When purchasing a new supersport bike one of the first things that cross our minds are “what kind of good modifications (mods) should I do to it?” I know this crossed my mind upon picking up my new 2006 Suzuki GSXR 600. The first mod I wanted to add were frame sliders! These nifty little devices bolt to the frame from the side and in the event of a crash will not only help minimize damage to the frame but can also minimize damage done to the fairings of the bike.

Upon examining the mounting locations for the frame sliders I saw that the right side (while sitting on the bike) would be a simple install as the mounting point (motor mounts) were open and with no obstructions to hinder the mount. Then I saw on the left side the fairing is directly in the path of the mounting point. This left me with two options to add frame sliders to the new bike. Both drill and cut the plastic fairing to accept the frame sliders or to find a frame slider that had an offset mount system to relocate the mount point. With it being a new bike I did not envy cutting the plastic fairing so I opted for the “no cut” frame sliders system.

With choosing the no cut frame sliders my research began on trying to find a strong and durable system. After exhaustive telephone conversations and internet searches I came upon a system manufactured by Motivation USA. A quick phone call to Motovation got me in contact with a great and informative guy named Roland. After speaking with Roland and comparing their sliders with other companies I decided on the Motovation frame sliders and put in an order for a set. I also decided to order a set for a friend’s 2006 GSXR 1000 to compare the no cut frame sliders with.

One of the things that impressed me about the Motovation frame sliders was the offset mounting bracket that came with it. Some of the other companies offered an offset bracket that seemed to be rather thin in design and seemed to place a lot of stress on the bracket in the event of a crash. The bracket provided by Motovation was “beefy” to say the least. It is CNC machined for strength and follows the contours of the frame to prevent any undue stress on the bracket and make for a more solid mount! The materials the frame sliders themselves are made out of are top grade as well. Where most companies use Delrin and ABS because, it is softer and cheaper but not as strong. Motovation uses a High Molecular Density (HMD) formulation of Nylon. This makes them stronger and more resistant to damage and fading. The mounting bolts are made of 12.9 grade (176,000 psi tensile strength) hardened steel. Instead of snapping off these bolts are designed to bend to keep the frame sliders working instead of just snapping off and exposing the bike to the asphalt elements.

Upon receiving the frame sliders I also picked up a tube of Loctite (red semi-permanent) to prevent the mounting bolts from vibrating loose and an 8mm hex head wrench. Off on our journey we went!

On the GSXR 600 you can see that on the left side you have to either remove the fairing or pull it back out of the way. To make things a little easier we pulled the fairing out of the way and used a “cheater bar” to get leverage on the motor mount bolts and get in the tight location between the bolt and fairing. With a little leverage the bolts came out without a problem. The bracket was a perfect fit with the frame and it is very solid when contacting the frame. We bolted the bracket to the frame. We used the Loctite liberally around all the threads of the bolts before tightening them down to the manufacturer’s torque specifications. Then we mounted the frame slider to the offset bracket. The left side mounted perfectly and gave enough room between the bottom of the frame slider and fairing to prevent any undue rubbing that might damage the fairing. The right side frame slider went on even easier! It only required us to remove the motor mount bolt, Loctite the provided replacement bolt and bolt it back down. It doesn’t get much easier than that! Total install time for the frame sliders to be added to the GSXR 600 was approximately twenty minutes. To cut the plastics to accept direct bolt on frame sliders would have taken an estimated hour to an hour and a half. Satisfied with the completion of the addition we began to install the direct mount frame sliders onto a 2006 GSXR 1000.

For this portion a fellow sportbikes.net member (Jaibird) volunteered the use of his brand new bike! And boy did he really test them!! (we will get into that later). Install on the right side went flawlessly! It was simple, remove the motor mount bolt, Loctite the new bolt and bolt it back down. Talk about a piece of cake! Next came the left side and since the mounting location was just as exposed as the right side we simply removed the motor mount bolt, added the Loctite and bolted it back down. This is where we ran into a slight problem. The provided bolt was about ¾ of an inch too long and would not thread all the way in. After contemplating what was wrong and how to solve the problem we merely cut the supplied bolt down by ¾ of an inch, cleaned the old Loctite off and applied more and ran it back in (before modifying any supplied parts please contact the manufacturer first to make sure you do not void any warranty or put you or your bike in danger of injury or damage). We cannot say that the issue was with the bolt or if the thread pattern was wrong within the motor mount itself but after a lot of measuring and evaluating the amount of bolt that would thread the mount was even more than factory supplied bolt. Total time to install the frame sliders and modifying the one bolt was approximately twenty minutes as well.

Mine and Jairbird’s evaluation of the frame sliders are that they are rock solid and tough as they come! Unfortunately, Jaibird tested the left frame slider the most. At a parking location the bike rolled off the kickstand and fell on its left side. We picked the bike up to evaluate the damage and to our surprise, scuffed the frame slider a little bit and a small scratch on the tail fairing about the size of a shirt button that could be covered with a dab of touch up paint or a strategically placed sticker! The frame sliders had already paid for themselves! Later in the test, Jaibird unfortunately crashed his bike in a corner and the bike hit the pavement then slid across the lane and into a ditch. The damage was a little bit more than the drop from earlier. Broken mirrors, scratched nose cone, left rear fairing and seat cowl but could have been far worse if the frame sliders had not been installed. We could be looking at frame damage, mid and lower fairing, rearset and Jaibird’s leg as the frame slider prevented the bike from pinning his leg underneath. The frame slider stayed in tact and the bolt did not bend or sheer off.

Our overall evaluation is that the frame sliders made by Motovation are, they are well worth the money, durable, reliable and a cinch to install. For a more durable and stronger frame slider for the 2006 GSXR 600 and 750 the direct bolt on frame sliders that require no fairing modifications might be the best route. We did not nor were we going to crash test the GSXR 600 to completely test the offset mount bracket (sorry guys) but I do put full faith in its use on the street bike portion and for the race portion will use the direct bolt on method with the race plastic body. If your bike is in need of frame sliders you cannot go wrong by the products offered by Motovation USA.

Written by
OFFICER737 (Will)
Assisted by and tested by Jaibird (Jai)

Motovation USA
http://motovationusa.com
Contact Person: Roland