Sliders Vs. Cages

[wader]

Hi All,
My first post and proud owner since fall of 2016. 
I am starting to detail out my bike and am trying to decide if I should install an engine cage or go the slider route.  Any thoughts, +/-, would be appreciated. 
Note: if advocating for sliders, how many and where would they be placed?
 
Thanks for your time and happy riding, summer is right around the corner!
 

[duhs10]

I currently don't have any sliders or cages, but it I were to get some I would go with a @higdonion city cage. You get engine protection and a skid plate.
 
https://fj-09.org/thread/2606/higdonion-cages-hey

[redfjniner]

Why do you want to do this to your bike?
 
Understanding this can help me give you good advice.

[wader]

Why do you want to do this to your bike? 
Understanding this can help me give you good advice.

Good question.  Mostly to protect it in case of an "incident".  I don't drive it to hard, and by myself I doubt if I would ever have an accident; its the other guy/girl on the road.  And then there are animals- they don't seem to respect riders either ). 
I have kicked around the idea of mounting some additional lights, but not sure if I want to go there or not.  I have been riding one bike or another since 1982...
 

[BBB]

"Incidents" happen all the time and are seldom predictable. I was out this weekend and watched from behind as a rider at traffic lights misjudged the camber of the road and the loose surface when putting his foot down. He only just avoided dropping the bike.
 
Even a stationary drop of the bike will scratch the handguards and mirrors, but it gets more annoying if you damage the engine covers.
 
Thinking about low speed spills I went for sliders on front and rear axles to try and minimise fork and frame damage, plus these are quite cheap. I then went for SW Motech engine guards as I wanted something that looked as unobtrusive as possible.
 
As for a high speed spill: you're in the lap of the gods and I worry much more about myself than the bike.

[fanowater]

So I put on the T-rex slider set (wheels, engine cases and frame sliders), filed down the sump bump and put in the mazda oil plug and fitted an SW Motech skid plate. All because I like to ride far from home and explore places only reached by dirt roads. If I can keep a low speed slide or tip over from ending a trip and seriously inconveniencing my friends - well then it was money well spent.
One other thing is that if the thing that sticks out farthest from the bike isn't your leg, you might get thru a low side with less damage.
 
If I were to redo my setup, I might consider the SW Motech crash bars in addition to the other T-Rex delrin sliders. I ran across a comment somewhere that said frame sliders are a little below the bikes center of gravity, so it might tip and slide on the upper part of the bike.
 
For a little over $300 the T-Rex slider set is a great deal of protection. Cheers

[redfjniner]

Look at my deer strike at 74mph.  250 ft slide, 50 ft tumble.  No engine damage and just a little scratching, that is hardly noticeable.  Higdonian cage with skid plate.  I also had bar ends that stuck out as far as the OEM brush guards do.  They are made of SS and a good 1/2" was removed.  Sliders would not have faired as well in my opinion.  Sliders work good for drops and minor falls at parking lot speeds.

[wader]

Look at my deer strike at 74mph.  250 ft slide, 50 ft tumble.  No engine damage and just a little scratching, that is hardly noticeable.  Higdonian cage with skid plate.  I also had bar ends that stuck out as far as the OEM brush guards do.  They are made of SS and a good 1/2" was removed.  Sliders would not have faired as well in my opinion.  Sliders work good for drops and minor falls at parking lot speeds.

Scary.  Was the pic with you wrapped around a pole/post staged or did you end up like that?  May I ask how much it cost to repair the bike after that?

[owle]

Look at my deer strike at 74mph.  250 ft slide, 50 ft tumble.  No engine damage and just a little scratching, that is hardly noticeable.  Higdonian cage with skid plate.  I also had bar ends that stuck out as far as the OEM brush guards do.  They are made of SS and a good 1/2" was removed.  Sliders would not have faired as well in my opinion.  Sliders work good for drops and minor falls at parking lot speeds.

Redfjniner,  just taken a look at your pics, you have a wicked sense of humour, don't think i could have seen the funny side of the situation at the time, well done glad you are OK.

