Figured I'd pass on my experience mounting the T Rex Racing Heavy Duty Skid Plate to anyone considering tackling it on their own. I ride a Gen1 with Arrow headers. On initial inspection, the plate looked well made and the finish was perfect. The hardware was good quality. The instructions were very basic, but come with a QR code linked to a Youtube video which is easier to follow. However, even with the video, I had to be a bit creative in mounting the plate due to shared mounts with my crash bars that have already been put to the test. Several times. That aside, I mounted the plate with all hardware in place loosely to effect proper alignment. Coverage of vital areas and mounting points that don't transfer impacts to weak areas on the motor, is what made me consider this plate. The process was lengthy. It was immediately apparent that the plate contacted the o2 sensor on my Arrow headers. Since I was satisfied with the design and strength of it, I elected to use a large crescent wrench to "adjust" for more clearance. The finish was damaged, but it is , after all, a skid plate. With all the hardware tightened, the oil drain holes are about a 1/4" off. I will "adjust" those holes in the future. I will be taking the bike for a little off road trip this weekend for a test run. My advice, if you're a bolt on and go kind of rider, spend the money for Altriders excellent quality unit ($438.97 at Revzilla). But if you've got more time than money ( T Rex skid plate $254.95 ), are looking for heavy duty, willing to get creative on the install, and don't mind boogering up the finish on your new skid plate, the T Rex Racing skid plate is the way to go. You could also have your local shop do it as the directions suggest. Good luck!!
T Rex Racing Heavy Duty Skid Plate mount review
- Thread starter ORION65
- Start date
miric1992
New Member
Hello form Europe, I love T-rex skid plate and crash bars but it is extremly expensive to ship it to Europe+import duties......so when talking about spending less money I would like to try to make my own skid plate to be as close to T-rex one which is great. Now I am looking for someone who has the original one and who is willing to help me by providing me measures of the plate to be able to make one. One member of Super Tenere Facebook group took some measures for me, but those 3 are not enough to be able to produce the skid plate.
What I need is the following:
1. overall length of the plate on it`s longest point (following all the curves)
2. overall width of the plate on it`s wides point (following all the curves)
3. since there are many angles and sections it would be ideal to have dimensions of every section alone. I can make numbers on the photos to be easier to list the dimensions
I would be grateful if you or any other forum member ready to help, could do me a favour and help me by providing me all dimensions of the plate that I need. I shouldn`t be hard job and I think it requires about 15 minutes of your time to measure it all.
Thank you in advance if you are willing to help.
What I need is the following:
1. overall length of the plate on it`s longest point (following all the curves)
2. overall width of the plate on it`s wides point (following all the curves)
3. since there are many angles and sections it would be ideal to have dimensions of every section alone. I can make numbers on the photos to be easier to list the dimensions
I would be grateful if you or any other forum member ready to help, could do me a favour and help me by providing me all dimensions of the plate that I need. I shouldn`t be hard job and I think it requires about 15 minutes of your time to measure it all.
Thank you in advance if you are willing to help.
miric1992
New Member
miric1992
New Member
miric1992
New Member
There are 14 sections on this plate, I don`t need dimensions and positions of the holes or anything else but overall length x width of each section. Some dimensions of the section corresponds to dimensions of the next section (when irregular form of the section please provide measure that can`t be read read from any of sections next to it. For any questions please ask.
Thanks in advance.
Thanks in advance.
SeaBass
Member
That happened to me too when i switched from the OEM header to a full arrow system. I too had to mod the right side to fit the O2 sensor. My solution was to dremel the corner it was touching so now on the 7 region of miric's pics instead of the curved corner, there is a straight cut
more like this
Still does not compromise the structure.
louis verville
Member
I really like this tRex plate because i can access my oil filter. But is the plate as tough as motortek outback skid plate ?
thanks for your input !
thanks for your input !
Pdrhound
Active Member
Just installed mine with stock headers in 45 mins. Kick stand bolt shifted of course. Had to get my neighbor to hold bike up right while I loosened the second bolt to re-align the bracket. Still no more then 45 minutes. Same neighbor had the 10 MM hex, or I actually would be driving to town for a socket.
I will install my alt rider bars next week. That might change my cheery outlook.
I will install my alt rider bars next week. That might change my cheery outlook.
