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Everyone needs sliders on their streetbike. With sliders, you can fully drop your bike at low speed and pick it out without any damage. At higher speeds they will obviously bend or grind down completely and then some damage will naturally occur. BUT they will almost always save your engine and frame in the worst case crashes.
Here is an obvious case in which they definitely helped out but the severity of the crash was just too much for them to handle. There is no doubt that they did help though. Sliders are cheap insurance for sure. This bike was obviously racing in the water at a very high speed for this kinda damage to happen. Interesting pictures none the less. http://www.fourwheelperformance.com/...iders_used.jpg |
I have installed the sliders a while ago and will post the pictures by the end of the week. It took a little longer than I thought it would strictly because you have to figure out which length of bolts go in each hole and you are on your own when it comes to punching out the hole on each side of the side panels!
So if you want to see some of the worst instructions ever written in English follow this link to the R&G Slider Instruction manual for APrilia Mille RSV and RSVR motorcycles: http://www.fourwheelperformance.com/...le_sliders.pdf So I'm now working on pictures that I took from my installation. Punching holes in your expensive Mille sidepanels is a little nerve racking so I hope my advise and pictures will help some people out. |
So here is our goal.. some nice smooth looking sliders to protect the main side fairings.
http://www.fourwheelperformance.com/...sliders_00.jpg My installation went pretty good. I spend some good quality time on this because the supplied instructions were absolute S#*T. Here is the breakdown:
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To begin with here is a picture of the left side mounts installed. R & G gives you the right bolts but they mix em up and you get to figure out exactly which length bolts go where. I was in a hurry so I forgot to take a picture of the lengths for each side. But here are the mounts and the bolts installed where the engine mounts are in the frame.
Left side mount installed and showing the longer stem slider which belongs on the left side. http://www.fourwheelperformance.com/...sliders_01.jpg http://www.fourwheelperformance.com/...sliders_02.jpg |
And here we are with the RIGHT side mount installed. As you can see the mount has more of a tapered face to it whereas the other side uses a flat mount. Also note the short stem slider which installs here on the RIGHT side.
**Now I want to know WHO THE HELL was writing the directions for R&G!!! I mean it's like they never installed them but they were just giving the theory behind installing them on an Aprilia. I was pretty damn pissed when I went out of my way to download the directions and then printed out the rambling that were provided with the intentions of helping customers install their expensive product. Yeah they are high quality but damn they cost near nothing to produce besides some labor. But you make 3,000 sets and can realize a profit selling them for $40. BUT MORE than that should EASILY justify the investment of some BETTER INSTRUCTIONS provided to the customer.** Ok time to calm down. I do appreciate these nice sliders and they are a fine product. Back to our regularly scheduled programming.... Here is what the right mount look like when installed to the engine mounting location. http://www.fourwheelperformance.com/...sliders_09.jpg http://www.fourwheelperformance.com/...sliders_03.jpg |
Ok the R&G mounts are installed. Now you want to put the panels on and then drill a small hole and get it as close to the center of the mounting hole as possible. Just eyeball the mount and try and get as close as you can so that way you can see the mounting hole behind the side panel. Then you can use your favorite grinding tool to hone out the hole larger while at the same time moving the hole left right, up and down, while enlarging it, until it is centered on the mounting hole.
I quickly just drilled a small hole and went to work with a air di-grinder. If you don't have anything like that then you are forced to use a rat tail file or something like that to enlarge the hole. Using a small hole saw is kinda risky and I would leave that tool in your drywall work box. As you know these panels are too expensive to chop up with a saw. http://www.fourwheelperformance.com/...sliders_04.jpg Get the vaccuum on standby cuase the plastic sawdust gets everywhere! http://www.fourwheelperformance.com/...sliders_05.jpg http://www.fourwheelperformance.com/...sliders_06.jpg |
And to get those edges nice and factory smooth....
Ooolahlah! http://www.fourwheelperformance.com/...sliders_07.jpg And installed nice and as good as it gets. Now you just simply bolt the slider in place. It is idea to have the hole just a tad larger than the stem so that the slider and spin without much rubbing. If the hole it too tight it just will cause the fairing side panel to bind against the pieces around it from the vibration from the slider. You know... an AK-47 is loose and just works better than other comparable guns. I believe in the same principals here. http://www.fourwheelperformance.com/...sliders_08.jpg |
Now guess what? Making the hole on the left side of the Aprilia Mille is done just like the right BUT it's just a bit more difficult. So I recommend warming up on the right side first.
Here is my rough but left side hole. The hole location is more on the edge of the air vent so it's drilled at a more difficult angle. It's a mind bender. :rolleyes: http://www.fourwheelperformance.com/...sliders_10.jpg |
Now in order for the hole to fit the slider stem it has to be cut a lot deeper into the panel... like 3D style or on the Z axis. This picture was taken from the same angle to! Check it out:
http://www.fourwheelperformance.com/...sliders_11.jpg Here is what it looks like from the inside to give you an idea of how whacky the hole has to look to fit the slider through it. http://www.fourwheelperformance.com/...sliders_12.jpg Now get out that file and make the hole smooth! Have fun, yeah right. |
All said and done this is the final result and they give great peace of mine. Let's just pray we never have to utilize them!
http://www.fourwheelperformance.com/...sliders_13.jpg http://www.fourwheelperformance.com/...sliders_14.jpg |
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