Skid Plate Experience?

[terrysig]

just to make sure I see this. The SW-Motech uses a bracket that attaches on both sides of the rear of the engine at frame points (that is, it does not mount to the sump itself) and then the plate mounts to that bracket?

Ray...captive nuts when it comes to oil change time? in other words pull just a number of bolts to drop the plate.

thanks.

 

[Tremor38]

just to make sure I see this. The SW-Motech uses a bracket that attaches on both sides of the rear of the engine at frame points (that is, it does not mount to the sump itself) and then the plate mounts to that bracket?

Ray...captive nuts when it comes to oil change time? in other words pull just a number of bolts to drop the plate.

thanks.

The bracket you see in the lower RH corner of the first image attaches to the belly pan, but it's really only there for secondary support and comes nowhere near taking the brunt of force from an impact to the front of the skid plate....contrary to what the OEM plate mounting system does.

 

[Old Git Ray]

just to make sure I see this. The SW-Motech uses a bracket that attaches on both sides of the rear of the engine at frame points (that is, it does not mount to the sump itself) and then the plate mounts to that bracket?

Ray...captive nuts when it comes to oil change time? in other words pull just a number of bolts to drop the plate.

thanks.

No, it attaches to the engine at the front (there is nowhere else to attach it to) but at the rear, it bolts to the frame. At no point does it touch the sump except for a rubber bump stop that SW-Motech supply to bolt into where the original Yamaha plate bolted to.

As for oil change, if you look at the first picture you will see there are two holes to drop the oil from both chanbers without taking the plate off.

 

[terrysig]

For the oil drain I see the pic shows the two oil drain cutouts in the plate while the Yami had one cutout and didn't need a cout out for the oil tank drain because it stopped short of the drain bolt.

How about oil filter remove. You certainly have to remove all brands except for Jaxon's version because he as a bolt on door...correct?

 

[sail2xxs]

For the oil drain I see the pic shows the two oil drain cutouts in the plate while the Yami had one cutout and didn't need a cout out for the oil tank drain because it stopped short of the drain bolt.

How about oil filter remove. You certainly have to remove all brands except for Jaxon's version because he as a bolt on door...correct?

Correct - and on Jaxon's version, you really only need to remove one bolt and loosen the other slightly to swing the door out of the way. It takes me under 3 minutes to drain the oil and change the filter with his plate. Adding the new oil takes a while.

Chris

 

[terrysig]

The oil add slow down is not because of the plate but the lack of a large oil sump...correct?

Picked up oil and filter as I should hit first oil change mileage this weekend. Then it's time to chose the skid plate. Still have not made up my mind but this thread has been a great help.

 

[sail2xxs]

At least for me, adding oil is slow because it takes forever for it to make its way through the funnel and down the tube. I'm seriously considering getting one of the gadgets that screws onto the top of the oil bottle so that I can squeeze it and get oil in more quickly.

Right ow, I am using a power cord quick clamp to hold the funnel while I go do something else for a couple minutes.

Chris

 

[3putt]

My old metal funnel has large hole and you can almost dump the quart in, takes about 3 big gulps to get it in.

 

[sail2xxs]

I'm using Rotella T in 1 gallon jugs... I've been thinking of pre-measuring so that I have a ready to go jug, then I could use a funnel like you have.

If there is one niggle I have with the bike, it is the oil capacity. From a pure laziness/speed point of view, 4 quarts with filter change would be perfect... My ST1300 took exactly 4 quarts with filter, and it was great not to have to worry about measuring. Just dump in a jug of Rotella T and go!

 

[terrysig]

Yeah I used to use the one gallon jug with the FJR...easy peasy. But I have to agree that now it's going to be a slight PITA taking OUT the right amount from the gallon jug prior to bike fill.

super long thing funnel that I bungy to somthing on the bike works but still have to hold the jug.

definitely will be looking for a "method" during the first change.

 

[dcstrom]

I'm using Rotella T in 1 gallon jugs... I've been thinking of pre-measuring so that I have a ready to go jug, then I could use a funnel like you have.

If there is one niggle I have with the bike, it is the oil capacity. From a pure laziness/speed point of view, 4 quarts with filter change would be perfect... My ST1300 took exactly 4 quarts with filter, and it was great not to have to worry about measuring. Just dump in a jug of Rotella T and go!

Just coincidence I think - I doubt they would make the capacity 4 (US) quarts just to make it easy for Americans - if they were doing something like that, 4 litres would make more sense.

