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18 hours ago, 1moreroad said:

SW Motech makes 2 skid plates, a flat plate with a curl on the front and a 2 piece plate that sort of looks like a belly pan. I liked the looks of the belly pan so I ordered that. 

copy_of_mss_06_471_10000_b_2_xl_grande.j

Or

mss.06.599.10000.s_headon.web2.jpg

Rattle can? Plastic dip? Wouldn't recommend vinyl wrap on a skid plate. :)

Hey I really like that, may consider bolting one up!!! :)

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I've got a SRC skid plate that has been installed for a few months.  I've scraped it a time or two.  It has some scratches on the bottom as a result.  One is a moderate scratch.  Did my first oil change since the install and probably could have done it without removing it I pulled it off to avoid the inevitable cleanup.  Looking it over it looks like new except for the scratches.  there is no bow or bend to the bottom even though I've scraped it a little.  Also looking at the back, the last couple of inches are slightly bent up.  That coupled with the mounting bracket that goes across the rear and is bolted to it gives substantial strength and bending resistance for the bottom.  Not saying can't be done just will take a hefty impact.

Mine in the powder coated black and looks great on the bike.

EDIT:  As far as the difficulty of taking off to change the oil it's a lot easier than taking the fairing off of sport bike I've had just to change the oil. 

Edited by PhotoAl
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This has been an interesting Thread, and a stern reminder that one can be unlucky enough to have substantial bike-stopping damage done even on a major highway and not only on rocky off-road trails.   I'm with those who are glad the OP was unharmed.

I have had no experience with sump guards/ skid plates except the OE ones fitted to past BMW GSs, but may I add a word or three about aftermarket radiator protection?   The rads on CP3-powered Yamaha bikes are pretty big and offer a large target to anything being thrown up off the road into their general direction.   It may not happen often, but once would be enough. 

Many of the rad guards on the market are made of perforated pressed aluminium sheet.   This may be quite OK for a tea-strainer, but offers little protection to serious rock-flying at speed.   Added to that the gap between the guard and the front radiator surface itself is small, a few mm at best, and the butterfly-wing fragility of the rad fins needs something pretty substantial to be adequately protected.   So - choose your radiator guard carefully, paying particular attention to the material it's made of.

Edited by wordsmith
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Riding a fully-farkled 2019 MT-09 Tracer 900 GT from my bayside home in South East Queensland, Australia.   

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...ordred my SW Motech bash plate on June 10th from Twisted Throttle and it arrived today - from US to Canada?!?  That's fantastic service.

It was certainly packaged well.  It had enough packing tape and bubble wrap to protect the whole bike.

It looks outstanding...but the ex-tin basher in me is furious for being without access to a metal shop, lol.  With a shear and a power brake I could easily make one of these, although perhaps not quite to the meticulous standard these seem to be.  The clear attention to detail looks outstanding; no regrets, just bellyaching :)

Does anyone happen to have measurements to drill a hole for the drain plug on an FJ?  I'm happy to post the details when the time comes if not (in about a week).

2015 FJ-09 / FJR touring bags / oil plug mod / Evotech rad guard / SW Motech bash plate / VStream touring windshield / Seat Concepts:  Sport Touring / Vcyclenut ABS rings (speedo correction) / Cosmo RAM mount

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 Hard to believe SW Motech didn't punch a hole into it for the drain bolt. They had one in the plate I put on my KLR650 and it's easy to take the pan off for an oil change, which I do to save the clean up and look for other problems.

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He who dies with the most toys wins.

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5 hours ago, knyte said:

...but the ex-tin basher in me is furious for being without access to a metal shop, lol.  With a shear and a power brake I could easily make one of these.  

No need to be a tin-basher😃!   Most auto accessories shop sell sheets of perforated aluminium sheet, in black or silver, and some in anodised colours too if you're into a little bling.   I have some here from a sheet 1200mm x 280mm - "Universal Mesh".   Cost me about $30 IIRC.

Easy enough to cut pieces to suit with a pair of tin-snips, but my caveat above still holds with this stuff, as it is fairly light in weight and in protection too I imagine.

 

P1070627.JPG

Edited by wordsmith
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Riding a fully-farkled 2019 MT-09 Tracer 900 GT from my bayside home in South East Queensland, Australia.   

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1 hour ago, knyte said:

...ordred my SW Motech bash plate on June 10th from Twisted Throttle and it arrived today - from US to Canada?!?  That's fantastic service.

It was certainly packaged well.  It had enough packing tape and bubble wrap to protect the whole bike.

It looks outstanding...but the ex-tin basher in me is furious for being without access to a metal shop, lol.  With a shear and a power brake I could easily make one of these.  That said, the clear attention to detail looks outstanding; no regrets, just bellyaching :)

Does anyone happen to have measurements to drill a hole for the drain plug on an FJ?  I'm happy to post the details when the time comes if not (in about a week).

ordered mine the same day and it's barely moved one state (Rhode island to Connecticut). still a long way to go to Nevada.

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On 6/14/2021 at 5:14 PM, knyte said:

...ordred my SW Motech bash plate on June 10th from Twisted Throttle and it arrived today - from US to Canada?!?  That's fantastic service.

