5 Motorcycle Protection Parts Worth Installing Before Your Next Long Ride

# 5 Motorcycle Protection Parts Worth Installing Before Your Next Long Ride

New bike owners tend to spend their first accessory budget on looks — and there's nothing wrong with that. But before your first highway run or off-road detour, there's a shorter list of parts that earn their keep the moment something goes even slightly wrong. Here's what's actually worth prioritizing.

## 1. Frame sliders

Covered in more depth in our [frame sliders vs crash guards guide](/blogs/guides/frame-sliders-vs-crash-guards), but the short version: they're inexpensive, low-profile, and dramatically reduce fairing and frame damage in a low-to-mid-speed drop. For the cost, they're the highest value-for-money protection part on this list.

## 2. Skid plate

If you ride on anything other than smooth city roads — broken tarmac, gravel patches, speed bumps taken a little too fast — a skid plate protects the engine casing and exhaust header from impact with rocks, curbs, and potholes. This matters even more on bikes with a low-slung engine or exposed header pipe, where a single hard hit can mean an expensive repair.

## 3. Radiator guard

Your radiator sits directly in the line of fire for stone chips, gravel kicked up from the bike ahead, and minor tip-overs. A cracked radiator fin isn't just a cosmetic issue — it can mean an overheating engine mid-ride, far from a mechanic. A guard is one of the cheapest parts on this list relative to what it prevents.

## 4. Fork sliders / fork protectors

Fork sliders shield your fork tubes and lower triple clamp area in a fall — the fork stanchions are precision-machined surfaces, and even a minor scratch can affect seal life and lead to oil leaks down the line. Worth it even if you never expect to drop the bike, because parking lot tip-overs happen to everyone eventually.

## 5. Bar end sliders

The handlebar ends are almost always the first thing to hit the ground in a fall, since the bars stick out further than the rest of the bike. Bar end sliders are small, cheap, and prevent your clutch/brake levers and switchgear from taking the full impact — which otherwise means replacing bent levers or cracked switch housings.

## The honest priority order

If you're budgeting these out over a few months rather than all at once, a reasonable order is: **frame sliders → skid plate → radiator guard → fork sliders → bar end sliders.** This roughly follows cost-to-protection ratio, though riders who do more off-road or gravel stretches should move the skid plate up to first.

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*Browse the full range under [Protection Combo](https://www.motoaggrandize.com/collections/protection-combo) for bundled pricing, or shop each part individually by [brand and model](https://www.motoaggrandize.com/pages/ktm) for guaranteed fitment.*