Frame sliders??????

[alii1959]

I talked to my local dealer and he seems to feel that they don't protect the bike much. They are not cheap, but I wouldn't want to leave my baby unprotected. I realize that the hardbags will get pretty beat up during a get off, but will the sliders help with the rest?? I would appreciate opinions.

[oldndumb]

It is a matter of your personal preference. If you scratch up a fairing with a low speed off, will riding around with the scratches and scuffs bother you?
As to cost, do the math. Compare the cost of repairs/replacement to the cost of the sliders.
When the dealer said they did not protect much, maybe he was talking about a high speed crash. He is right about that.

[alii1959]

Well, I was more concerned about low-speed oopsies. as for high-speed get offs......I'll be much more worried about skin than plastic.

[ricster]

They were worth it when I fell on grass and the first thing that dug into the ground was my frame slider with no damage or scratches...so I would say worth the money

[kc5deb]

Coming from a Sprint newbie, let me inject what happened just yesterday afternoon...

I rode my bike to work after lunch, and when I got off work, I came back to the house, I pulled up in the drive with visions of changing and aiming the headlights, and lubing up the chain. I stopped, killed it, got off to open up the garage, and for some frickin reason, my cranial rectumitus kicked in, and I got off the bike without putting the kickstand down... I know what you guys are thinkin... "How the hell do you forget to put the kickstand down?!?" Uh, I can honestly say, I really don't know, but, it can be done...

As I exited stage left of the bike, I realized it wasn't catching on the kickstand, and that's when the cranial rectumitus suddenly went away, and I realized that I was now watching my sprint fall onto it's side as my body suddenly refused to move, and actually told my brain "instead of trying to catch your bike, why don't you just stand here paralyzed for a moment and see just what not paying attention will do... ya moron..."

I don't really know of a way to describe the absolute stupidity, ignorance, and immaturity I felt seeing my bike laying on it's side because I forgot to put the ****ed side stand down....

When I got er back top-side up (with the kickstand down this time), I began to asses the damage.

Now, why this pertains to the topic... I have the frame sliders on either side of the bike. The bike landed on the frame sliders and the footrests. The frame sliders kept the fairings safe with just a small scratch (from a small lump of dirt/rocks that just happened to be there) to the lower part of the fairings. The end of the frame slider was scuffed, but, hey, it don't look bad.

The only thing I broke was the gearchange rod on the gearchange linkage. When the bike fell, the left footrest folded up, and the weight was on the frame slider and the gearchange pedal. The pedal bent up onto the gearchange rod, and the heavy bike just snapped the rod. At first I was pissed cause the rod broke because the footrest folded; I've always thought it should've been a solid non-folding footrest. But, after looking at the price of a gearchange rod compared to the footrest, I felt better about it.

So, point is, I did a really dumba$$ thing, but, the frame slider made a difference of $1,000+ worth of fairings saved compared to about $25's worth of parts...

I will NEVER own another sport bike withOUT frame sliders, cause I know my tendancies to be a moron...

And am I EVER so glad that I didn't have the hard bags on, and that the gearchange pedal didn't snap when I bent it back...

[Medic09]

For what it is worth kc, LOTS of folks have been there, done that, and have the sheepish grin to prove it! If fact, when I saw this post I thought to myself 'forget crashing, how about when you just dumbass drop the bike!'.

How 'bout the guy (I am NOT making this up) who pulls up to a stop and doesn't put his feet down? :-0

I'm all for frame sliders. Or case guards on other bikes.

[NikosR]

Had a bike stupidly dropped twice in my life.

The first, with me on, was on a Honda Africa Twin when I was stupid wearing trainers with laces on. Stopped at traffic light, tried to put foot down but shoes lace caught on footpeg... down I went. It was quite painfull actually!

Second time it was my old '99 Sprint. Parked on the sidestand, slight upwards inclination, left it in neutral. Washed the bike, then started the motor and watched how the bike vibrated itself down to its right (!) side. Broken side fairing, clutch lever and bend gear change lever.

[alii1959]

OK, I think I am sold.....but, which ones did you buy and why? Are there differences that I should be aware of? Thanks in advance.

[DJRenton]

I'm not sure of the manufacturer, but this pair is identical to the ones that I had my dealer fit on my '06 Sprint:
http://www.rideteamtriumph.com/images/sliders_1119.jpg

I'm sure you could order these directly from them.


In addition to that, I added the R&G fork protectors last nite:
http://www.rg-racing.com/browseBike/.../FP0026BK.aspx

I am pretty happy with their build quality, and would probably have went with R&G frame sliders (4 instead of 2) if I had it to do over.

[nibbs]

I'd agree with all said above.

I had a driveway drop and damaged the fairing albeit minor. I was pretty hacked off but after I rang the dealer for new panel and chrome trim I was absolutely ropeable (it isn't a word so I can't spell it wrong can I?).

I have the RG doubles and like them a lot. One thing you might want to consider is a real slow motion tip over is likely to do some fairly minor cosmetic damage. It is difficult to justify the cost of fairings (truly obscene pricing) just for a couple of scratches but it is equally hard to look at it every day.

Sods Law says if you consider it but choose not to what's the betting you'll drop it!