Aluminium Bash Plates
 

Hi all,

I am a relatively new xtr owner, I got my 2011 white xtr new last December. Since then I have been reading and learning (mostly through this forum) about different mods are available... Mods so far are:

Stain Tune Slip ons
Michelin T-63 Tyres
Stage 1 and 2 DNA air filters
Power Commander V
Custom mapping (thanks to Fred at Pro Cycle Dyno)
Acerbis Rally Pro Hand Guards,
Touratech Gear Lever,
Touratech Brake Lever Extender (en route),
Metal Mule Radiator shield (en route)
and... the most disappointing of all an OTR aluminium bash plate (which I ordered early Jan and only showed up a week ago).

The bash plate is killing me. First off it didn't really fit - so I had to go to the dealer to get it put on and they had to bend it to get it to fit but the more frustrating part is that it has made the bike so, so unpleasant to ride. Its like having a resonant bell attached to the bottom of the bike! It emits a nasty mid range pitch even when the bike is just running at idol. If I push my boot up against it it does drastically reduce the vibration and noise but obviously this is not a "fix".

I guess I am just trying to work out if all aluminium bash plates do this? Or if it is just the OTR one given that it is at the cheaper end of the spectrum?

I have searched the forum and there are a few posts about it... some guys seem to be able to get a slight fix with the use of rubber washers, I've also been told to try spring washers? If I knew for sure another brand that didn't have this problem I would happily toss this one in the trash and upgrade. However I can't seem to find a clear answer.

Other brands I have looked at are:
touratech - they do say "vibration free" on their website
B&B - i called them and they say they do line it with rubber to help with the vibration - can anyone out there vouch for this?
metal mule - ?

Any help on this would be much much appreciated!

Cheers,
-Brad.

The sound probably has 2 causes: vibration of the bash plate itself and the engine noises that are now reflected upwards by the aluminium bash plate.

Using rubber washers would probably cure most of the vibration caused noise, but not the additional engine noise. I have known people that cured the engine noise with gluing foam for soundproofing marine engines on the inside of the bash plate. Any other sufficiently durable and heat proof foam should work as well.

If you want to get rid of all the additional noise I'd go for a combination of both the rubber washers and the foam.

Thanks for the reply. It seems more the vibration noise that is bugging me. As I mentioned its not too bad when I hold my boot on it. However this marine foam sounds an interesting option... Do you know where I could look for something like that? Or perhaps a brand or what the actual name of the product is?

As for the rubber washers would i have to put them at all points where metal is touching metal? I.e. on the inside and outside of the bash plate?

The B&B bash plate on my XTR came with a block of foam rubber to fit between the plate and motor... tryed it with out it to start with..the plate rung like a bell... then put it in... silent..
I have the XTZ plate on my XTR as I have a high pipe on it..

The B&B bash plate has rubber panels glued to it to reduce reflected noise.
You could try some rubberised sound deading material used in automotive triming or just glue some rubber to it.
As for anti vibration washers, try making some out of cheap plastic cutting board.

Cheers,

Shane.

Thanks for the info... So over all you have minimal vibration/noise out of the B&B plate? Sounds like this rubber/foam is the trick. I just need to find out where to get it! I should have gone with the B&B!

How's that 22 Ltr tank working out? I was just looking at the pictures you put up in you're thread... I'm hoping to do some trekking around oz to the territory the tank looks like a good idea!

Thanks shane. Do you know where I could get these materials? for rubber washers I have just picked some up from home hardware from the plumbing section? I've asked a few places but people seems pretty confused when I explain what I am trying to do (probably I'm not explaining well).

Does your plate make any noise? Or has the rubber/foam supplied by B&B done the trick?

Cheers ,
-Brad.

the tanks good... getting around 500km from it..
But it only has about 20L of useable fuel..any fuel
below the pump can't be used....
i filled it up for a ride the other day... done 400km
the fuel light hasn't come on yet..

If you still have low pipes..compress a length of radiator
hose between the motor and plate... fit it between the pipes..
it should/would be able to handle the heat from the pipes..

Hi Brad,

For the rubber sheet you just go to Clark Rubber or a similar place, use about 2mm thick rubber. I will check if mine is 2mm or 2.5mm and get back to you.

The cutting boards are just the cheap $2 shop one and have many uses in the workshop, try to get ones 3-5mm thick.

If you need help getting a Gilli-Moto tank or fitting mounting etc just give me a yell or if you want to see one in person.

My worst fuel consumption still gives me 320km before the fuel light comes on with my tank, so a safe 400km is no probs at worst.

Cheers.

Shane.

Interesting tip... I'll try this combined with the rubber!.

Thanks.

