Frame Slider on a track bike

Frame sliders on a track bike

  • Sliders

    Votes: 20 46.5%

  • No Sliders

    Votes: 16 37.2%

  • Sliders cut flush with bodywork

    Votes: 7 16.3%
  • Total voters
    43
irishgixxer

irishgixxer

Track Rider
Joined
Mar 30, 2007
Location
San Jose
Moto(s)
03' SV650-R (SuperBike SV :p) 1976 CB550 Cafe Racer (In progress)
Name
Paul
I am wondering about frame sliders on a track bike, I hear they really cause more bike damage than actually preventing rashes.

What is the consensus for sliders on a track bike?

I also heard that cutting them flush with the body work is OK?
 
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I took my sliders off before my last trackday and of course I had to crash test it....

I can safely say my bike did not flip, and the damage is minimal!! Mostly all cosmetic save for the rear set. I am super happy I took them off :)

I've crashed two bikes with sliders before (04 1000RR, 05 GSXR600). CBR @ ~80mph and it flipped. GSXR @ ~35mph and it flipped. Both were low sides.

I won't be running sliders on any of my bikes ever again, but this is just my opinion and preference .. everyone will have different results.
 
I am thinking of trimming the sliders back flush with the body work not have exposed holes in the bodywork.

I am also wondering if they are the same width as the bodywork they shouldn't dig in if low sided:dunno
 
Sometimes they work, sometimes they don't. I have had bikes flip with and with out sliders. I don't use them now, and I don't think anything would have been saved with sliders in my last crash. Biggest reason I don't use them anymore is seeing a couple bikes with broken engine mounts where the sliders mount.
 
anything and everything hard that sticks out has a good chance of catching the edge of the dirt, curbing, or wateva and bending the crap outta everything or causing your bike to flip... ie bars, solid-mount pegs, and frame sliders. if youve already installed some aftermarket solid-mount rearsets, i highly doubt adding frame sliders will increase your chances of flipping the bike.

my only track crash, the rearset bent pretty good when it caught the curbing and the Woodcraft slider probably saved my engine cover from cracking. the Woodcraft's stick out less than 1" from the bodywork. but ya, im happy i had em installed. however, id NEVER run one of those cheap sliders that stick out 4" or more... thats just asking for it.

oh, and there r a few diff designs in engine mounts that work well w/ sliders... and a few that dont. if an engine bolt screws directly into the engine, that could be trouble. pulling that bolt out w/ a lot of side force usually just tears the threads out or destroys the engine case. however, a bolt w/ an actual nut on the end of it is much stronger and more resistant to engine-mount destruction. sadly my 600RR has both, one on each side. IIRC, the welder MrRPM gets a lot of work from this site from guys w/ GSXRs that have pulled frame slider bolts out of their engine cases.
 
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it depends on bike.
inline 4 are pretty wide at bottom and flip over easy.
sv's and ducs are narrow and mostly slide on side, with or without sliders.
 
I was talking with Michael who runs PTT and he told me that after keeping extensive records on crashes, frame sliders cause more catastrophic damage from flipping.

Remember the cost of repair goes up dramatically when a sliding bike starts to flip in the air. So a few slides may chew up the paint and a little body work but that is way cheaper than one incident where the bike flips around.

As far as personal experience, I had a 90 mph crash a few years ago with the sliders on and the bike never left the track and was almost undamaged - even the paint except one spot. I was riding in 30 minutes. Without sliders, the whole side panel would have ground down.

After thinking about what I have observed with other crashes where a relatively low speed low side became a near total, I took off the sliders.

If I were riding at Miller where there is a lot of smooth and paved run-off, I might put them on again. Not on the NorCal tracks.
 
Like Zoran said it all depends on the bike but it also depends on the slider as well. If you use the sliders that stick out past the bodywork 4-5 inches then yes it will flip. If your looking for that kind of protection you might as well just buy a roll cage or just not ride a bike at all. They are call FRAME sliders not WHOLE BIKE sliders. The longer ones also have more leverage so it's easier to bend the frame.

My point is, that every bike out there has something that sticks out which could cause a bike to flip; rearsets, clip-ons, hell even rubble strip could cause it or just the fact that as the bike slides the tires could dig into the ground.

So far the only sliders I know of that actually work are the woodcraft ones. They are solid delrin and don't have that stupid hole you have to dig out to get to the bolt.
 
I dunno..still up in the air on sliders. My vortex kept bending frame bolts so I bought some woodcrafts...still bent the frame bolt. Although the crash with the woodcraft was a very severe highside so nothing would have done well in that instance. I will have to wait until I lowside to properly evaluate my WC. :ride

oh yah I'm runnin' nekkid so I think I get a little more damage sometimes than bikes with bodywork. Frame slider sticks out just below main frame...aluminum post with delrin stump on end. Nice design.
 

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it may also have to do with the material in the slider material

i've had no problem with sato racing, of course they are typically shorter than some of their competitors
 
I had the same Woodcraft ones that ZIM's running in that photo on my 2nd gen SV and in a low-speed lowside (back when the bike was a streetbike) it bent the hell out of that metal post that the slider mounts to, and it turned the engine bolt into a U as well.

