smokinjoe73

Just a factoid. I have been running F4i sliders on the hawk for a while. They are way more plentiful and cheaper because of it. They have the same mounting type as the hawk. The dont jut around the fairing with a bracket but that didn't bother me.

This is the only pic I could find where you can see them. One thing, you may need to outsource bolts to fit (a bike shop gave me some free)

CrankenFine

That is a nice looking bike.

xeris

+1

Hair cut is nice also.

smokinjoe73

Yeah, I figure being in the pic would make for some wacky comments, but at least you guys can say hi if you see me riding around.

8541Hawk

Well sliders are another one of those personal choices.

Sure they can help with a low speed tip over. Though they also can, and have(I have pics if you need them), caused more damage than they save you from by bending or breaking the frame if they happen to catch on something while the bike is sliding.

That is the reason I don't run them on my bike.

smokinjoe73

Is that the same reason you dont wear seatbelts or helmets? I have heard the same argument there too.

ranchomice

I didn't see where it said he didn't wear a seatbelt or a helmet...

8541Hawk

No but I have seen frames totaled due to frame sliders when the bike could have easily been saved if they were not installed.

If they were any good manufacturers would mount them stock.

Frame sliders can minimize damage in a driveway tip-over.

They can also cause more damage than they prevent at speed.

Today's modern bikes are very lightweight and not crash friendly. That lightness that people demand means the bike is extremely vulnerable to damage in a crash.

The frame broke on this GSXR600 because the slider folded over and cracked the aluminum.





Here's the result of an unfortunate rider with Sato sliders on another GSXR. The slider didn't shatter, it broke the engine case. This is why you don't mount sliders to engine cases.



So don't take it as I'm saying that frame sliders are bad in all situations. Just like they will not help in all situations.

IMHO they do have a place on the track, but on the street with pot holes, cracks, curbs and all sorts of other things they can catch on, They can and often do create more damage than a crash without them.

Then add in the way they must be mounted to a SH. I find it strange that there is a set procedure for properly mounting the engine to the frame (as it is a stressed member of the frame) so to keep things aligned. In order to do the job properly the bolts must be torqued to the proper value in a set sequence.

So not only are you removing and replacing a bolt out of sequence, you are also using a engine mount bolt to mount the slider (does this have any affect on the engine mounting or how it acts as a stressed member of the frame? I don't know and don't want to find out.....). What happens if the bolt breaks or gets pulled out? Destroyed engine cases??

To try and claim I don't wear a helmet (or use a seat belt for that matter) is a bit childish and kind of beneath you, don't you think. Would it be possible to stick to the facts of the discussion?

I just find claiming, as you do, that everyone needs sliders to be rather poor advice. Leaving out the downside to running them is a disservice when giving this type of advice.

the1bolton

Skip the frame sliders. Get some beefy saddlebags! (actually this works pretty well, especially hard bags).

Last thing I get for crash protection is frame sliders. Before that comes good jacket, pants, boots, gloves, helmet, maintenance items on the bike, and then appropriate gear for all-weather riding (ok, above black ice temperatures riding). I care a lot more about myself and preventing an accident all together than the bike's safety during a crash.

I might be biased. I only seem to drop bikes in the driveway at no speed with only small scratches to show for it. If I were racing things might be different. On the street I figure the bike will probably end up under some SUV regardless of frame sliders.

ninjagoalie

To each his own, I guess. But I sure appreciate hearing both sides of an issue and I learned a few things here that I didnt know before today!

Tweety

Actually, I could argue for both sides of this argument... I won't... I will instead say that I run T-Rex sliders on my bike... Yes, you mess with the engine bolts, but I re-checked engine alignement, so that's fine...

The reason the are mounted on the small "ear" is because the ear acts as a "damper", ie it will bend, taking up smaller forces, without twisting the frame... It's actualy pretty soft metal, stick it in a vice anf you can bend it by taking the slider in one hand and pushing on it...

The other thing to note, there is a definite reason that T-Rex make the slider with an aluminium boby inside that you torque and a delrin body pressed onto that... If the slider catches hard enough, the delrin body will break away, leaving the frame intact...

So, it protects agains tip-overs, it slides as long as it's smooth, and if it catches, it will break away or bend instead of damaging the frame in 90% of the times...

The only time I have seen a bike that had more damage because of a T-rex slider, is when the bike slid on one side, caugth a curb with the tires and flipped... That slammed the bike down on the slider with enough force on the other side that the mount bent and gouged the frame badly... Cant fault the design for that, you cant break away a slider if it gets slammed head on... The equivalent is if you take a sledgehammer and hit the end of the slider...

I can personally vouch for the fact that the T-rex works as intended, and I have seen the effects on about a dozen crashes... Other protectors might work differently, or not at all...

