Twisted Throttle throttled my review! SW Motech skid

[Bikedude987]

So I will not be buying from TT any more if for no other reason than they censored my review! I guess there is a reason there are 0 reviews on this product; they're all bad! Also, they flat out lied about the thickness of their plate when I directly asked them in an email.

So here it is in it's entireity.

"Misleading reviews and sub optimal coverage make this a disappointing purchase. Despite a clarification email, the plate is 3mm, NOT 4 as is stated in their description and email. This weekend's ride turned the plate into a pretzel. It did, however prevent damage to the engine, but the plate and mounting brackets will now require extensive straightening. Despite the claims of 'spreading the load', the front mounting plate took the entire hit. This plate is not strong enough to be anything but disposable, one rock protection. An expensive lesson, I will now have to shell out siginificantly more or spend time modifying this plate."

Of note: the plate did it's job and saved my engine, but this thing really is disposable. I had to take the 4lb sledge to it to bang it (and all it's brackets) straight. Not sure if I'll modify it or just take the Tenere on more appropriate trails in the future...

 

[offcamber]

Most of the skid plates out there including the Yamaha plate are no more than gravel guards. SW Motech stuff has not always been the best designed or built stuff. For what they charge you usually can find a better cheaper product. I have had good luck with the ACD plate but even that took a few mods to make it better. Pulling bad reviews although I think its a bad practice its happening more and more....had it done to me for non motorcycle stuff.

I'm starting to think TT is getting to big for it britches but I personally have no gripe with them in fact my dealing with their CC has been very good.

Moral of the story..post your review on public forums like this one ::008::

 

[Rasher]

I have the SW Plate and it is perfect.....

... for my use, which is stopping crud getting all over the engine, and preventing a bit of gravel / flint stone flying up and puncturing the oil filter, may also help if I do something silly and clout the engine properly like you did.

For light off-road use and general protection it is fine, which probably sums up 90% of the products out there.

 

[2112]

That's disappointing Bikedude, but thanks for letting us know ::008::

For what it's worth I'd modify the hell out of it and make it a truly bombproof bash plate.

 

[20valves]

I'd like to see the device that can be caught between 700+lbs. of bike and rider and a large rock and show no scars or deformity. :

 

[Dirt_Dad]

Twisted Throttle has always done a good job of standing behind the products they sell. Sorry to hear they are not letting honest experiences be reflected on their site.

I have found SW Motech equipment to be very poor performers in general. I have not given my SW Motech skid plate a reason to fail, but I also don't trust it to take a big hit. It seems up to the light duty to which I expose it. That is more than can be said for their SW Motech crash bars and luggage rack I once had on the Tenere. Never again.

 

[Maxified]

Might be a lot of companies out there that censor reviews, who knows for sure. Amazon censored one of mine & I was polite and did not even use any prohibited vocabulary. It is all about the $

 

[RED CAT]

As far as Skid Plates go, you can make them bomb proof but they'll weigh 50lbs like a few I've seen on here. So like Adventure Bikes, they are all a compromise between protection or weight. The SW Motech fits right in the middle. I'm happy with mine and have tested the SW Crash Guards too.

 

[TimLaw]

I don't even have a skid plate yet so my opinion is weak at best....but, I have done a lot of research on them to include other parts. When I do buy, it will come from Altrider for many reasons. lot of those reasons are from what I found right here in the forum. I'd rather trust the reviews of people that have used them instead of the reviews from the company selling them. It's in bad taste yours was deleted....I prefer the term censored actually. Sorry you had that experience and on the bright side, maybe you saved someone from buying one.

 

[~TABASCO~]

I'd like to see the device that can be caught between 700+lbs. of bike and rider and a large rock and show no scars or deformity. :

Ok, I'll post a picture if you want, it's called a Ride On ADV skid plate. Our skid plate comes with a warranty ! ::008::

 

[Bushyar15]

Interesting.. I guess I never thought about sites editing reviews. I've posted some somewhat negative reviews on Amazon and they've kept them. I notice that Yelp will put flaming reviews on a separate page you have to navigate to.

There are definitely some good points in this thread regarding the skid plates. I think it goes along with what Yamaha says about the number of S10 riders that actually take their S10s off-road. Then the sub-group of those that goes on roads that are other than fire-roads or maintained dirt roads… I've got dents and rock rub marks on my Altrider from going on some pretty rocky rides here in CO, but its done its job admirably… And once I actually got my suspension set-up correctly, it hits rocks far less...

 

[Reveille]

I love it when I get an email requesting that I review a recently purchased item and after posting the review it gets edited. Must be nice to change history as you see fit...

 

[rem]

Ok, I'll post a picture if you want, it's called a Ride On ADV skid plate. Our skid plate comes with a warranty ! ::008::

I can vouch for that. My accident wrecked my bike and did a number on me as well. Jaxon's super duper TENERATOR skid cage got a couple of little dings in it. You can barely notice them. It's pricey, but likely the only one you'll ever have to buy. And when I retire my bike, I can use it as a planter. ::008:: R

 

[Bikedude987]

Haha, a planter...

All good points. The ride we went on was "supposed" to be easy fire roads (it was a group ride) but turned into large washouts, lots of large loose rock and DEEP sand. Twas no fun by hour 12...Did I mention we were two up?

And in all fairness, the plate DID save the engine, without it I would have been stranded like the other Tenere who punched a hole in his sump, poor sod.

As for beefing it up, I briefly thought about buying some perforated sheet and going to town plug welding it to the plate, but then you still have a heavy duty plate mounted with wimpy, sump mounted attachment points.

I've more or less resigned to NOT ride those kind of trails again on the big girl (KTM 450 FTW!) and use it as appropriate for it's weight.

BTW, here is what the plate looked like before I beat it straight with the sledge.

 

[fredz43]

I have put over 40,000 miles on two S10's with the SW-M skid plate with no problem. The vast majority was paved or semi paved roads, with some gravel roads thrown in. Now, after sampling how well the bike does off road at the Super Tenere rally in AR last month, I have ordered an ACD plate, because I intend to do more of that. I think for most riders the SW-M plate is fine. The ACD weighs quite a bit more, but should provide better protection for me.

 

[copb8]

I have both the SWM skid plate and crash bars, all bought from TT. I've tested them both (unfortunatel) in very low speed impacts. The crash bars worked great, the skid plate, not so much. I was pretty surprised at the deformation considering the lightness of the impact. It did however do exactly what the OP said and that's provide a one-time impact protection for the cases. For that it paid for itself.

I'll be taking it off during my next oil change and evaluating whether it can be saved and re-installed. If not, I'll probably go alt-rider.

 

[BarkSlayer]

That's odd...I've done a lot of business with Twisted Throttle and never had anything but great experiences with them.

 

[klunsford]

::026::

I'd like to see the device that can be caught between 700+lbs. of bike and rider and a large rock and show no scars or deformity. :