When I built the bike into a racebike I switched to T-Rex Racing sliders (http://t-rex-racing.com/catalog.php?item=58&catid=38&ret=catalog.php?category=38) after a recommendation from a WERA racer. They use a single long bolt that goes straight through the entire frame and engine, with two locknuts on either end to secure the sliders to the frame. The base of the slider is cut to fit into the indentation in the frame where the engine mounts so there isn't just a skinny bolt or post sticking out but the entire slider is "sunk" into the frame a bit for a very solid mount. They stick out about 1-1.5" past the bodywork.

I've crashed on them 3 times this season (2 on the right and once on the left), and it was only after the 3rd (and fastest) crash that the bolt bent slightly on one side (I was still able to pull it out of the motor without problem). The sliders have ground down nicely and definitely saved the rest of the bike from much more severe damage. Twice the bike has slid across the curb into the dirt and it didn't flip either time. Since the bolt doesn't thread into the frame or engine there's no risk of destroying the mounts, which is nice. I'm a big fan of these!
 
StealthSwede said:
I had the same Woodcraft ones that ZIM's running in that photo on my 2nd gen SV and in a low-speed lowside (back when the bike was a streetbike) it bent the hell out of that metal post that the slider mounts to, and it turned the engine bolt into a U as well.

When I built the bike into a racebike I switched to T-Rex Racing sliders (http://t-rex-racing.com/catalog.php?item=58&catid=38&ret=catalog.php?category=38) after a recommendation from a WERA racer. They use a single long bolt that goes straight through the entire frame and engine, with two locknuts on either end to secure the sliders to the frame. The base of the slider is cut to fit into the indentation in the frame where the engine mounts so there isn't just a skinny bolt or post sticking out but the entire slider is "sunk" into the frame a bit for a very solid mount. They stick out about 1-1.5" past the bodywork.

I've crashed on them 3 times this season (2 on the right and once on the left), and it was only after the 3rd (and fastest) crash that the bolt bent slightly on one side (I was still able to pull it out of the motor without problem). The sliders have ground down nicely and definitely saved the rest of the bike from much more severe damage. Twice the bike has slid across the curb into the dirt and it didn't flip either time. Since the bolt doesn't thread into the frame or engine there's no risk of destroying the mounts, which is nice. I'm a big fan of these!
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I really like those sliders as well. I'm not using a set because my fairings which came precut weren't cut for those sliders. Sigh.
 
The through bolt sliders hold up better. The engine mount tabs on an SV bend easily.

Really the only reason I run them is to hopefully save the radiator. I have had a couple lowsides on the SV where the frameslider and handlebar took all the beating.
 
afm199 said:
The through bolt sliders hold up better. The engine mount tabs on an SV bend easily.

Really the only reason I run them is to hopefully save the radiator. I have had a couple lowsides on the SV where the frameslider and handlebar took all the beating.
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Yeah, and frame sliders ARE helpful for parking lot tipovers!:ride
 
my front tire and clip-on caught in the dirt and flipped my bike should i take them off? i have sliders on my bike right now but i am thinking of taking them off, hmmm.
 
I had the Shogun Sliders on my 600rr, and they stick out pretty good, like 3". I highsided in turn 2 at Infineon, never went in the dirt, and they saved a ton of the bodywork, and never bent. I also lowsided in turn 4 at Infineon and actually went in the dirt, but never flipped. That crash did bend the bolt, but was easily taken out and replaced.

I now have Woodcrafts, and they haven't been crash tested yet.
 
Had a low side at RFR on my old R6 with frame sliders and it spun on the frame slider with just a golf ball size scuff to my tail section and a smaller scuff to the front fairing. :teeth

Then high sided it on the street and broke the frame and the engine where the frame slider mounts. :wow

I think it depends on the bike, the mounting location and the crash, whether they will help or cause more damage.
 

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StealthSwede said:
I had the same Woodcraft ones that ZIM's running in that photo on my 2nd gen SV and in a low-speed lowside (back when the bike was a streetbike) it bent the hell out of that metal post that the slider mounts to, and it turned the engine bolt into a U as well.

When I built the bike into a racebike I switched to T-Rex Racing sliders (http://t-rex-racing.com/catalog.php?item=58&catid=38&ret=catalog.php?category=38) after a recommendation from a WERA racer. They use a single long bolt that goes straight through the entire frame and engine, with two locknuts on either end to secure the sliders to the frame. The base of the slider is cut to fit into the indentation in the frame where the engine mounts so there isn't just a skinny bolt or post sticking out but the entire slider is "sunk" into the frame a bit for a very solid mount. They stick out about 1-1.5" past the bodywork.

I've crashed on them 3 times this season (2 on the right and once on the left), and it was only after the 3rd (and fastest) crash that the bolt bent slightly on one side (I was still able to pull it out of the motor without problem). The sliders have ground down nicely and definitely saved the rest of the bike from much more severe damage. Twice the bike has slid across the curb into the dirt and it didn't flip either time. Since the bolt doesn't thread into the frame or engine there's no risk of destroying the mounts, which is nice. I'm a big fan of these!
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i'd listen to fredrik when it comes to crashing:p
here is a shot of my last spill. frame sliders(cheap-o vortex?) saved my case and radiator i think, but not much else. i'm still running them but would like to switch to the ones that fredrik has
crash.jpg
 
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