[Hdgunnell]

Look at my deer strike at 74mph.  250 ft slide, 50 ft tumble.  No engine damage and just a little scratching, that is hardly noticeable.  Higdonian cage with skid plate.  I also had bar ends that stuck out as far as the OEM brush guards do.  They are made of SS and a good 1/2" was removed.  Sliders would not have faired as well in my opinion.  Sliders work good for drops and minor falls at parking lot speeds.

Seems you've become famous on the interwebs  
 

[Cruizin]

Look at my deer strike at 74mph.  250 ft slide, 50 ft tumble.  No engine damage and just a little scratching, that is hardly noticeable.  Higdonian cage with skid plate.  I also had bar ends that stuck out as far as the OEM brush guards do.  They are made of SS and a good 1/2" was removed.  Sliders would not have faired as well in my opinion.  Sliders work good for drops and minor falls at parking lot speeds.

Seems you've become famous on the interwebs 
 
 

 
Holy crap! It's trending on Reddit!
 

[aeg]

So I put on the T-rex slider set (wheels, engine cases and frame sliders), filed down the sump bump and put in the mazda oil plug and fitted an SW Motech skid plate. All because I like to ride far from home and explore places only reached by dirt roads. If I can keep a low speed slide or tip over from ending a trip and seriously inconveniencing my friends - well then it was money well spent. One other thing is that if the thing that sticks out farthest from the bike isn't your leg, you might get thru a low side with less damage.

If I were to redo my setup, I might consider the SW Motech crash bars in addition to the other T-Rex delrin sliders. I ran across a comment somewhere that said frame sliders are a little below the bikes center of gravity, so it might tip and slide on the upper part of the bike.
 
For a little over $300 the T-Rex slider set is a great deal of protection. Cheers

Trying to understand this post. It seems like I can mount both the frame sliders and the crash bars on this bike? The OES offer front and rear frame sliders. Does SW Motech crash bar use different mount points? Thanks,
-Alex
 

[fanowater]

So I put on the T-rex slider set (wheels, engine cases and frame sliders), filed down the sump bump and put in the mazda oil plug and fitted an SW Motech skid plate. All because I like to ride far from home and explore places only reached by dirt roads. If I can keep a low speed slide or tip over from ending a trip and seriously inconveniencing my friends - well then it was money well spent. One other thing is that if the thing that sticks out farthest from the bike isn't your leg, you might get thru a low side with less damage.

If I were to redo my setup, I might consider the SW Motech crash bars in addition to the other T-Rex delrin sliders. I ran across a comment somewhere that said frame sliders are a little below the bikes center of gravity, so it might tip and slide on the upper part of the bike.
 
For a little over $300 the T-Rex slider set is a great deal of protection. Cheers

Trying to understand this post. It seems like I can mount both the frame sliders and the crash bars on this bike? The OES offer front and rear frame sliders. Does SW Motech crash bar use different mount points? Thanks,
-Alex
 
 
I was trying to say I'd use the SWM crash bars on top and the T-rex delrin case savers below.  I don't think you could double up on the items that are attaching where the frame holds the engine. The T-Rex frame sliders mount where the SW Motech ones do, but the crash bars go up from there, so the point of contact is higher and might keep the bike from rolling onto the tank.  Cheers

 

[redfjniner]

Look at my deer strike at 64mph.  250 ft slide, 50 ft tumble.  No engine damage and just a little scratching, that is hardly noticeable.  Higdonian cage with skid plate.  I also had bar ends that stuck out as far as the OEM brush guards do.  They are made of SS and a good 1/2" was removed.  Sliders would not have faired as well in my opinion.  Sliders work good for drops and minor falls at parking lot speeds.

Scary.  Was the pic with you wrapped around a pole/post staged or did you end up like that?  May I ask how much it cost to repair the bike after that?

Not staged.  I wrote it up 8 days later here.  The bike settlement was $7300, including $1000 for accessories, like the FJR saddlebags.  My neighbor just picked up a 2015 red just like mine for $7200 with 900 miles, and a Yamaha top box on a givi tail rack, lights and a few other things.  The bike work just fine and will be getting new shocks soon (paid for from the settlement).

[redfjniner]

Seems you've become famous on the interwebs 
 
 

Holy crap! It's trending on Reddit!

A friend who lives in Spain, messaged me last night with that picture posted on Reddit.  Holy crap is right.