Gilles chain adjuster vs. 500HP Turbo Busa

fulltilt

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- FAIL/BREAKAGE - Titan Motorcycle Battle - 500HP Turbo Busa vs. 350HP Suzuki Hayabusa[/url]

This particular failure really sucked. Happened to a guy who had driven all night to get to us with a spectacular bike. The very first time he twisted the throttle in anger, immediate failure.

The Gilles Chain Adjuster is simple a nice looking piece of crap - a very poor design. And before you blame it on the washers used when installing or the prodigious output of the Velocity bike, consider I saw a similar failure on a stock-motored GSXR1000 I rode later on that trip.
 
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bummer, these are/where on my list of buy it items. Look great, but don't think I will be going for them now ???
 
+1

Since when are axle adjusters, aftermarket or stock, supposed to transmit the driving torque of the wheel to the frame?

cheers
ken

I'm curious what you would suggest transmits the driving torque of the wheel to the frame?
 
I have seen Gilles fail at the track. I have also seen axle adjuster bolts bend on extended swingarms. That is why I supply an oversized bolt with all of my extensions.
 
That 500 hp Busa is just bad arse bike! I guess it tells us one thing...when we start doing racing modifications with lightweight components under extreme HP conditions, ect...things can fail quicker.
 
I thought it was common knowledge to not use the Gilles adjusters with turbo or bigbore applications? I've known that way before I ever did anything to my engine. You need something ahead of the axle to prevent it from sliding forward. Plus not having the rear axle tight enough has it's own dangers as well. Never heard of a Gilles adjuster failing on a stock bike though.
 
I thought it was common knowledge to not use the Gilles adjusters with turbo or bigbore applications? I've known that way before I ever did anything to my engine. You need something ahead of the axle to prevent it from sliding forward. Plus not having the rear axle tight enough has it's own dangers as well. Never heard of a Gilles adjuster failing on a stock bike though.


:thumbsup:
 
Didn't want to mangle that pretty titanium Axle Nut by torquing it to spec? Gotta agree with those above. The Axle Adjuster shouldn't be relied on to prevent axle movement, that's the job of the Axle nut. Glad this turned out well. That could have ended very differently.
 
There is two ways of installing them. The more difficult installation is a bit stronger and requires countersinking the bolts. It is hard to say which way these were mounted and it may not have made a difference anyhow in this case.
 
The stock 1000 had the same failure, but it wasn't as dramatic as the HP was less than a third of the Velocity bike. Either way, I would never consider buying a Gilles piece after seeing two breakages within a week.
 
Anyone willing to test their theory that it's the axle nut torque and not the adjuster bolt that is holding the wheel in place?
 
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