No Triumph Tiger 800 should be ridden without proper armour. I think we’ve got a pretty good one for you. Read on and check out more a dozen of production images. Please note that the skid plate in the photos is not completed, yet but shows the final shape of the product.
This skid plate is kind of past the development phase. It’s actually in production now. At least the first batch of a few. There were a couple of things we really paid attention to. First and foremost it was designed for off-roading. Scenarios where you can throw almost anything at this skid plate and still ride on smiling. Your engine is safe.
Here’s why:
We’ve designed a skid plate/bash plate that will efficiently provide coverage for the engine and the exhaust headers. We care about the shape of this unit as well. The last thing anyone would want on an off-road worthy bike is a “boxy” design with sharp bends and corners.
Our goal is the exact opposite to avoid getting caught on hard objects along trails which could result in you – the rider – being thrown off the bike. A proper skid plate/bash plate will deflect and absorb.
Our secondary goal is to introduce a heavy duty armour to protect the Triumph’s engine. We’ve made a sample using 4mm thick aluminum and it feels pretty solid.
To “beef things up” more, the Tiger 800 skid plate/bash plate received the Outback Motortek signature reinforcement ribs. It could certainly be helpful to glide over logs and rocks and to reinforce the bottom of the skid plate where it’s exposed to the largest impact.
Ventilation: We didn’t want to design a fully closed skid plate with no vent holes on it but in the same time we do not want to make a cheese grader looking product either.
We’re going to do skid plate fitting once again next week. I’ll follow up with more images. This time the skid plate will be mounted on a Tiger 800.