Frame Sliders?

[Ninja Bob]

My S.O. is about to be riding and I anticipate a drop or two, considering the bike outweighs her three fold. Thinking of getting frame sliders and flush mount turn signals to minimize body damage.

I hear there are concerns with sliders causing the bike to flip if it goes down at speed? Is that just a track concern? Is it a non-issue for those of us puttering around town?

Also, any recommendations for particular brands or mount styles?

[csmith12]

Their more likely to catch on something and do strange on the street vs. the track. imho, sliders on a 250 are for low speed drops and that's about it. These bikes crash real well overall without them, but different riders have varied opinions about sliders vs. no sliders.

Now... do get flushmounts or use the stock parts to make a set, there is a DIY somewhere around here. So many fairings with holes punched in them from those stalks. Check out the 300, comes stock with flush indicators, wonder why?!?!?

[csmith12]

Good luck to her too .

[Alex]

Some good info in this wiki entry:

https://www.ninjette.org/wiki/Frame_sliders

[InvisiBill]

Originally Posted by csmith12

Their more likely to catch on something and do strange on the street vs. the track. imho, sliders on a 250 are for low speed drops and that's about it. These bikes crash real well overall without them, but different riders have varied opinions about sliders vs. no sliders.

With sliders, you change the angle that the bike is laying at. If you lift the top of the bike off the ground too much, the tires will be closer to the ground and more likely to catch on something. Instead of just sliding down the road on its side, the grippy tires might catch and cause it to flip (like a high-side), leading to a lot more damage and unpredictable travel. Like Chris said, a smooth track is probably less likely to cause problems than the random terrain of a public roadway.


My EX500 has Renntec engine bars installed.



There's a bit of debate over whether they would end up helping or hurting in a crash (saving some parts that are replaced fairly easy but bending the wimpy frame). Hopefully I never find out - I figure the more I spend on parts to avoid crash damage, the less chance there is of me actually crashing. Wouldn't want to actually get some use of those parts I paid for, ya know...

In general though, I think the Renntec bars are pretty durable and well-made. Here's a similar bar on another bike.

Link to original page on YouTube.

I'm not seeing much for 250 crash bars like that in a quick search though...

[csmith12]

Somebody was mad.

[Floki]

My Bike got totaled with sliders a few weeks ago. The left side got actually hit by the truck so the sliders didnt do anything. It landed on the right side and was pushed underneath the truck. The slider was bent from the forces but there was no damage to the right side. Bike looked perfectly fine. This would have been an easy totaled bike to fix if I wanted too, but the insurance offered me so much money I couldn't resist and bought a 6R

[csmith12]

Originally Posted by Floki

but the insurance offered me so much money I couldn't resist and bought a r6

fixed!

[Floki]

@csmith12 Maybe one day when I can afford track days... I will move up to an R6. I can always dream right? They should just pay me to go to college.

For perspective on my review of shogun sliders
Left side



Right Side(not exactly best view)



I believe they are worth every penny.

[NevadaWolf]

My T-Rexx (?) sliders helped on a basic low side up on a mountain.

The wreck at the track saw the tire issue. The sliders kept the left side of the bike injury free (except for grinding down the kickstand mount) but as soon as the tires hit the dirt in the runoff, the bike flipped and the right side was destroyed.

My only concern about putting new ones back on is the impact from the flip forced the slider backwards and the engine bolt they were mounted too bent enough in the middle that it took two of us to remove it.

If i were to replace them, i am definitely going for a style that has more of a cage/bar style to protect the engine as well.

[Ninja Bob]

We're finally getting around to shopping for this. Do they make engine bars for the newgen?

Also, does the fact that we lowered it about two inches help our chances of the tire catching with sliders?

[EsrTek]

T-rex frame sliders are worth every penny!! No so sure on the others....
T-rex sliders did their job, the material they are made out of shreds, and did NOT catch at all, during 2 crashes I've had them on.
The first was me grabbing brakes to hard and bike went down on left @ 40 mph...Frame sliders saved all vital parts, and I picked it up and rode it home.
The second was more violent, as I was hit from behind doing 5mph, and the car hitting me was @ 40 mph. The sliders saved entire right side from major damage...rear of bike was totaled.

Besides that..seen tons of bikes vids and in person where bike flips with or without sliders.
If it is going to flip, it will do so regardless...get the sliders and possibly save your vital parts (brake/clutch lever, gear shifter/brake pedal, bars etc) enough you don't have to replace them for a minor set down.

[Kscreations08]

As a new rider, she WILL drop it. I plopped mine down pulling up to a gas pump (use rear back for slow speed maneuvers.) My bike came with Kawi sliders and suffered only a small dent in the stock exhaust