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[ST] Can Frame Sliders Protect Frame and Plastic?



Not too long ago David Earl, on the topic of frame sliders, wrote:

"They cost way less than one fairing piece.  If I ever have to use them,
I figure they'd pay for themselves (yes, I admit, assuming they work).

My 2¢: Frame Sliders were invented for RACE BIKES to protect the FRAMES
of enormously expensive race bikes, which cost several times what our
entire bikes cost, and seem to slide down race tracks more quite often.
That's why they're called FRAME SLIDERS, not fairing sliders.  With
Alloy box section frames, the slighest ding or scratch will compromise
the integrity to the point that even insurance companies will total an
otherwise cosmeticly damaged bike.
So...Ricky Racer sees the sliders on Ben Bostroms Duc and decides he has
to have some for his GSX600R.  Now we have them our Sprints.  IMHO, the
are simply cosmetic accesories, available for customizing and
personalizing your bike.   If you drop your bike, they won't protect
anything but the FRAME and like Matt said, save your insurance company
some money, and perhaps be the difference between your insurance
totalling your bike because of the damaged frame or repairing your
trashed bike and giving it back to you.
Just my opinion.  But yes, they look cool.

David
'99ST"


Not knowing EXACTLY what the manufacturers intend frame sliders to do, I 
thought I'd look up Skyking's writeup on its frame sliders for the ST.  This 
is what they have to say:

"Rest assured that you are purchasing the highest quality part available 
made by experienced craftsmen in the USA. The billet aluminum special 
bushings have a built in hex head for ease of installation which is another 
Skykingproducts.com exclusive idea. These sliders require no modifications 
of the body work. These were designed to help minimize the impact to your 
frame and adjacent area on your motorcycle. Includes two delrin sliders, two 
special hex head aluminum bushings, four M12 washers, two M12 Nylock nuts, 
and two M12 bolts. Installation instructions included."

I took note of the words "...minimize the IMPACT to your FRAME and adjacent 
AREA..."  It says nothing about keeping your bike from being scratched and, 
even if you interpret "adjacent area" to mean "my expensive and beautiful 
[your color here] plastic pieces", you would have to look at where the frame 
sliders attach versus all of the most likely contact points that your bike 
has with the ground when you park it horizontally.  In other words, in order 
to get a reasonable amount of protection of the plastic, you would need a 
frame slider (or something similar) extending past all of the high points on 
both sides of the bike.  In addition, the sliders would not be allowed to 
bend during impact as this is likely to cause it to exert a force against 
the plastic and crack it.

Having said this, it seems to me that the two goals of protecting the frame 
and the plastic at the same time cannot both be achieved 100% by using frame 
sliders.  What is needed is a bolt on (or weld on) system in which hundreds 
of aluminum rods extend out from a central frame in a spherical pattern that 
extends past the riders head, front, and rear of the bike and down to the 
foot peg.  Using this system, laying the bike over would be impossible 
because you would just roll over onto the the aluminum spike ball and no 
part of the bike would contact the ground.  I imagine that you could 
continue the roll until you were upright again and continue on your journey. 
  Any damaged spikes could be replaced individually. Of course, getting on 
and off the bike with this protective device attached is a problem that I 
haven't yet solved.

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