New To the Fourm... Sliders? To Get or Not to Get

[sdg227]

Hey Everyone,
My name is Shane and I live up in Northern California, not San Fran or Sac, but real Northern California. I've owned my 06 FZ6 now for about 7 months and before that I rode a 1978 Kawasaki LTD 750 for about 3 and a half years. I must say I love the FZ6, a lot more horsepower and torque that my 78. I'm a pretty confident rider, I taken a few trips from the coast out the 36 to Red Bluff. Awesome road, numerous websites, and I would highly recommened it. I'm starting to get more comfortable and have been pushing my tires to their limit. Hers my question...

Do sliders help or hinder? I'm only looking for opinions. I'm mainly worried about a possible frame break as I have seen on the forum a few times.

Thanks a lot, safe riding in the wet weather.

 

[Motogiro]

:welcome:to the forum!

I would say the sliders will help out more times than not. It depends on the type of incident and other variables to complex to ever predict.
I would go for it. But if you haven't gotten all your protective gear, do that first! :rockon:

 

[Red Wazp]

OK, I'll bite- where is North California? Sounds like you are on the coast,when you speak of having ridden 36 a few times. Northwestern CA is full of great roads but 36 is special on a bike, I really like the new pavement on the no center line section of 36.

Sliders? Yes they may crack the frame when crashing with some speed but in slow speed tip overs they can save you some $$ by protecting the tupperware.
They have saved me some real money on my FJR.

Agree with Cliff, be sure to get good riding gear first.

PS. If you are really pushing your tires to the limit on the street please consider backing it down 10%, save the limit for the track.:thumbup:

 

[killertofu9]

As a new rider I put frame sliders on my FZ6 within the first week of bringing her home and they saved her from any scratches/damage both times she decided to lay down while I was still getting used to moving the bike around on foot. For low/no speed drops they do their job well.

 

[RedsReboot]

I've got mixed feeling about the sliders. I'm looking for something like a frame guard (not crazy about the "standard" one that's out there). A slider with a big metal ball that works like a roller at the end seems like a good idea:rof:.


I went down in a tight left turn at about 28-35mph on gravel and the slider saved a lot of my bike. It was ground down pretty bad and I still scraped off enough metal on my stator cover that it was dribbling oil out of the gouge it left. My frame has a crack or rip in just the little tip where the slider screws into the frame/ motor. Replacing the slider would hide the small damage to my frame and it's been checked carefully and deemedfine and safe by a couple shops I took it to.

What seems to happen it at stand still drops the sliders are a life saver. At slow/medium speed crashes, they help save a lot of overall damage although you may damage your frame in the process. At high speed crashes, the sliders sometimes become counter- productive because they still take the impact of a drop and may crack or completly rip off a piece of the frame.

 

[Botch]

Frame sliders saved my bodywork on a drop once, was glad I had them. Yes, it may crack your frame in a high-speed off, but at that point you've got other problems too...

 

[callmegandhi]

I've personally have never seen frame sliders cause a damaged frame. They screw right into the engine block. If the bike went down without them it would still hit on the same part of the frame. I have them on my bike and the small investment could save you a lot of money in the event you do go down.

 

[Evitzee]

I've got plenty of experience with bikes so I'm not afraid of dropping the machine while maneuvering it around my driveway or garage like many newbies do. Frame sliders can work in a simple tipover, but once you are up to speed they may or may not work, they may protect your plastic or may crack the frame, they may slow the bike down or may help flip it if it catches an edge in the pavement. Personally, I think they are a crutch but if you feel more comfortable with them go ahead and put them on, if you feel confident with the bike they may not be needed.

 

[7.62fmj]

I always buy the full catalogue of R&G sliders for my bikes. Bar ends, fork protectors, frame sliders, swingarm/paddock stand bobbins.
Only thrown a bike up the road once and they saved pretty much everything except a graze on a Yoshi end can. Wouldn't be without 'em.
I did hear once that insurance companies say that they could cause a bike to react in a crash in a way that might invalidate your policy .... dunno if that's real or not

 

[MoeDog]

I found out that the my Givi Top box Did Miracles. it took most of the damage when being dropped and in an accident :BLAA:

 

[ChevyFazer]

From what I've seen sliders help about 75% of the time and for the other 25% where the frame was cracked or broke about 15% were IMHO caused by the extended frame sliders and for the other 10% the frame probably would have been damaged reguardless due to the severity of the incident

 

[QwickFliCk]

Givi engine gaurds= awesome protection

 

[2006_FZ6]

:welcome: Great information here and friendly, helpful folks.

Yes on frame sliders, read my story here:

http://www.600riders.com/forum/hall-shame/41258-new-frame-sliders-tested.html

 

[rjo3491]

"I would say the sliders will help out more times than not. It depends on the type of incident and other variables to complex to ever predict".

Yep, where sliders will help in a driveway or parking lot drop. In a crash, they can actually do more damage (if they, "hook" something they can break the frame). Overall, the, "drop" is the much more common occurrence, and, a crash is likely to total the bike anyway. I'd say that they are a good gamble.

 

[sdg227]

Thanks, I've got all the protective gear. I always wear it, naked without it.

 

[sdg227]

I live in Mckinleyville Ca. Thaks for the advice on backing off 10%, iys always good to be reminded.

 

[fenderfreek]

Saying not to use sliders because they might crack your frame is like saying don't wear a seatbelt because you might get trapped. Benefit far outweighs the risk. Any impact hard enough to crack the frame mount with sliders would have obliterated it (and likely your leg) without them.

 

[Hellgate]

No, sliders are evil.