It was certainly packaged well.  It had enough packing tape and bubble wrap to protect the whole bike.

It looks outstanding...but the ex-tin basher in me is furious for being without access to a metal shop, lol.  With a shear and a power brake I could easily make one of these, although perhaps not quite to the meticulous standard these seem to be.  The clear attention to detail looks outstanding; no regrets, just bellyaching :)

Does anyone happen to have measurements to drill a hole for the drain plug on an FJ?  I'm happy to post the details when the time comes if not (in about a week).

knyte, do you mind clarifying how you got your skidplate on? Mine just arrived and I'm having trouble finding the correct area for step #2 (could be because it was 102 out and i was doing it in the sun LOL). would you mind taking a video or helping me clarify? thanks a lot

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...haven't installed it yet, but I'll be sure to take some notes when I do!

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2015 FJ-09 / FJR touring bags / oil plug mod / Evotech rad guard / SW Motech bash plate / VStream touring windshield / Seat Concepts:  Sport Touring / Vcyclenut ABS rings (speedo correction) / Cosmo RAM mount

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It’s only a few screws to remove the plate so I don’t think it’s much of an issue. Just leave the mounting arms in place and remove the plate itself. I then clean the plate thoroughly and buff out the pitting on the front face and refit.

Edit: I also painted the inner surface matt black, so any dirt is less obvious.

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Red 2015 Tracer, UK spec (well, it was until I started messing with it...)

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Yesterday rode from Laramie WY to Vernal Utah via some great mountain roads.  1st Snowy Mountain Road then Battle Pass (hwy 70).  Then down to Craig CO via hwy 13 which was pretty good EXCEPT for the stretch they were working on!!!  No pavement, dirt gravel and rocks up to fist sized!  2 one lane stretches but a mostly two way traffic with 18 wheelers!  I’m no diet expert so took it slow and easy but was so thankful for my skid plate.  Don’t think I hit anything but as pointed out it only takes one.  This was a fairly remote area so help would have taken some time.  Time that probably would be best measured with a sundial or possible a calendar 🙂  

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Obviously, all happy only your poor bike got hurt, possibly terminally. 

As was mentioned, not sure a skip plate would have saved the sump, maybe, but not the  header up above at best.  How big was that spall!?

SW Mototech skip plate, radiator guard, front FendaExtenda, hugger extender, clear headlight lens shield (you know how much a replacement is?! Let alone loosing the headlight at night or on tour), Givi case guards, fork & swing arm sliders, rear brake MC remote reservoir guard, bigger stronger hand guards, bar end sliders, hard panniers & top case (the latter 2 act like sacrificial bumpers).

Then there's conspicuity.  Driving lights, headlight modulator, side and rear position  running lights, LED turn signals with rears with running lights like front, auxiliary brake light, dual horns, Brakefree helmet brake / running / strobe, twin 30 mm front & rear rocket launchers, reflective wheel rim tape, Neon yellow / green electroluminescent see-me vest (now supplanted by Hit-Air vest).

Then quality ATGATT.

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@2and3cylinders

It was a pretty large concrete slab, maybe just under a foot high and roughly 3 inches wide? Was hard to pick the proper route through the debris when going highway speeds. Without the construction going on I would've had an extra lane to get over, I'm sure I could've prevented it if I had focused one less second on the car accident and more on the debris.

I would like to think a skid plate would've taken enough force out of the hit that even if it damaged the sump it wouldn't have taken the chunk out of the engine case in the picture. I can replace a sump and header pipes no problem; I probably would've just put he stock exhaust back on for a time.

I'm always in helmet, gloves, Stylmartin boots, armored jacket, and riding jeans; I may sometimes skip riding jeans for a grocery run. Have gear for every season, I try to get 10-months of riding here even with our cold wet winters.

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On 6/14/2021 at 7:14 PM, knyte said:

...ordred my SW Motech bash plate on June 10th from Twisted Throttle and it arrived today - from US to Canada?!?  That's fantastic service.

It was certainly packaged well.  It had enough packing tape and bubble wrap to protect the whole bike.

It looks outstanding...but the ex-tin basher in me is furious for being without access to a metal shop, lol.  With a shear and a power brake I could easily make one of these, although perhaps not quite to the meticulous standard these seem to be.  The clear attention to detail looks outstanding; no regrets, just bellyaching :)

Does anyone happen to have measurements to drill a hole for the drain plug on an FJ?  I'm happy to post the details when the time comes if not (in about a week).

 I posted up what I did a while ago if you search for my thread

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On 6/14/2021 at 5:14 PM, knyte said:

Does anyone happen to have measurements to drill a hole for the drain plug on an FJ?  I'm happy to post the details when the time comes if not (in about a week).

I don't have measurements but it was easy enough to eyeball the location. You can see how I drilled mine here:

As you can see in the photos on that page I still have the old-style drain plug that faces down, and drilled the hole accordingly. The hole worked fine for draining the oil sump, but I wasn't able to avoid a huge mess when replacing the filter. I will probably just drop the skid plate for the next oil change. 

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