Own development of "bulletproof" skid plate.
 

Hi guys, as I cannot find any durable enough looking skid plate for XTR, I decided to develop one for myself. And I will appreciate any good ideas you can give me. Current prototype is made from 5mm Al material, laser cut, welded only for testing, no final stadium. Final type will be welded to "look nice" or brushed from outside to not be able to see any welding.

What you think about construction? I tried to protect water pump, let enough air wents and protect even mag cover. All mounted on frame directly with 4x 10mm screws - original points on bike.

Development hi-res gallery is here.

Thanks for any ideas, Radek

https://photos.smugmug.com/Yamaha-XT...8_193528-S.jpg https://photos.smugmug.com/Yamaha-XT...8_192408-S.jpg https://photos.smugmug.com/Yamaha-XT...8_192330-S.jpg https://photos.smugmug.com/Yamaha-XT...8_192303-S.jpg

Hello and welcome aboard.
That's a Decent looking guard you're made and i quite like it's exposed welded look.
Only personal option I would suggest would be as you have done a great job of covering the the pump and mag cover maybe some small hard rubber blocks attached to the inside of the guard incase in a side fall the alloy would contact the casings. That could help disperse the force.

Colin J

Welcome to the forum! , that looks like a seriously strong bash plate. ..good job! Steve

Hi Colin, that sounds me like a really good idea! Thanks a lot, I will try find something proper to stick to inner side...

Thanks Steve, I will test its strength during weekend hardcore testing.. Will post some video...

Wow !
Solid !

Great Job !

i have some suggestion about a possible airflow improvment. on the side, maybe it is better to cut a bit a let the airflow cool the sides and the engine. like this (your actual job ), it can have a "lift" effect too - hard to say (French sorry :)) . better for air resistance i mean

https://s14.postimg.org/5ms9xho4t/IM..._192303-_S.jpg

Thanks for opinion!

Meanwhile, we tested current state in real conditions. It was very, very hard to bend it ;-) but we did. So we added some more "ribs" (?) to inner bottom part and inner front part. There was not any problem with heating. Material itself works like big cooler, absorbing and radiating heat from engine (aluminum). We decided to cancel some of front vents to avoid mud going directly into skid plate - it will be much worst for heat to have full plate of mud. We are canceling all in the middle and some near mounting part, which need to be stronger. We discuss exactly the same vents you mean, but there is opinion - if you will ride through muddy road in deep track, you will have skid plate on mud and vents can "slice" mud and it can get inside...
https://photos.smugmug.com/Yamaha-XT...6_100659-M.png

yeah you are right about the mud for the sides ;) didnt thought about that :)

this is a very nice project !

somethng i ve noticed and may be usefull for "enduro" or heave road - is the cooling hose on the right side. freaking bad placement here ... is there anytong to do with your proctection ?

We think about that it is soft enough to not be destroyed by "flying" rock from front wheel, it is inside bike enough not to be destroyed by dropping bike on right site... and making skid plate over that will look horrible.

Anyway, we are developing additional crash bars for lower part of fairing and radiator, compatible with skid plate. It will solve rest of problems.

Damn ! extrem pro project !!

i already need it :D

Good ;-) Skid plate will be available in about 2 weeks, crash bars few weeks later...

Hi !

can we have an update please?

Hi, as any project, which does not rely only on yourself, we are a little bit late with production. Laser cutting and bending material for first serie is promissed to be done in week, starting 10th (this week it will be holiday in CZ, so nobody is working, including us - bike trip to Alps :-) ). I hope we will have 1st serie of 10 pcs till friday 14th. Will see.

Hi again, we are still little bit late. We had to change laser-cutting company, original one was not able to produce for us material for first series on time. (You know that - "sure, it will be this Friday... sure, it will be on Monday... next week definitely...") They have too much work...

So, now we ordered laser-cutting in another company, it should work faster. Hope so. Laser cutting is only thing we do not have in-house. After that, it will be easy work... Anyway, this means more time for real-life testing! I am constantly riding my XT with prototype, causing a lot of crashes, with no problems at all... Stay tuned.

thanks for the update ! really hope to have some news soon :)

Hi, some news. Finaly, we found engineer smart enough, who prepared blueprint for laser with all possible bended parts. So there will be less welding.

https://photos.smugmug.com/Yamaha-XT...3_105010-S.jpg

This is final proof prototype of upgraded skid plate after all tests, made from steel. Everything was OK, so we are prepared for first serie from Al.

More pics, hi-ress: here https://radekfiala.smugmug.com/Yamah...plate-develop/

https://photos.smugmug.com/Yamaha-XT...3_115944-S.jpg

Hi !

thanks for the update :) i really want to see a finished product :) will you sell it? any idea of the price ?

on the last picture ( see websites), we see "welding spots", do you plan to do do a full weld for little parts?

Hi, this steel 3D model was only partly-welded, only to see, if everything works in 3D after changing some details and machine molding. Final ALU product will be welded all over corners, to be most possible firm and non-destroyable ;-)

As our product is in fact combination of skid plate and lower crash bars, protecting both sides of engine case in case of side-crash, like this for XTZ, our price will be lower. We are thinking about little bit over 228 EUR with CZK VAT, which is about 188 EUR VAT excluded for export (if you have VAT registration).

...from development...
https://photos.smugmug.com/Yamaha-XT...M/nakres-M.jpg https://photos.smugmug.com/Yamaha-XT.../nakres2-S.png

Hi,

i had some bike problemes so i was not here for a while.

good to see some news :)

2 suggestion/ question

do you expect/need silent block ?

the rear attachement is compatible with central stand?

Hi,

I had some problems with suppliers (again... 4 times total)

But... Project still alive. Everything tested on 5mm alu material, point-welded (for testing only) and measured on bike, ordered first production serie from laser-cutting company.

I think it will not be compatible with central stand, it is mounted into same holes as central stand - the most solid point of frame.

Silent blocks not required, all mounted directly to frame - whole thing will work as bottom frame of bike...

Ready for shipping in january 08 in black.

https://photos.smugmug.com/Yamaha-XT...9_182325-S.jpg

The big "bulletproof" skid plate for XT600 is DONE and ready to shipping worldwide. Any color possible - you say, what you want.

Info and pics on my website (there is possibility to translate by google on the top of website)

Orders here, or posta@radekfiala.com (if I will not respond in 2 days, there is risk of google spam filter)

https://photos.smugmug.com/Yamaha-XT...-2500_logo.jpg

https://photos.smugmug.com/Yamaha-XT...-2538_logo.jpg

https://photos.smugmug.com/Yamaha-XT...XT660-2551.jpg

Awesome work!!!. Here's wishing you a successful business. Well done.

Really cool, brilliant idea.👍👍👍👍

Just a thought, what about placing some groves at the back end of the plate so you can swing it down easily from the front when carrying out minor maintenance;saves removing whole pan😊