So, last year early on, I got the LSL frame sliders. Liked the look, liked how far they stuck out for street drop protection, etc. Installed, and was very happy early last summer when I lowsided my S1000RR on a suddenly slippery intersection at about 15mph. The bike went down on the left side, nothing touched the front plastics, the slider (original design) had only the black nylon scuffed up, I was completely satisfied. Bought a new nylon pad for $11, life was good.
About that time, reports came out of failures in the original design, and LSL issued a free updated base. Hmm, said I, I was pretty happy with how mine worked, but I'd better get the new base. They sent it to me directly as the shop I'd bought from originally had gone out of business. I installed the new bases, and went about my business.
A few weeks ago, my bike came out of the dealer shop for some unrelated service, with a note on the sheet that my slider base was cracked. I thought WTF, did they drop the bike or something? I looked at the case covers, bar ends, turn signals, and plastics - no sign of any drop. It was dark and I didn't worry about the slider then. Next day, forgot to check it out, pulled into the local Cycle Gear, and one of the staff said "What happened to your slider?". The left side slider had completely cracked through the base and was... gone.
Pics below. You can see that the slider didn't crack at the mounting bush - it wasn't a case of being over-torqued, and I used a torque wrench when I put it on. The bike was *never* down on that slider - there is absolutely no scratch or ding on any piece of plastic, bar, mirror, lever... anything. It appears that it was cracking for awhile, as you can see some corrosion into the crack.
So, the aluminum part, less than six months old, simply - broke in half and fell off the bike. I understand that these things happen, but given the problems others had with the original design, even though I was happy with the performance of the first slider, there's no way I was putting a replacement on there. I haven't even contacted LSL, though I will send the parts back to them when I get around to it - what are they going to do? Replace these "updated" bases with another set? Sorry, I'm not interested. One of the primary requirements for a slider is that they be ON THE BIKE when you crash, not laying by the side of the road somewhere.
(shrug) That's my experience.
KeS
Right side, and what's left of the, er, left.
Hard to see here, but the left side is discolored with corrosion, cracking had been happening for some time.
See, updated bases.
My LSL slider failure experience.
Exwife 2011
#77 Race/Track Bike
Domn8er
Jeep Rubicon
S1000RR
Linear Mode
