To the OP,
Browse through some of the posts in the CDA thread. No one plans on dropping their bike, but sh#t happens. A lot of drops occur at low speeds or while sitting still, and, as mentioned before, a simple drop can cost a lot of money to fix. I installed frame sliders on my bike, and I feel like it was good decision. My father has the same make/model C14 that I do. On our last bike trip, he let my brother borrow the Connie (Dad still rides the Wing more) since his bike was having issues. My brother is a very capable rider, but the "sh#t happens" bug bit him when he least expected it. He was doing a simple U-turn on a very wide road, but the hill killed his momentum, and the fully loaded Connie fell. Even with my brother slowing the fall (he's a strong guy, so strong that he immediately picked the Connie back up by its handle bars, on a hill), the drop still damaged the left side mirror, middle and lower fairing, and left bag. Insurance footed the bill, but it was still an ass pain to fix the bike. The local body shop completely botched the paint on the first attempt... gloss red instead of the metallic red. The second attempt was better color wise, but they ran the clear coat and failed to clean properly before painting (fish eyes in the finish). The mirror had to be completely replaced, and I believe the left bag suffered from the same bad paint as the middle fairing. The bike is fine now, and most people will never notice the less than desirable paint, but the down-time was significant. Frame sliders and MC Enterprises bag protectors would've made that drop nothing more than another funny story to tell and something to give my bro sh#t about.
If I honestly believed that nothing would ever happen to my bike or myself, I'd ride in a t-shirt, shorts, tennis shoes, and sunglasses. But I've witnessed multiple bike accidents/drops, so my bike and I both dress for the fall.
