which would be a better idea? the kind that replace mounting bolts with longer bolts w/ aluminum ends or the bars that suzuki sells as an accessory? i feel like if the bike hits the ground hard the threads on the bolt might break? and the suzuki bars are kinda harley-ish....
oh yea and suzuki says u cant use a belly pan with their bars.....can u use one with the peg type protectors?
teh suzuki crash bars are race proven (required to race, actually) while the frame sliders (aluminum ones available at wild hair accessories) are of the style that is also proven for other bikes (but not in aluminum) but they specifically are not proven for the GS.
Either one is better than nothing IMO.
The Suzuki style crash bars are definitely not required to race, and may be a bad idea. Several people have had them ground hard, lifting wheels off the ground in mid-corner. And they are way too heavy for a race bike.
I tested my Wild Hair aluminum sliders last race - collision trying to pass someone. They worked quite well, but did wear down a fair bit in a low speed crash. The long engine bolt they provide did bend, but wasn't too hard to straighten. Seem OK to me on first test, and they are way lighter than the big steel Suzuki things.
Many people use aluminum race style frame sliders on lots of bikes. The GS ones aren't unusual at all.
I had a nice curb hit that would have been too low for sliders to do any good but the bars saved my case. I think for the street the bars would be superior and on the track sliders would work fine since they specificly avoid sharp edges when making tracks. The extra weight on the street isn't that big of a deal.
Just my thoughts.
cool....thanks guys