Light Duty Skid Plate - Trans Labrador

[CW-Wilf]

My use of the S-10 will be mostly dirt roads with the occasional double track with muddy sections. I am going to ride the Trans Labrador route this summer and in anticipation of loose gravel/stone and trucks I have put my money into a headlight guard (Yamaha), crash bars (Givi) and tires (Heidenau K60 Scout) and some other bits and pieces. I dont anticipate big rocky trails so my question is do I need the hefty skid plates such as SW-Motech and Hepco-Becker. The Yamaha is cheaper.
I know there are other threads re: skid plates and the SW-Motech and Hepco-Becker play prominent roles in a lot of your choices while the OEM Yamaha plate gets panned a lot BUT... in the interest of saving some cash and based on my terrain choices which would you choose?

 

[Ridetherock]

hey wild, even the stock skid plate is fine for the trans lab. headlight guard and crash bars are wise investments and the k60's should be just fine. I just did the trip last summer on a stock dr750 dr big, with the addition of a headlight guard, and i was fine. i was really wishing i had crash bars though on the slicker stuff. don't let some of the horror stories scare ya, we passed everything from harleys to sport bikes on the ride. on the quebec side it can get slick when its raining. i don't know what the rules are here for posting other websites, so if I'm in the wrong, by all means remove the link mods, but i run a site called ridetherock.com for adv riding in newfoundland and labrador, we've had lots of members do the trans lab ride.

 

[dcstrom]

I imagine the Trans-Lab is similar to dirt roads going down to Terra del Fuego? Should be no problem... Nick Sanders did a lot of miles on those roads in a short space of time, using the OEM skid plate. If you KNOW that's the worst terrain you'll face, then the stock stone-guard is fine.

Personally I believe in a bit of overkill if it might prevent something that's going to leave me stranded if the unexpected happens.

Great Pic of Nick here

 

[colorider]

hey wild, even the stock skid plate is fine for the trans lab. headlight guard and crash bars are wise investments and the k60's should be just fine. I just did the trip last summer on a stock dr750 dr big, with the addition of a headlight guard, and i was fine. i was really wishing i had crash bars though on the slicker stuff. don't let some of the horror stories scare ya, we passed everything from harleys to sport bikes on the ride. on the quebec side it can get slick when its raining. i don't know what the rules are here for posting other websites, so if I'm in the wrong, by all means remove the link mods, but i run a site called ridetherock.com for adv riding in newfoundland and labrador, we've had lots of members do the trans lab ride.

Hey, welcome to the Forum! Please add an intro over in the "Member Intros" section of the Forum. No problem on posting info about the site you run.

Good to have you here!!

Rod

 

[EricV]

Nick Sanders did a lot of miles on those roads in a short space of time,

Not to take anything away from Nick Sanders, he put in a hell of a ride. He held the record for a very short time though. Dick Fish did it in 21 days, 2 hours, 8 minutes. Sadly Dick passed away last year in a low speed freak accident in Montana during a endurance rally, (which I also rode in).

As the the skid plate question, what's that old saying? Prepare for the worst, hope for the best.

 

[pluric]

I have the factory skid plate. I've heard a few rocks ding off it. I know about the sump
mounting and so far it has not bothered me enough to replace it.

I've done a fair amount of off road with it, some that I would consider a little aggressive.
As has been mentioned in other threads it's not that much more money for something
a little more heavy duty and maybe offer water pump protection.

If I had it to do over finding out how much more off road I'm doing than I thought I would
I would have bought a frame mount model.

 

[limey]

CW where in Ontario are you?

 

[CW-Wilf]

Thanks for the input people. I guess for the $100 difference in price I should just get a decent skid plate. Its just after spending so much on the bike and all the accessories It gets to be a bit hard to get it past the SO that I need to buy more.

Limey - Lets just say I am near Guelph. Having had my house broken into 3 times I keep info like that private. Although it is early in the season I have yet to see another Super T on the road. Your not that far away and I believe there is someone in the Orangeville area. There are probably a bunch in TO. Perhaps an organized meet and ride sometime would be good.

 

[Zuan]

I haven't seen any other Super Tenere's on the road either.... but next time I ride in your area, I will be watching...

John

 

[CW-Wilf]

Well until I saw the article in the link below I had not considered the skid plate as needed in a fall, just rock bashing, which is not too bright of me since it is called a "skid" plate. ::010:: My mind is made up. Heavy duty plate it is. Now which one - hmmm?

http://www.webbikeworld.com/motorcycles/yamaha-super-tenere/

 

[limey]

CW check out Dualsport Plus in Stoney Creek, good guys to deal with and they have a spring sale going on right now.
http://dualsportplus.com/

 

[Zuan]

This might be another source for you, not too far from home.
http://aviciouscycle.ca/mainpages/default.aspx

 

[limey]

I have dealt with Vicious cycle for the last time. They keep screwing up my order and they don’t sell ALTRIDER products.

 

[Zuan]

Different strokes for different folks, I guess.. I have found Eric easier and better to deal with then Les. It is good to have two outlets in the area. Altrider has good products but too pricey for me.

 

[Bowana]

CW check out Dualsport Plus in Stoney Creek, good guys to deal with and they have a spring sale going on right now.
http://dualsportplus.com/

I second that. Les and the crew have been great to deal with so far. I just bought some Jesse panniers through them on Friday.

 

[CW-Wilf]

Hey thanks for the links. I am familiar with both of them but since I have lived and rode in my area for 40 years I have an established relationship with a local shop and neither Avicious or Dual Sport can match the prices. I've tried ::008::

 

[sfc67]

My use of the S-10 will be mostly dirt roads with the occasional double track with muddy sections. I am going to ride the Trans Labrador route this summer and in anticipation of loose gravel/stone and trucks I have put my money into a headlight guard (Yamaha), crash bars (Givi) and tires (Heidenau K60 Scout) and some other bits and pieces. I dont anticipate big rocky trails so my question is do I need the hefty skid plates such as SW-Motech and Hepco-Becker. The Yamaha is cheaper.
I know there are other threads re: skid plates and the SW-Motech and Hepco-Becker play prominent roles in a lot of your choices while the OEM Yamaha plate gets panned a lot BUT... in the interest of saving some cash and based on my terrain choices which would you choose?

Let me know when your on the Island and I can show you some local back roads. ::022::

SEAN

 

[erenet]

I haven't seen any other Super Tenere's on the road either.... but next time I ride in your area, I will be watching...

John

A week ago I was riding in Burlington, Saturday I went to Belfountain (not anusually to see 30-40 bikes parked on a nice Saturday, Sunday morning) for a coffee in the morning then to Royal Distributor in Guelph and visited some family, no Teneres to be seen.