Cycledude
Well-Known Member
Installed T Rex Crashbars and Skid Plate last year, quite a bit of fiddling around to install but everything wound up fitting very nice, after one year of use I’ve had absolutely no problems and am very happy I chose T Rex. I like the oil filter cover it’s very easy to remove or reinstall , it does make a mess draining the oil but I only change oil once or twice a year so it’s really not a big deal.
I did drop the bike very hard on the left side once and if it wasn’t for T Rex I probably would have damaged some plastic, the radiator and the fan but fortunately nothing got damaged so I figure T Rex saved me a lot of time and money !
I did drop the bike very hard on the left side once and if it wasn’t for T Rex I probably would have damaged some plastic, the radiator and the fan but fortunately nothing got damaged so I figure T Rex saved me a lot of time and money !
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AusTexS10
Well-Known Member
How did the Altrider bars work with the T-Rex skid?
Tenforeplay
Active Member
I'll give a review of the T rex skid plate installation on a new '23 Tenere and why I took it back off. Like above it is well built and plenty strong. The cover for the oil filter is done really good. To get the oil drain holes off so far has to be disheartening. In another thread the post is about the plate collapsing back onto the engine and doing damage. I could see this happening if something big was hit or the bike was slid full weight across the plate. There is nothing triangulated to suspend the plate and keep it from touching the engine, and there is not too much to attach to. The right rear attaching point is on an exhaust hanger, if that were to go it would be a mess, affecting the exhaust system. There could also be issues with heat, the plate covers the front engine, exhaust headers and some other goodies. There is one piece on the front lower engine that has cooling fins, what this is I don't know, but Yamaha doesn't do things for the fun of it. Though they could have designed a skid plate a little stronger, that would have been fun. But I still have it and will use it if there is a perceived need for it, just don't see the need at the time to outweigh the cons. So I'm thinking without the skid plate it will be easier to change oil and filter and keeps things cooler. I haven't seen it but think BMW has a factory skid plate on the GSA, maybe it is better, maybe costs another $10k though, so I'm still happy with the Super Tenere.
Cycledude,
Do you change oil on the centerstand? I have no mess with my bash plate when I change oil with my bike on the kickstand. Oil drains straight down and does not touch the T-Rex bash plate. A little dribble from the filter but that drains back to the first drin hole for the engine. Just a tiny bit.
My AltRider bars and T-Rex Racing Bash Plate work just fine together. No problems. I have pics of the install of both on my "What TenereGUY has been up to " thread.
Tenforeplay
Active Member
The oil drain hole on my engine is divided by the edge of the skid plate access hole, both holes. Maybe they changed something.
outdoor
Active Member
Im looking at this skid plate. So it does not fit correctly with arrow headers and stock center stand? How hard to modify to fit?
Oil drain holes dont line up?
Oil drain holes dont line up?
I think the Exhaust sensor doesn't allow it to bolrmt up and you may have to bend it a little for it to clear. I have a stock center stand and it is fine with my skid T-Rex bash plate. If you leave the bike on the side stand to drain the oil the oil will drain straight through the holes without a mess at all.
Tenforeplay
Active Member
My trex skid plate oil drain holes don’t line up with the drain holes on the oil pan, whether on the side or center stand. It’s off the bike now, when I reinstall I’ll fix it. Arrow headers are no problem, though I haven’t tried to mount the skid plate since the headers were installed. This skid plate was purchased fall ‘23 from trex.
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outdoor
Active Member
O2 sensor? I have my ecm flashed so it does not use the o2 sensors
Why would then set it up that the oil holes line up for when it is on side stand? Thats a bit weird
Why would then set it up that the oil holes line up for when it is on side stand? Thats a bit weird
Cycledude
Well-Known Member
My skid plate oil drain holes line up fine. I have drained while parked on side stand and center stand, both methods work fine but you will get slightly more oil out using side stand.
The mess I get comes from removing the filter, some oil runs back onto the skid plate and it ain’t easy to reach in there to wipe it out. They have modified the skid plate a little since mine was built, Tenere Guy’s TRex skid plate has an extra big hole in the bottom that mine doesn’t have, that sort of prevents the oil from being able to run as far back on the skid plate.
My SuperTenere has the stock exhaust system, I don’t like loud exhaust.
Tenforeplay
Active Member
My oil drain holes don't match up front to back. Left to right is no problem, so sidestand or centerstand.