Skid plate confusion

Sooo many skid plates so little time. Ok, please bear with me as I enter the land of skid plate choices.

1- What's the Black Dog Cycle Works skid plate made out of? Is it aluminum, stainless steel, galvanized steel, kryptonite?
2- Why does Touratech show their skid plate on a BMW without the exhaust connector that connects the left and right pipe in the front of the R1200GS? Oh, and how thick is it? (insert a "that's what she said" joke here)
3- Who is this elusive Twin Headlight Ernie and why is it easier to buy a nuclear centrifuge than buy a skid plate from him?
4- What alien technology was used to make the Altrider skid plate
5- Can anyone say Wunderlich with a straight face? And how good are their skid plates.

Finally, for the love of god, can someone please tell me how to navigate this forum to find a decent comparison between the above mentioned five skid plates? Help me pleeeeease...

You mentioned a big group of plates but left out the best.

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=532011

I went with the BDCW. For me I have seen it in action and know first hand it will take a beating and protect your bike like no other- in my opinion. Soft aluminum isn't my first choice.

http://advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=698185&highlight=bashplate

Anyway, just my 2 cents.

I did this excercise (in futility some may say) and the three that rose to the top for me were the BDCW, Touratech, and the BMW Bashplate. They all cost about the same but I felt for sheer rugeddness I chose the BDCW, it is made out of aluminum and after you get it on the first time it is a breese to remove for service. I shared some ideas with the folks at BDCW concerning design and I did have a mount failure after about 25K but they replaced it no questions and have redisigned the part. If I had to do it over again I would choose the same. I posted it on the site and will try to find the link and repost.

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=662331

In case of emergencies, the BDCW plate can be removed and works as a shield to fend of Grizzly Bears, as well as makes your bike bullet proof from the Mexican Drug Lords that might be shooting at you. Its THAT good.


Seriously though, its insanely thick and has a gnarly powdercoated "krinkle" finish exterior.


I already recommended it to someone else who got it (just a month ago on here i think) and they seem very happy.

After riding in some pretty rough roads and trails with my GSA, I believe most of these aftermarket skid plates are a bit overkill. For smaller dirt bikes riding over rocks and boulders and logs, sure a heavy duty skid plate is mandatory. I purchased the Touratech skid plate because it has the 6 mounting points vs. the standard 4 that many other companies use. The main reason for me was for the manifold protection. I doubt I'll need it but for the piece of mind, I paid the $220 anyways. I didn't know about the Black Dog skid plate when I ordered mine. I think the quality from what I've seen is worth the price, but I wouldn't pay $300 plus for a skid plate. I think they're all overpriced IMO. Just look at come of these inmates on here making their own that look just as good or better than TT or Wunderlich.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I bashed my plate on some rocks and ordered the factory one.

The BMW & Blackdog plates are the only two that are properly designed to help prevent catastrophic damage to the crankcase.

Forget the search tool. Do a google search like whatever site:advrider.com and it will come up with your results limited to discussions on this website. Try googling R1200GS skid plate site:advrider.com

In what way?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks for the reply. As one door is closed, another has been opened. So, now the question is: is it better for the skidplate to break off upon impact or stick around?

As someone who rides mostly in third world countries (including south Florida), I have "used" my skid plate more often than I care to mention. Getting on and off of curbs to park or to ride the bike when traffic is heavy, you tend to scrape bottom on higher curbs under load. When I do pick one, I'm gonna lube the bottom so it glides better on concrete. It's a Jungle out there, have a fruitful day as Jimmy Buffet would say. Thanks for the reply.

I use the ALTRIDER Bash plate. I really like the ALTRIDER gear in general. Their stuff fits perfectly, no trying to force it to line up with holes etc...

Again, I have the ALTRIDER plate and has smashed the funk out of it on several occasions. It's not bent, marked up, anything. Very happy with it.

With regards to " The BMW & Blackdog plates are the only two that are properly designed to help prevent catastrophic damage to the crankcase."....I'm not sure that's accurate IMHO.

Sorry, but have to disagree. The bottom of my left side header is testament to how even a suspension compression at the wrong time "road" can smash the pipe. And the Twin Headlight Ernie plate I had installed just deformed when it hit. It may have absorbed some of the impact and prevented worse damage, but the level of protection was minimal.

I now have a BDCW plate sitting on the table waiting for a little warmer weather to install it. A great piece of work. Really heavy, and added mounting points to provide more support and take all the stress off the bottom of the sump. Worth every penny that I paid.

Wow, that's crazy. I ride off curbs and have hit some deep potholes with my GSA and have not bottomed out yet.

Is it steel or aluminum? I paid $220 for my TT, so I guess an extra $80 isn't bad for the extra piece of mind. My TT plate received a nice gouge in it last week while off roading that looks like it was hit with a bullet. I really think the stock skid plate may have bent if I had it on.

I went with the touratech. Anything from that company has been time tested.

I have a Touratech on my HP2 and it is really stout and well thought out, I will be replacing my Twin headlight Ernie plate on the GSA because I don't believe it will hold up to a serious hit due to the thin material it is constructed of.

This is a little ride from last fall after I'd installed the bdcw plate. (first vid. Sorry, can't embed)

http://advrider.com/forums/showpost.php?p=17037869&postcount=391

Not too bad with the bottoming out , though I managed to do it enough. The road before this one was nothing but baby head size rocks. What a bitch it was on the heavy ass gs.

I've been completely thrilled with the performance of the plate. To boot, its a breeze to remove for servicing. I've got buddies with the large BMW plate, and I really like the rubber sump piece. The TT is nice as well. Lots of good options it seems. If I had to do it over again I'd still spring for the extra cash and pick up the black dog plate.

I think whats most important is to avoid this. The BMW plate uses a form fitted absorption block between the stump and plate as well as sacrificial mounting bracket that should go a long way to help prevent breaking the engine case. Black Dog isolates these by attaching to a frame tube.

well that doesnt look good :huh

pete