Motorcycle engine guards

Frame sliders, also known as crash bungs, crash protectors or engine guards, stick out from the frame, engine or axles so that if the bike goes down it rests on them rather than on the fairing, engine covers or levers. A tip-over at a standstill or a slide on a roundabout can cost you a fairing panel, a cover or a lever; with a good slider, it often ends with nothing worse than a scuffed puck. Here you will find sliders from Puig, Pelacrash, SW-Motech, Rizoma and Givi, plus engine case covers and crash bars.

What a slider protects, and where it stops

A slider earns its keep in everyday spills: the bike that topples over while you manoeuvre it, a slide on diesel at a roundabout or a slow-speed fall on a trail. Landing on it lifts the bike a few centimetres, so it slides on the puck instead of grinding its side along the ground. At higher speeds it still limits the damage, but no part leaves a bike untouched in a big crash, and sometimes the slider breaks precisely so that something more expensive does not.

Four ways to protect the bike

• Frame or engine sliders: the classic kind, one on each side at engine height. They make up most of this section.
• Axle sliders: small pucks on the front or rear wheel spindle that protect the fork legs, brake calipers and swingarm. SW-Motech makes them for many naked and adventure bikes, and Puig's own are among its fork and swingarm sliders.
• Engine case covers: guards that bolt over the alternator or clutch cover, which is usually the first metal to hit the tarmac and, if it cracks, lets the oil out. Puig makes them in standard and Track versions.
• Crash bars: tubular frames around the engine, typical of adventure bikes and cruisers, such as the Puig bars for the Ténéré 700 or F 800 GS and the Customacces bars for the Sportster. The full choice, including Givi and SW-Motech, is under motorcycle crash bars.

Sliders or crash bars: it depends on the bike

On sports and naked bikes, frame sliders are the natural choice: they are light, barely visible and cover the points that suffer most, and a pair of axle sliders completes the set. On adventure bikes, where the engine is more exposed and many falls happen at a standstill or off the tarmac, crash bars cover a bigger area. On neo-retros and classics, looks matter: there are cylindrical sliders that sit well with a round headlight and a classic tank.

The ranges you will find

Puig

Puig R19 frame sliders are a discreet puck with a rubber cap on top that you can choose in several colours. The PRO 2.0 have a more racing design, with side fins and flexible pieces front and rear, and versions for current nakeds such as the Z900, CB650R or MT-09. The Vintage 2.0 are cylindrical, take coloured rubber rings and suit bikes such as the Leoncino, XSR 125 or FTR; you will find them under Puig Vintage 2.0 sliders. Everything else Puig makes in this field, including Track covers and crash bars, sits under Puig frame sliders.

Pelacrash

Pelacrash is a brand that specialises in crash protection, with two ranges, Extreme and Factory. Its strong point is coverage: as well as current bikes, it reaches models few others still cater for, such as the Thunderace, the 2001 GSX-R 1000 or the Hyosung GT Comet, and each part number comes with everything needed to fit it.

SW-Motech, Rizoma and Givi

SW-Motech sliders are organised by area, engine, frame, front axle and rear axle, and cover naked and adventure bikes from BMW, Triumph, Yamaha, Ducati, KTM or Honda. Rizoma makes them with an aluminium body in black, silver or blue for the Z 900, MT-07 or S 1000 RR, and Givi has kits for several Yamaha, Kawasaki, Triumph and BMW nakeds.

Fitting: the long bolt

Most sliders are fitted by replacing one of the bolts that hold the engine to the frame with a longer one, plus a spacer that sets the puck at the right distance. Swap the bolts one at a time so the engine does not shift on its mounts, and tighten them to the torque in your bike's manual. On some faired bikes the slider pokes through the fairing and a hole has to be cut; if so, the instructions will say. With so many part numbers, it pays to add your bike to My Garage: the strip at the top of the list then counts the sliders that suit it and lets you narrow the list down to them.

After a spill

Check the puck and, above all, the bolt: if it is bent, replace it before riding again, and make sure the engine mount has no cracks. A heavily worn puck no longer slides the same way. Puig sells the parts that take the punishment separately, such as nylon pucks with M10 or M12 bolts in 50 or 85 mm for the R19, coloured rubbers for the PRO and PRO 2.0 or rings for the Vintage, so often you only need to renew that part.