The Budget Adventure Tourer
SW-Motech Skid Plate
by Rick K. for webBikeWorld.com
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| Owner Comments (Below)
Background
Just for the record, the SW-Motech skid plate, as we call it in the
States, is officially known as the SW-Motech Engine Guard.
This type of engine guard is also referred to as a "bash plate" and probably a few other
colloquialisms as well.
"Engine guard" seems correct to me, but many people use that term for
the "crash bars" that protect the sides of the engine if the bike falls
over.
Any Adventure Touring bike worth its mud flaps surely has to have a
skid plate, which is a device used to protect the underside of the
engine from damage.
I'll probably never need one, but hey -- it sure looks cool and I
guess it shows that I'm serious about off-roading, right?
The SW-Motech Engine Guard
I looked around for a good, solid, high-quality skid plate for the
DR650 and there are several available, but I went with the more
expensive ($124.95 vs. $79.95 for the Pro Cycle version) SW-Motech Engine Guard for a couple of reasons.
First and most important, my experience has been that products made
in Germany are usually precisely engineered with high quality parts and
hardware.
I got burned on the installation of the hand guards for the DR650, as
you'll learn when I get around to posting that review, and I didn't feel
like going through another routine like that again with the engine
guard.
The SW-Motech skid plate looks really nice also, with precision laser
or water-jet cut holes and what seems like better coverage than other
plates. It also looks like it will allow a fairly easy oil and filter
change, and I'll see about that the next time the bike comes due for
one. And finally, it will work with the SW-Motech center stand I also
have, waiting for installation.
As it turns out, installing the SW-Motech skid plate was fairly easy,
with one quirk. Also, there are no installation instructions, other
than an exploded diagram.
Installation
The first thing I'd suggest is to lay out all of your hardware and
check it against both the parts list and the assembly diagram to make sure you have
everything need.
A parts list is included in the package that
illustrates and lists each piece, so take some time to arrange the
hardware and familiarize yourself with it, because the instructions
aren't specific about what goes where. Also, you'll need a torque wrench
because all of the parts have a specific torque requirement, especially
the important main engine mounting bolt (see below).
Also not detailed in the non-existent instructions is the assembly
order:
- First confirm that you have all the parts and hardware (and
tools and torque wrench and Loctite) necessary to do the job and you
know where everything goes.
- Next, mount the front brackets as illustrated below. These are a
bit difficult to torque, so I mounted the skid plate in a bench vise
to hold it while I torqued the nuts.
- Next, remove the long engine bolt from the bike and replace it
with the SW-Motech bolt while you mount the front of the skid plate.
- Before you tighten the front, loosely install the two rear
mounting bolts with their rubber grommets and spacers.
- Once everything looks like it will fit, snug up the bolts, then
torque down the long front bolt and then the rear bolts.
Here is a full-sized version of the
assembly diagram and a full-sized version of the
parts
list. I've arranged the photos to illustrate the process with the narrative
below each photo:
First, lay out all the parts and check them
against the parts list. Familiarize yourself with the assembly diagram and
how all of the parts will be assembled.
Here's a close-up of the mounting hardware for the SW-Motech
Engine Guard. Make sure you have the same hardware (for the DR650; other
motorcycles may differ). The long bolt replaces the original equipment main bolt that
secures the DR650 engine to the frame. More on this below.
It isn't explained in the instructions (because there are no instructions), but
you'll need to first mount the brackets on the inside of the skid plate.
The small rubber grommets fit into the
mounting holes on either side of the skid plate. These cushion the internal
mounting brackets from vibration. The holes in the skid plate are slightly
oval shaped to allow for any lateral adjustment that might be necessary due
to tolerance variations, but the grommets should fit right in.
On the left is a close-up of one of the four
front mounting bolts. The parts are shown in the order of assembly. Note the
spacer just to the right of the washer; it fits inside the rubber grommet.
On the right is a close-up of one of the rear mounting bolts that fits
into the skid plate mounts that are installed on the DR650 at the factory.
It's difficult to see in this photo, but the yellow arrow indicates the larger rubber grommet just below the large spacer.
The spacer is indicated by the red arrow. This assembly bolts to the rear
skid plate mounting brackets that are installed on the DR650 at the factory.
See
the note below; I had to use extra washers because the bolts that came with
the SW-Motech skid plate were too long and
interfered with the bottom of the engine.
The internal mounting brackets installed in
the skid plate.
Close-up of the internal mounting bracket.
The arrow indicates the main mounting bolt
(the long bolt) that must be removed and replaced with the new bolt included
in the SW-Motech skid plate hardware package.
It wasn't difficult to remove
the bolt, although you may need someone to hold the wrench on the left side
of the bike while you loosen the nut on the right side.
SW-Motech recommends
using Loctite on all of the fasteners and I used the blue Loctite medium
grip. I also put a very thin coating of anti-seize on the main engine bolt
just in case, to help prevent any corrosion in the future.
According to the Suzuki DR650 shop manual, the long engine bolt requires 65
Nm (47 ft. lbs.) of torque.
Photo showing the rear skid plate mounting
bolts. These are installed at the factory on the DR650.
Rear mounting bolts installed.
Close-up of the rear mounting bolts. The bolts
were too long, so it was either cut them down or add a couple of washers. I
took the easy route and added the washers as spacers, indicated by the
arrows. You can see where the end of the bolt scratched the bottom of the
engine, just where the threads are sticking out from the nut.
Photo from underneath showing the mounted skid
plate. Note the four bolts holding the front inner brackets.
The SW-Motech Engine Guard skid plate mounted
on the Suzuki DR650.
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