I can kind of understand using them if they bolt to the frame and once removed leave no trace. But why the hell would anybody drill through a fairing to fit them? Unless they stick on with double sided tape and I'm missing something. "I know, I'm worried about coming off and putting a hole in my fairing, so I'll drill a hole in my fairing to stop that happening" :Banghead:
Does look unsightly. In the same way a cant see the point in putting carbon sliders on the tail unit of a panigale, it looks crap and they cost £70+. If you look on eBay you buy a second hand tail section in as new condition for about the same, so why bother spending £70 to protect something that costs the same to replace?!.:Wacky:
In my experience of various crashes, its more than just about trying to "protect" the fairing. On my R1, ive got the same R&G crash protectors and I think ive come of the bike twice with them on. They protected both the fairing and the engine cases nicely. In fact the only "damage" to the bike was scraped lever/bar ends and scufffed seat unit. The way they fix, usually is via one of the engine mounts, which tends to be a nice solid place on the bike. But one which is also covered by the fairing, hence you have to sometimes drill a 18mm hole in the side fairing, depending on the bike. On my R1 I only had to drill one side fairing., but I think on my 996 id have to drill both sides. It is a fair point though about the cost of replacement bits. The R&G ones for my 996 cost about £150. So I guess you`d have to weigh up the cost of what damage an "off" might cause against £150 to see if its worth it or not.
Lots, including me, fit the under-fairing type. Ok if you come off its still goanna cost ya loads, but no unsightly holes in the faring and less chance of the bike flipping if the slider catches a kerb or digs in. I did a load of reading about all the different types, but all you can really do is make your best informed guess & hope you don't get it too wtong
I just think they look awful. You can't remove them without having a hole in the fairing. If I were looking at a 2nd hand bike with these on, I'd walk away. They also ruin the look of the bike too, you may have a lovely looking Ducati, but it's ruined with 2 big chunks of plastic stuck to the side of it. Madness. Just my opinion of course.
Apart from the fact they look like skateboard wheels; if it came to a crunch, I would prefer the fairing to be damaged rather than the frame...... ......IMO some these crash bungs are in such stupid positions, they could cause a falling bike to tip over onto the clip-ons and tank; etc etc.
There's also the argument that in an off, instead of the bike sliding, the crash bungs can dig in causing the bike to flip and barrel roll, so what could have just been a scuffed fairing and bars ends turns into a completely trashed bike.