 

[EricV]

On the oil fill, I use Rotella T6 and half a bottle of STP. For this fill, I just take the Rotella bottle and fill up a 20 oz pop bottle, then dump the rest into the S10 after the 7.5-8 ounces of STP and it's good. I've been dumping the 20 ounces of extra oil into a Gal. Rotella jug every oil change. I figure I'll be good for using that for an oil change after 6 oil changes!

@terrysig - For skid plates, Jaxon's is the stoutest out there, bar none.

The South African RollBend unit that I am importing is a combo crash bar/skid plate design with the skid plate bolted to the crash bar and no where else. It offers upper and lower crash bar protection along with a upper light hoop. The upper hoop is removable from the main lower section and oil changes will require skid plate removal, but that will be easy since there is no fussing around with engine brackets, just removing the skid plate from the crash bar.

You lose about 1" of ground clearance. I'm not sure how that stacks up with the other skid plates out there. It adds 25 lbs, but remember that is crash bars as well as the skid plate.

PICS
More PICS

Pricing is not fully set yet, but will be significantly less than buying both items separately from most, if not all, other sources.

 

[spklbuk]

I went with Jaxon's and I'm very glad I did. I was previously equipped with one of the more popular skid plates and b/c it is a public forum, I'll leave it up to you to draw your own conclusion (besides a heck of a lot easier to change the oil) as to why I did this...suffice it to say I was not happy with my first experience.

 

[snuffcityrider]

I went with Jaxon's plate as well and I like it . I don't worry about any harm to the motor from rocks and such, and not that it's a big deal but I likely won't see another one just like mine ::26::

 

[terrysig]

EricV , what's the status of the importing? Anytime soon?

And for those using Jaxons it sounds like it is custom? looked a little too robust if there is such a thing?

BTW this is very freaking helpful for an s10 newbie getting ready to drop some coin on a skid plate!

 

[EricV]

EricV , what's the status of the importing? Anytime soon?

And for those using Jaxons it sounds like it is custom? looked a little too robust if there is such a thing?

BTW this is very freaking helpful for an s10 newbie getting ready to drop some coin on a skid plate!

The first order of 5 is looking to ship by the end of next week. I want to see the bars in person and install one on my S10 before I order another 5 bars, but that will likely happen and the bars should be available state side w/in a month. Less if all goes smoothly. It's quite a process to import from South Africa, as I have found out. (the first 5 are spoken for)

 

[terrysig]

Thanks Eric...keep us informed. I might pull the trigger before they are available out of need but maybe not.

 

[terrysig]

Saw in another thread that an H&P skid plate user was claiming to be limited in filter choice due to length of filter?

Any experience? I never use the OEM filter. Had not figured the filter would limit the choice of skid plate.

 

[sail2xxs]

Just coincidence I think - I doubt they would make the capacity 4 (US) quarts just to make it easy for Americans - if they were doing something like that, 4 litres would make more sense.

You're right - but for the ST, it was a happy coincidence.

I've been fortunate in having a fair number of bikes, Yamaha V-Star 650, Honda Pacific Coast, Honda ST 1100 ABS, Honda ST1300 ABS, KLR 650, 800 GS, and a VStrom before the S10. I like the S10 best of all of them, and wouldn't trade it for the world. It is the first bike I've owned that I have no interest in swapping out or keeping for a couple years and then getting something different. It fits my needs, interests, and riding style better than any of my prior bikes, and it has been stone cold reliable.

Chris

 

[EricV]

Saw in another thread that an H&P skid plate user was claiming to be limited in filter choice due to length of filter?

Any experience? I never use the OEM filter. Had not figured the filter would limit the choice of skid plate.

I don't think this issue is a real problem. There are tons of non-oem filters in various lengths. The Bosch 3300 is the same length as the oem one, if I recall correctly, and there are plenty of others out there too. I tend to use auto filters, but found a good deal on a case of 10 of the oem filters on eBay and it was cheaper than the auto store filters I usually buy, so did that. <$6 each with shipping. Did a quick check and the current pricing is a bit more, but not bad for oem filters.

Check out this great forum post by Dallara - HERE It has a list of aftermarket filters and their lengths.

You might not be able to use your favorite aftermarket filter with some skid plates, but there will still be other aftermarket filters of the same brand that fit. The Purolator 14610 is longer than the oem filter, but the shorter Purolator 14612 is oem length.