Sliders

[dt]

On some other forums I surf, the folks seem to get all excited about sliders.

I don’t get it, but I’m dense, too.  They aren’t crash bars and aren’t going to do dit in a wreck. So, it seems that they’re at best good for when the bike tips in the garage or in a parking lot or something like that. It would seem like a minimal amount of care would avoid those. That aside, my issue is mostly, while some sliders are fairly inconspicuous, others seem really gaudy and takeaways from an otherwise sharp looking ride. See the photo for an example of the later IMHO.  Yet the posters I’m referring to seem kind of excited about these things. The one in the pic looks like something else to catch a shoelace on.

Anyway, what’s the real point of sliders that I’m obviously missing? Are they cool (that would be okay, I guess)? Do they really serve an important purpose for routine bike use? If so, okay, I'll go get some...

[mrbones]

Good question. I've had sport bikes in the past and have never used them. Yes, they would protect a bike when it falls over, but I thought there intended use was on the race track to protect a bike and rider in a low side accident. I guess that would help in the street as well.

The ones above on that SV look stupid. They need to be on the frame, not attached to the rear plastic tail or the turn signal mounts. They'll just break off during a crash. Even if they are the rear sub-frame, they'll still break.

I think most people who put them on just think they look cool.

[dt]

Here's a set the XR Forum was tossing around. egad.

[rock1t]

In low speed slides or tip overs they do great to protect the plastic, I dont know if thats what there made for or not, but the plastic is so expensive and easy to fudge up there a good investment for the just incase.

[bagobones]

those look like crap. they sort of say to me "I drop my bike a lot so I have to put bars that stick out so I dont have to keep buying new plastic covers". They might also say "I'm a poser who has a little too much money to spend so i want to look like a bad-ass that rides real fast and I do it so much I crash a lot and when I do I don't have to buy new plastic covers because I have these poser sliders on my bike". They look dumb. Flame suit on.

[mrbones]

Are you trying to start an argument here? You need to go back on your Goldwing sir. 

[dt]

It’s not just sliders. There’s a plethora of oddball aftermarket crapola that isn’t needed or isn’t functional and at its worst, is completely misrepresented. Yet, it seems that many motorcyclists gravitate to this crap. Just yesterday, someone in the XR Forum posted a link to a hot new item…an Undertail Draftshield Fairing for the XR1200. I mean WTF is an undertail draftshield fairing? I didn’t know anyway, so I Googled and came across stuff like THIS (note last post). I mean really. REALLY! 




Oh, btw, this doesn’t apply to aftermarket dirtbike stuff. All that stuff is cool. 

[maureen]

those look like crap. they sort of say to me "I drop my bike a lot so I have to put bars that stick out so I dont have to keep buying new plastic covers". They might also say "I'm a poser who has a little too much money to spend so i want to look like a bad-ass that rides real fast and I do it so much I crash a lot and when I do I don't have to buy new plastic covers because I have these poser sliders on my bike". They look dumb. Flame suit on.

My words exactly

[bagobones]

Whew. Somebody agrees. Can I take off the flamesuit now? It's hot in here.