R&G Racing Frame Sliders Installation

As I mentioned before, I looked at some postings on the Internet before diving in, and I found one common thing to NOT be the case. Almost every install thread I read mentioned what a pain it was to remove all the fairings, and that it was quicker to just release the bottom of the upper fairings and install the slider mounting blocks with them pulled out. I tried this method on the right side of my bike, and to be perfectly honest, I found it a serious pain to work with the fairing in the way. For the left side, I decided to remove the upper fairing, and while it took a little more time, it made installing the left slider mounting block a lot easier.

RECOMMENDATION: Remove all the fairings to fully expose the areas of the motorcycle in which you will be working. Any job worth doing well is worth doing right.

The nice thing about the R&G sliders is that they do not require any modifications to the fairings themselves. The way the mounting blocks are designed, the plastic bobbin pokes through the bottom of the vent in the upper fairing. In these two pictures, you can see the frame where the mounting blocks will attach. The bobbin is the sacrificial part in the event of a crash that will hopefully take all the damage instead of the precious bodywork or controls.

Right Side:
Left Side:

The Installation

Tools Used:
- Ratchet
- 3/8" ratchet driver extension
- 4mm hex key driver (for the bodywork fasteners)
- 5mm hex key driver (for the rear mounting block clamp bolts)
- 6mm hex key driver (for the replacement engine mounting bolt)
- 10mm socket driver (for the existing engine mounting bolt)
- 17mm socket driver (for the bobbin mounting bolt)
- Torque Wrench
- 44 N-m for the engine mounting bolts (see comments re: torque specs)
- 40 N-m (max) for the remaining R&G bolts
- Loctite 242 Blue threadlocker

Despite the fact that I did the right side without removing the fairings, I am going to write this up as if the fairings have been completely removed. I will follow this up with a write up on completely removing the '06-'08 Ninja 650R fairings. It may not be until tomorrow, because I think I may need to take a couple of extra pictures for clarity sake.

So, now that you have all the fairings removed and safely stashed somewhere away from the work area, we will start with the right side slider installation. One of the things that I wondered when I opened the package was "Which mounting block goes on which side?" Once you have the frame exposed, it's actually quite obvious. The easiest way to tell is to look at the bolt holes. The large hole is the engine mounting bolt hole, and it is on the bottom of the mounting block. The two smaller clamp bolt holes go toward the rear of the bike. So for the right-side mounting block, the two smaller clamp bolt holes are on the left, and the engine mounting bolt hole is on the right. Vice-versa for the left-side mounting block. In the end, they can only be mounted on their intended sides, which is obvious now, but not before you remove the bodywork.

For Right Side:
For Left Side:

Aside from the fact that the mounting blocks look different, the installation procedure is the same.

Using the ratchet with a 10mm socket driver, remove the engine mounting bolt that lines up with the large hole on the mounting block. This is the silver bolt on the underside of the red painted frame. Set this bolt aside. You will not be using it again. (You should have two at the end of this exercise.)

Right Side:
Left Side:

If you're not sure, you can always hold the mounting block up to the frame to see which of the bolts lines up.

Right Side:
Left Side:

There are two M8 hex socket bolts provided in the R&G package. The shorter one goes on the right, longer one goes on the left side. If you put each on in their respective mounting block, you'll see that the amount of revealed thread is the same. If not, you have them in the wrong block. You can see in the pictures above that the left mounting block requires a longer engine mounting bolt. You need to use a 6mm hex key driver for these bolts.

Push the M8 engine mounting bolt through the bottom hole in the mounting block and apply one drop of Loctite 242 Blue threadlocker to the threads. (See Woodcraft Swingarm Spools Installation for more on threadlocker.) Tighten the bolt just to the point that it is snug, but do not tighten any further yet. I had to use the ratchet extension with the 6mm hex key driver to get this done. If you have T-handle hex drivers, that works, too. This will hold the mounting block in place while you fasten the rear mounting bolts to the clamp.

Apply a drop of threadlocker to one of the M6x30mm clamp bolts and push it through the top hole at the rear of the mounting block. Take the black curved clamp and place it on the inside face of the frame opposite the two bolt holes of the mounting block and screw the top clamp bolt in just far enough for it to hold. Apply a drop to a second M6x30mm clamp bolt, push it through the bottom hole, and tighten it. Using a 5mm hex key driver, tighten one bolt until it is snug, then tighten the other bolt until it is equally snug.

Take the torque wrench with the 6mm hex key driver, set it to 44 N-m, and tighten the engine mounting bolt. (See Woodcraft Swingarm Spools Installation for more on using the torque wrench.)

Now switch the 6mm to the 5mm driver, set the torque wrench to 40 N-m, and tighten the clamp bolts on the rear of the mounting block. I made sure to tighten them at the same rate, e.g. 1/4 turn on the top, 1/4 on the bottom, repeat. Keep in mind that the 40 N-m is a maximum value. I found that two of the four M6x30 sockets started to strip before the torque wrench clutch gave way, so you may not necessarily reach the max bolt torque. Unfortunately, I do not know at what torque value this happened, but I am confident that it is sufficient to keep the mounting block in place in conjunction with the properly torqued engine mounting bolt. Congratulations, you now have two properly mounted slider mounting blocks.

NOTE: This part of the installation is where it's a serious pain to have the fairing still attached, because you're constantly trying to push it out of the way, get under it, insert the bolts without a clear view, or try to fit your tools under it. Take the time to remove the fairings, and this will go a lot faster.

Right Side:
Left Side:
Left Side Rear Clamp:

Now that the mounting blocks are in place, it is time to reinstall all of the bodywork. Again, this will be covered in another post. Once the bodywork is back in place, all that remains is to install the bobbins. Take the M10x70mm bolt, slide one M10 washer up to the head, push the bolt through the open end of the bobbin. Now take a 17mm socket, put it on the 3/8" driver ratchet extension, and push the socket into the bobbin until it connects with the bolt head. Keeping the bolt pushed all the way into the bobbin with the ratchet extension, apply one drop of threadlocker to the bolt threads, and carefully start threading the bolt into the slider mounting block. Keep going until it is snug. Take the torque wrench, which should still be set to 40 N-m (if not, set it to 40 N-m), attach the extension with 17mm socket, and carefully tighten the bolt until it slips.

If you grasp the bobbin, you should be able give it a pretty good (and careful) tug or push and feel the bike move as if you were holding the handlebar and doing it. There should not be any play in the mounting block whatsoever.

Congratulations, your new R&G Racing Frame Sliders are now installed!

Right Side:
Left Side:

DISCLAIMER: This blog is purely for information sharing purposes. Anything you do to your bike is at your sole discretion, and I cannot be held responsible for any badness that may occur while attempting any of these activities.