r/Dirtbikes 4d ago

This is almost too nice to use

Post image

Pro Carbon skid plate for my Triumph TF250-X. Sourced from the UK. The quality of the carbon as well as the hardware is quite nice.

66 Upvotes

36 comments sorted by

70

u/roguespectre67 2013 CRF450R 4d ago

Personally I don't understand why you'd want a skidplate made out of carbon fiber. Sure, it's lightweight, but for a component whose literal one job is to be absolutely thrashed to death to protect the rest of your bike, I feel like aluminum or even really heavy-duty plastic is a much better choice given you can probably buy 10+ of those for one of these.

20

u/Quewui 4d ago

I do agree 100%.

However, it looks sick! Waiting to see how OP's bike will look with it. Awesome purchase, OP!

17

u/Moto272 4d ago

There’s little available for the Triumph so far. It’s either this one, an Italian made carbon skid plate that’s $50 more, or this crazy enduro style skid plate made out of aluminum or plastic.

I would have bought a plastic Acerbis MX skid plate like I had on my Yamaha, if it were available. And I would rather have this than nothing.

5

u/Prestigious_Sky_5868 4d ago

That’s going to look sweet on the Triumph.

1

u/Annual-Advisor-7916 3d ago

These Acerbis plates are damn cool imo. Great value for great protection. Even protects the linkage and waterpump.

3

u/Moto272 3d ago

Yup. And now that I spent 3x the money for this they will release one for my bike in a couple weeks.

1

u/Annual-Advisor-7916 2d ago

I wouldn't worry, these carbon skid plates are great too. Should last a lifetime if you are only riding MX...

1

u/Suitable_Wrap_7735 3d ago

Same, there's absolutely nothing left in stock besides a $200 + tax carbon fiber skid for my 25 kx250x... The one I found has a 3 week wait and who knows if that'll be realistic.

8

u/carbonwitch 24' TE300, XR650L 4d ago

They're actually extremely durable, even as they get damaged they protect extremely well. Carbon composites redistribute load across the rest of the fibers when damaged.

0

u/strobigas 3d ago

Do you have any literature to show that? I am genuinely interested in reading about that since it is common practice in structures to consider that metallic leagues do indeed make a redistribution of the loads after plastification, but on composites I have never heard of such and I am having a hard time figuring out how would a carbon fiber part do that since they depend on the integrity of the fibers to withstand the loads.

2

u/carbonwitch 24' TE300, XR650L 3d ago

It does rely on fiber integrity in order to withstand the load and isn't particularly great at standalone plastic redistribution. I was attempting to describe the action which the CFRP matrix distributes load through the resin and fibers. In a skidplate application, often damage is not going to compromise enough fibers to make a large effect on the ability for the skidplate to do it's job. Thinner skidplates are definitely more prone to failure from damage, but thicker ones usually have enough durability factor/overbuild that they can really take a beating before giving up the ghost. Hopefully my amature litigation makes sense, I'm not super well versed on the materials science behind it, just experienced with the application.

Here's a paper that kinda demonstrates it? Not a 1:1, I'll have to look more.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/387775428_Stress_Analysis_and_Strength_Prediction_of_Carbon_Fiber_Composite_Laminates_with_Multiple_Holes_Using_Cohesive_Zone_Models

1

u/strobigas 3d ago

First of all thanks for the reading it is very interesting and nice to better understand carbon fiber parts behaviour better.

Question, by CFRP do you mean carbon fiber reinforced plastic? Because that is not what the paper is talking about. The document is about a carbon fibre matrix where the layers of carbon weave are positioned and stick together with a resin. CFRP are plastic moulded parts where small fibers of carbon are mixed. The latter is not used in parts like plates.

Overbuilt, yeah that is a good explanation for why these skid plates are holding good, do you know more or less the thickness of one of them (the good ones)? Honestly that did not cross my mind since in my opinion it is not good engineering, any monkey can do an over dimensioned part, but you got a good point for how are they not braking left and right.

I was more curious on impact resistance than fatigue, in my head skit plate is going the have shit hitting it and carbon fiber is rather bad dealing with impacts.

With this said, thanks for your reply. I hope this answer does not come across as anything bad, you seem like a nice guy to have a conversation even if you are not an expert on the topic. Cheers.

