Aprilia Futura - Crash bungs (frame sliders)
The Futura can be very vulnerable to damage when falling over at a standstill, never mind a low speed spill, but crash bungs can save you a lot of hassle, especially if the bike goes down without the hard luggage on.
Nothing
can guarantee your bike won't get damaged in a low speed accident, but
crash bungs can reduce the risk of a minor off ruining your day.
Three companies (at the time of writing) make crash bungs to fit the Futura, all using the main front engine mounting points and all requiring some cutting to the inner fairing inserts - or you can take them out.
They are:
- R&G
- Design Cycle
- Rhino Moto
All also do various other protectors.
Of
all of them, R&Gs, with their thick mounts, seem to be the most popular and have been 'tested' by
a few owners on the Ariliaforum, standing up well in low speed offs and
static drops.
This topic has been discussed on the Apriliaforums at length. The unfortunate Editim crashed at about 40mph with R&G sliders fitted. The results were interesting, to say the least:
Apriliaforum: R&G frame sliders finally crash tested!
As you may gather from reading these threads, the Aprilia panniers also act quite well as crash protectors!
And as a final aside, be careful when filtering if using crash bungs, especially the brands that use a pronounced lip. I know of one case of a British rider whose crash bung got caught in the wheel arch of a 4x4. He didn't crash but for a few seconds he had the fright of his life!
Page last updated: June 6, 2010
