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Minute Install for Protection Package
Nothing sucks more than dropping or lowsiding your bike. Not only does your pride get dinged up, but the gashes and damage to your machine are visible evidence of your momentary brain fart. Luckily, once the embarrassment subsides, there are plenty of aftermarket bits that will prevent razzing from your buddies at a bike night should you ever fall victim to another der-der-der moment.
The key to taking your bike home in one reasonable piece is sliders, sliders and more sliders. This month we fitted a 2009 Kawasaki ZX-6R with Rizoma fork and frame sliders and R&G engine case sliders to go along with a toe chain guard that helps protect your leg from being chewed up by a chain if the bike lands on you. No matter what you ride, each of these pieces are paramount to your bike’s survival in the event of a spill—they’ll also take the sting off a bruised ego.
1. Rizoma provided no-cut...
1. Rizoma provided no-cut frame sliders and easy to install fork axle sliders. Twisted Throttle then provided right and left engine case sliders and a toe chain guard—all parts installed easily, with the exception of the toe guard.
2. The Rizoma front axle sliders...
2. The Rizoma front axle sliders only required loosening of the allen bolt by hand on one side before sliding the aluminum rod through the front axle and screwing the opposite slider on. Be careful not to over-tighten the allen bolts on either side as the bolts and rod are soft aluminum and can strip easily.
3. Installing the R&G engine...
3. Installing the R&G engine case protectors was a gremlin in disguise. Make sure not to miss any washers or over-tighten any bolts as the cover may leak. Also, on the Ninja’s left side cowling, the slider does press into the edge of the plastic a bit but did not cause any scuffing.
4. The most tedious part of...
4. The most tedious part of this installation was the frame sliders, which required removing and installing the entire upper cowling a number of times to make sure the arms cleared the plastic with enough room to install the stocks and slider buttons after the slider arms were bolted to the frame.
5. Wait until after you have...
5. Wait until after you have reinstalled and secured the upper cowling before installing and tightening the stocks and slider buttons, as the plastics will not fit over them if they are installed beforehand.
6. The toe guard cannot be...
6. The toe guard cannot be installed with simple hand tools. You will need at least a battery-operated drill, drill bit and tap set in order to drill holes into the bottom of the swingarm, just forward of the spool mount. As the hole needs to be 5mm, there is no comparable standard drill bit exactly this size, so we made due with a 13/64’’ bit.
Next Month: Draining the fuel tank without the mess.