for in any way but obviously there will be situations where your spool gets ground down and helps and others where it could cause additional damage to the swingarm.
You get the same debate with actual crash protectors, crash bobbins, crash mushrooms, call them what you will. Some people think they cause more damage by digging in and making the bike flip (so a handle bar won't do the same?) others think they are a great idea.
They have saved my bike a few times in my racing days and when I spoke to a scrutineer once at a race meeting, he said since the introduction of crash bobbins the damage to bikes had gone down considerably. As all the crashed bikes go back to the scrutineers bay for riders to collect I reckon he is in avery good position to make a good informed opinion.
Yea I agree Ruby, I've got full frame/engine protectors on my bike, (not axle armour yet) as well as spools and on all my bikes which have had it fitted it's reduced the cost of repairs in many situations. Of course if my insurance is covering it it's not such a concern, but there's been a few times in the last 10 years where they've saved me a lot of money.
While it's good to have info about the downsides of bike mods, people often don't realise that people are generally most vocal about what goes wrong, rather than what goes right, I would know I definitely am! As a result you can end up with people suddenly doing a few google searches, finding worst case scenarios and just assuming that's the norm or a considerable risk (which it usually isn't).
Plus you have to ask in those worst case scenarios, if the crash protection (or whatever) wasn't there, something else would have had to absorb that damage.
Talking to a scrutineer is definitely the way to go though, they will tend to be unbiased (or less biased), be seeing a huge amount of crashed bikes, and be able to give you a better idea of how often these types of things really happen, and quite probably whether it's certain bikes that are most likely to suffer and maybe even specific products that are more likely to cause these issues than others. A bigger sample with less personal investment for collecting data is always a good thing!
Indeed. Forums a full of bad reports on stuff and I'm as guilty as the next person!
But if many people are saying the same bad thing, then there just might be something in it. The rubbish R/R's on the early model Daytona's and Street Triple's being a case in point. It took Triumph 6 years before issuing a recall.
Crash bobbins are not just good for reducing costs of repairs, but also potentially enabling you to carry on with your journey, as if you had no protection fitted you'd be sat at the road side waiting for a pick up truck. Usually that happens in the middle of nowhere, at night and it's raining!
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