Frame Sliders Save The Day

Or rather, the fairings on my Ninja 650R.

So there I was, contemplating taking the bike to work on a Monday's morning to beat the hustle and bustle of the traffic jam and Monday blues.

The night before, I got my riding jacket and pants ready, along with gloves, Shoei helmet and laptop backpack. The good thing about the largish made-in-Italy Givi V46 trunk/top-box was that it was able to swallow my laptop, backpack and more items easily and with no fuss. I would definitely recommend this accessory to any superbikers whom need a place of storage during their rides. I also removed the twin side-panniers (Givi V35, also made-in-Italy) as it would enhance the Green Hornet's maneuverability during the jam-packed peak hours in the morning and evening. The side-panniers typically swallow a full-face helmet each with ease; and as I am riding alone, just the top-box would suffice for now.

At the parking exit, thanks to the combination of some sand deposit on the road from the rain the day before and an overzealous Proton Gen2 driver whom turned left (my bike was stationary next to him) instead of the one-way-street's right, I tried to avoid the car and therefore lose my balance.

And down I went like a sack of potatoes- albeit Matrix-slow style as I held on to my bike with all my strength to prevent it hitting the road hard.

The Proton Gen2 driver saw this, and sped away. So much for his conscience.

I freed myself and tried to pull the bike upwards but it was too heavy. A very nice Malay lady driver whom was behind me alighted to see if I was alright, and helped me too but it was just too heavy. But irregardless, I was truly grateful for her kind assistance and heart of gold.

She went to the cars behind her to ask for help, and a nice burly Indian chap came along. Both of us timed our efforts and pulled up the Green Hornet, no doubt swearing in one's heart along the lines of "Darn, this is one heavy bike really!". I pushed the bike aside, thanked both of them for their assistance and waved them goodbye. What we experienced, minus the Proton Gen2's action, was a truly 1Malaysia moment.

I surveyed for the damage on my bike and was pleasantly surprised that the fairings had nil, zitch, nada scratches at all! It looks good as new. Only the frame slider had some scuffs at its end, but then again, that was what it was there for and it had performed flawlessly.

 
There you have it folks, the Green Hornet looked as handsome as ever- thanks to the protection accorded by the frame sliders. If you haven't have this accessory installed on your bike, I would strongly recommend that you do this ASAP as it would be a very worthwhile accessory costing some RM500, to protect your bike's fairings costing thousands of moolah.