I‘m returning with more exciting news on the new CRF1000L Honda Africa Twin hard parts development. This time we’ve got that “bomber” bash plate prototype to reveal. Again, instead of hiding it, we rather let you in on the details.
To be perfectly frank, we’ve received more surveys and emails regarding this project that we had imagined. Thank you to all of you who took the effort to drop a line with your feedback. This post will please those who’ve voted for that ultimate – and I mean ultimate and not pretending to be one – bash plate. That’s basically 62% of all the survey contributors. Don’t close this page just because you’re the one who want a simple but still effective bash plate. We care about the 38% as well and are working on creating what you’re asking for.
In medias res, let’s see what we’ve come up with. Read on below (the prototype bash plate) image for features.
Important notice: this bash plate below is simply just a bunch of metal sheets welded together to give you an idea what it may look like. The final version will be made of 4mm thick aluminum and will most likely be cut from one single sheet for strength. 3D designs are to follow soon.
The shape of our bash plate is fairly self-explanatory: it’s a really wide engine and needs an even wider bash plate to protect ALL the engine components.
This bash plate will offer FULL protection for the exhaust header. I mean basically from top to bottom.
Mounting: I explained in this post (click here) why we decided on our crash bar mounting points much differently from all the other manufacturers. It’s a real challenge to find decent mounting options on this bike.
The bash plate is no different. Look around the market for existing CRF1000L bash plates. Pretty much they all mount the same way. When I promised that we’d come up with a bomber bash plate, I meant it. Take a look at the prototype in the image above. The upper portion shows two extra bolts besides the four below. The four holes below will correspond with the factory skid plate mounting points. We’re adding two extra, thus making it six mounting holes. Where do the extra two holes mount to? If you’ve read my previous post on the crash bars development, then you probably know that our crash bars wrap around the bike in a different way than the other guys’. This will allow us to actually build a hybrid mount system and bolt the bash plate on the existing frame mounting points and the crash bars! Kaboom!
Another cool and truly offroad-friendly feature is how we shaped the bottom of the bash plate. Check out the photo below and this might help you notice the difference. If not, then find the answer below the image.
Noticed those angles? This is to break any impact before gliding over rocks, logs and anything that’s in your way on the trails and you want to ride over it, rather than going around it. Again, you will NOT find this kind of engineering on most bash plates. Very few manufacturers (whom I also highly respect) have cared to build you a functional bash plates like the Outback Motortek one.
And there’s more! We are going to add those extremely useful ribs to the bottom. They increase the strength of the bottom of the bash plate and will help your bike glide over objects, rather than stopping your bike while trying to glide. Check out this “behind the scene” video on how we do this part of the bash plate manufacturing.
Within two or three weeks, I’ll be back with an update post on the final crash bars and bash plate products.
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Email at [email protected] or call (As many of you have done it. Cheers!) at 1 877 931 3636. Toll free.
Ride safe,
Lorry Gombos
Founder and owner
Outback Motortek