Thanks Shane... will def keep that in mind! ok ill grab some rubber from clarks. Do you need to use a special kind of rubber/glue? any tips on where to place it... i've attached a pic of my bash plate as it is now...

Get a small can of Selleys Kwik Grip glue and use as per instructions, another item handy to keep in the workshop.

Interesting that you would get a lot of refletive noise from that plate with all those cutouts.
However it may be the resonance from the thickness of the material, ie if it were 4mm instead of 5mm it may be a higher pitch.

Cover as much of the plate as you would like with the rubber and copy the cutouts. If it were me I would cover most of it and stick the rubber down first then do the cutouts with a sharp blade.

I have the original Yamaha bash plate fitted to my current 2011 XTX as well as to my previous 07 XTX, and I have never noticed any vibration or resonance at all. I ride only on road but the plate has been bashed a few times getting on and off pavements and has so far done the job well, no complaints!!

I had an SW motech bash plate and had a similar problem.

I made my self some rubber washers for the connection points, placed a rubber washer between the bash plate and its hanger, then another between the bash plate and the bolt head. Stopped the problem. I just used heavy duty rubber you would find at any hard ware store, about 1-2mm thick.

Dynamat is very good stuff and designed specifically to stop resonance. Waterproof, temperature proof and sticks like sh!t to a blanket. Used it a lot on wobbly aluminium panels on Land Rovers and even on the casing of my central heating boiler! Available here http://www.incarexpress.co.uk/view_p...artno=DYN10425 or any decent car audio shop.

Thanks everyone. I will try and put some of your pointers into practice over the next week or so and report back with the results!

Cheers,
-Brad.

I'm not 100% sure what the reflective noise would sound like... but the sound i'm hearing to me sounds more like a resonant picth from the vibration of the metal. I dont think that there really is much engine noise being reflected back...

I have the big Touratech plate on my Tenere and it's hard bolted with no problems whatsoever.

Me too and no problems either. The TT bashplate is built like a box though, with jointed, folded corners so is more rigid than OTR item. Looking at the OTR design it is the "wings" that'll be what's resonating I'd guess, as the only rigidity is supplied by the slight curvature and the thickness of the aluminium. The mounting points are a long way inboard too which probably doesn't help either.

I'm getting 500km from mine...
400km till the fuel light..
I'm getting 23 / 24 Kms per letre

I get about 200km's from mine in the week if i'm lucky. Maybe 280km's on long rides. Think I need to stop twisting my wrist as far.

Sounds about right for the standard tank, Petenz and I have 22.5ltr Gilli-moto tanks.

Ahhh, that'll explain it.

Side note Brad, recognised your bike on my commute this morning. I was on the black XTR in toowong. Your white XTR looks brilliant on the knobies.

Haha cool! Yeah saw you at the lights at Taringa, then lost you at Toowong Village I was heading down Coro way...

I've seen you out before in that area... 1 of few XTs I've actually seen out and about!

Yeah the knobbies are good but really noisy! Probs gonna put the tourances back on soon for a while as I just picked up a WR250f that I'll be using for the dirt.

You done much to yours ? Seemed at a glance you still had stock pipes? Chuck on some slip ons its like a new bike!

Mine absolutely rips now with slip ons, power commander V, custom map, DNA stage 1&2... its like a new bike.

Google pro cycle dyno - they are in slacks creek, talk to Freddy tell him you have bike like mine and they can sort everything for you =) He just did all the Air Filter/ Mapping for me about a month ago. He has my stock WR this week... can't wait to get it back and see how much better it is!

Sidenote - I took the XTR to the RTCB at Beaudessert the weekend before last... Had quite a few "confused" looks from people when was out on the short loop. Had a good stack in the mud... but got her around! Think I'll keep on the fire trails and away from the single track on the XT haha...

So in response to the initial reason for starting this thread...

Again thanks to everyones comments and input.

It really was a fairly simple fix. I am still puzzled that OTR would not provide this solution with the bash plate as shipped.

I simple purchased some tiny rubber washers/ O-rings (refer pic attached). I think it cost me about $3 for 16 of them (just in case). Also purchased a cheap sheet of stick on rubber (also in the picture attached) from clark rubber.

In a nutshell just place the rubber between plate and the frame (the inside of the bash plate) and whoooola. I'd say it reduced vibration noise by about 80-90%. You can still notice it slightly at idle, but its hardly an issue. Before I could here it over the exhaust while revving pretty hard!

another pic...

bash plate
 

Hi Petenz. I have a metal mule 2 in 1 system and bash plate on my bike. I did want the XTZ bashplate with crash bars but the shop i was looking at said that it won't fit the XTR. So does it fit and how much trouble was it?

Hyde Racing Bash plate
 

Just unloaded my DR and bought a new xt660r,
has anyone tried the Hyde Racing bash plate?