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

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

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2011 xt660z.
Yoshimura cans ,kev mod,Dna 2, Stahlkoffer panniers,Hepco Becker box,Givi crash bars,Mita e07 tyres.

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

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

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...

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