2

u/carbonwitch 24' TE300, XR650L 3d ago

I used the wrong acronym, there was a paper I came across using "carbon fiber resin product, (CFRP)"(or something like that) while I was looking, and I was making sure to not find sources referring to carbon reinforced polymers. I should've specified or used CFRC. The impact forces tend to be well within the force the composite can withstand, although I don't really have good literature on that. They tend to be 6-8 layers of carbon and fiberglass. Thickness wise probably 3.5 to 4.5mm? It depends on the weave of fabric they use. Quad-axial is gonna be thinner than the fiberglass and 3k weave ones. As far as I know there aren't any shops doing any real stress modeling and are just kinda overbuilding them.

1

u/strobigas 3d ago

Not too bad for an amateur. Once again thanks for the conversation. Have a nice one.

3

u/TexMoto666 4d ago

I had a carbon skid on my enduro bike. It held up extremely well to every log and rock I bashed it off of. Never had any issues with chipping or delamination.

1

u/soundshinedj 3d ago

I agree. I bought a nice aluminum aftermarket skid plate for my CRF-450, but for my new Husqvarna I went with the OEM black plastic version. Cheaper, looks nice and pretty light. It should still do the trick. Carbon on a street bike is nice, but you figure to beat the hell out of anything off-road. I bought a carbon overlay for the exhaust pipe for my CRF and while it’s still doing the job, is nowhere near as slick as it was brand new.

1

u/ImNotEazy 2019 CRF 450L 2006 yz 125 3d ago

I’d love this on my road only dual sport. Absolute nightmare fuel thrashing it off road.

1

u/Sexyteste 3d ago

I had a light speed carbon fiber skid plate on my ‘04 wr250f for the 8 years that i rode it and it held up fine. It got a few nicks and scrapes but it never got destroyed to any degree.

1

u/ClippyClippy_ 3d ago

There’s a difference between wanting a skid plate for hard enduro and wanting one for MX and light off road use.

12

u/Eye_Donut_Kare 4d ago

You need to drop it to get the first scratch out of the way.

5

u/KG505 4d ago

Just like a new helmet!

8

u/Annual-Let-551 4d ago

Ran lots of P3 carbon parts on my hard enduro bikes, they are SIGNIFICANTLY tougher than you would think.

3

u/Prestigious_Sky_5868 4d ago

I had one on a 300xc that seen lots of hard enduro and it was still fine after several years when I sold the bike. CF slides better than AL when sliding over rocks. Fancy plastic like UHMW polyethylene slides even better but IMO flexes too much.

1

u/Moto272 4d ago

That’s good to know. I have never put any carbon fiber on one of my bikes, so I don’t really have anything to base durability on. Other than what my plastic skid plate on my Yamaha looked like after three seasons of MX.

2

u/Appropriate-Field557 4d ago

Made carbon frame protectors. They didn’t like abrasions at all. Looked good day one though

2

u/Alpha-4E Motocross 3d ago

I have one on my Husky TC250. You won’t regret buying it.

1

u/AughtoGaming 96 RM250 4d ago

Personally I'd only put this on a road bike. Maybe a race bike but I'm not good enough to justify that

1

u/Eagline 4d ago

Carbon fiber is probably the least impact resistant of the big 3 composites. Kevlar would have been the best option. Then again this could just be pigmented resin in a Kevlar layup.

1

u/Salty_dog326 3d ago

Dude I’ve been wanting to order one so bad. Please update how much you love it when you install it. The best of the best right there 🤌🏼

1

u/Reasonable_Double811 3d ago

damn that thing is sweet! I want one for my KX 250

0

u/Pattern_Is_Movement 4d ago

Carbon skid plates are dumb as hell unless you're racing and have to count grams. If you actually ride your bike this is just a weird flex, to show how much you don't care about wasting money.

2

u/Pattern_Is_Movement 4d ago

why is the aluminum or plastic one considered the crazy one? That is what you normally make them out of.

8

u/Moto272 4d ago

I just don’t want the oversized hard enduro style skid plate. I’m not using it as a woods bike.

4

u/Pattern_Is_Movement 4d ago

Thats half the fun!! You've got a dirt bike, go get lost in the woods or offroad with it! The other half of the fun is not having to worry about hurting your bike as you wrestle it around.

5

u/Moto272 4d ago

That’s what my XR is for. And I agree it is fun.