I will agree 100% though, mounting a slider to the engine case seems like a very, very bad idea... I'm still looking for a reasonably priced CF cover there (see mikstr's)... That takes care of the sliding part, without risk of damaging anything...

Jessehawk111611

Whats weak gsxr frames braking have to do with sh sliders anyway maybe the gsxr mounting point should be looked at ether way you take this it would be like saying i drive a chevy truck and the fabtech 8inch lift sucks and broke so the ford one will to im going to make my sliders my self so i will be able to mount them where i choose and feel thay will
Be most effective oh and for mounting the to the case who ever did that must have drank a case before thinking that was a good spot sorry if i have upset anyone by saying this after all it is only my two cents right

8541Hawk

First of all a GSXR frame is just as strong, if not stronger. than a VTR frame. So you analogy is weak at best.

As for mounting the sliders to the case, well where do you think they mount on a VTR?? Let me give you a hint..... you remove a motor mount bolt and attach it there, right to the frame and the case. There is no where else to mount something like a slider on a VTR.

RWhisen

What did he say?

autoteach

Just for the sake of argument, I will throw out the torsionally rigid vs strength discussion for the gsxr frame. I think you can have one without the other. there, lets see some discussion on that.

7moore7

Something about fabricating a lift for his Gixxer out of Chevy parts cause they don't brake and it only costing two cents?

RWhisen

Good, I thought I was reading Boomhauer.

smokinjoe73

My comment on the helmet/seatbelt was because those are the other 2 safety devices that I have actually heard that exact argument for. (they do more harm than good). I was only showing a viable option for hawkers. 8541, you don't have to install sliders, really, no one was coersing you.

I have hi-sided the hawk, it broke my collarbone & ribs but the bike was fine. To my inspection due mainly to the sliders. I have had 100mph crashes that also saw the sliders save the bike. With those 2 alone I am on the winning side with sliders but there are more.
If anyone chooses to not use sliders, go nuts, its your bike. For those who want to, here is an option.

lazn

I will +2 on Tweety's post.

When I went down at speed my T-Rex saved the bike and the ear bent to not break the frame.. But a couple driveway tip overs prior to that were zero damage to anything because of them.

I could see differently designed sliders causing frame damage, but the T-Rex ones seem to get it right.

AK Ronin

+2
Amazing

And as far as sliders go, I don't know about high speeds, but at 15 miles an hour, it saved the right side of my bike. Not even a scratch on there.

NAVY8TR

f-ing entertaing thread! I'm going to cautiously side with tweety. I had an off at 50mph. Slider worked when the bike and I went down, so well in fact, the bike slid off the road (front end first) and into the dirt where the frame slider dug into the dirt. It slowed the bike down so fast that it nosed the front of the bike into the ground and destroyed the plastics that it had saved half a second before...I run t-rex sliders.

Jessehawk111611

Sorry guys my phone sometimes types words i dont mean it to and i was saying gixxers and sh are two diff bikes so what dose them braking from frame sliders have to so with sh and u was using the chevy lift comment to explain the point of there to diff makes and models so you can assume that just cause one has a bad rep

Jessehawk111611

That the other one is just as bad and the fab part is im going to make my own sliders so i can put them where i want them so go right a head post your little faces and king of the hill pics and trash talk me but im going to do what you all should be doing instead of trash talk and that put some miles on my hawk

7moore7

It's not really trash talk, man; Just having fun with paragraphs that don't have periods in them . I spelled "break" wrong in mine anyway, but from a sentence standpoint it still works so no worries...

autoteach

After thinking about this for some time I decided that the best way to avoid the slider hooking something and breaking is this:
http://en.fukesi.com/img/serve_pic/5..._and_Brake.jpg

8541Hawk

Well when you added the (you do) at the end of your thread title it does make it sound like you are saying that you really need to install a set of sliders doesn't it?

8541Hawk

So the reason you have difficulties writing coherent sentences is because of your phone....... umm ok.

So sorry that I didn't use a SH pic...... I guess it doesn't matter that a GSXR is not designed with "tuned flex". This "tuned flex" would give you a frame that just might be easier to tweak with a slider but hell it's only GSXR's that break their frame from sliders....

So go right ahead and make your custom mount anywhere sliders and good luck with that.

I do find it humors that you post a reply trashing talking for all you're worth and then say you are going riding instead of trash taking because that is what everyone should be doing.......

Rock on with your bad self spanky.....

autoteach

Ok, what if you bolt a skid plate to the side. It wont dig in and the bike will slide like all get out. Ti will throw some good sparks too.

7moore7

I was thinking something with more impact protection, such as this:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2206/...797936bc72.jpg

Except for on a motorcycle

autoteach

nice