ok here's my motivation frame slider story.
Last saturday I was out for a ride with a few mates. I was out ahead and we were covering some extremely bumpy roads. I was approaching a 90 degree right hander and slowed down to 65km/hr (40/45 miles/hr). Suddenly the front of the bike launched itself and slammed back down. The handlebars jamed to full left lock and down we went.
This was my first semi-serious stack on a bike in a couple of years and maybe 40,000k's.
The verdict:
Me - Bit sore, shoulder had a bit of soft tissue damage and a bit of road rash. Not too bad and nothing broken.
Gear - All destroyed. Helmet, gloves, boots and jacket. Thank god I was wearing all that stuff or I would have been in serious trouble.
Bike - Heavily damaged, though primarily cosmetic. Bike still ridable (I rode it 300k's home ) Came down on its right hand side. Frame slider actually snapped off and the thread of the bolt is still stuck in the engine mount. Got the repair bill yesterday, $5300 AUS (approx $4000 US) is the first estimate though this could change as they fix it and find anything else wrong with it. Here's a couple of shots:
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I've got no idea what the frame slider actually saved. Its hard to imagine the right side of the bike having any further damage without the frame slider installed.