SXS Slideplate

[ebulic19]

As the final touch to the refresh on my 00' KDX 200 I decided to put a skidplate on. I checked the forums here to see if anyone had mounted an SXS but to no avail there was nothing so I figured I'd post some pictures and my experience on here.

The process was definitely testing of patience. Just remove the exhaust system and get to mounting.

SXS uses aluminum hooks with 5mm allen bolts and some fairly large washers to mount - blue loctite recommended. The front two mounts on the frame closest to the header went on relatively smooth. Drive side also went on with some fiddling. I noticed that it is somewhat helpful to thread the bolts into the aluminum mounting hardware very loosely and then hook them on the frame with the slack you have. The back two mounting pieces took a little more fiddling.

The drive side back mounting piece went on somewhat crooked but bolted up using the pre-drilled holes from SXS.

The clutch side required me to drill another hole parallel to the pre-drilled hole, just a little further toward the rear wheel. In addition, I took the aluminum mounting hook to the bench grinder and took the step off the hook to allow for the slideplate to come up a little higher.

Once I got that bolt threaded I took a heat gun to soften the plastic up a little bit and allow it to form to the cradle. I tightened everything down and heated it again and let it sit for a little while, then unthreaded and put blue loctite on all bolts.

Overall, it came out pretty nice, it just pained me to have to drill into a pricey piece of plastic, but it beats a new knuckle. I am excited to see how it sldies over logs. SXS is one of the leading skidplates in the enduro scene. I figured i'd give them a try. I have an AXP on my TE300 (AXP isn't made for the KDX) and figured i'd treat the old girl.

[Chuck78]

Thanks for posting. I was not aware that these existed for our bikes. Looks like a very excellent design, however Hyde Racing has one up on them for having the mounting bolts recessed up into the skid plate... BUT .. SXS have a linkage guard built in... So it's a trade off, I would say these are the best two skid plates available, far better than any aluminum plates.
My concern with their mounting bolt configuration is that I would grind the heads off of the bolts and deform them on rocks to the point where they would not be able to be removed unless destructively removing with a rotary cut off tool or drilling. In mountainous regions or Appalachian hills, some trail areas have rocks EVERYWHERE... Skid plates are much more necessary for rocks than logs.

I still really like the linkage guard feature and I'd thought about making my own for my Hyde Racing skid plate. I have the Hyde Racing pipe guard skid plate combo now that they're back in stock (17 left!), & I really think it's the ultimate. It won't work for the FMF Gnarly Woods pipe though, but made to fit the FMF Gnarly Desert + fits the Pro Circuit Platinum 2 reasonably well.
I may look into this skid plate and sell my standard Hyde skid plate new in box (bought one for my 99 220 rebuild project before they made a new batch of the pipe guard skid plate combos which of course I wanted one of those instead).
I've been running a standard Hyde Racing skid plate for years, and found it to be virtually indestructible.

[ebulic19]

Chuck - I bet if you called/emailed SXS before they made it for you they may countersink some of the mounting holes. I am almost certain they made this to order given the wait time for it, I could be wrong however. Good point about the heads grinding on rocks. I guess only time will tell, but the nice thing is that their is a cut out hole for oil changes so my hope is that I will seldom need to remove it.

I've read and seen personally a lot of people using the SXS so I am certain it will be good to protect the old KDX. They are made of UHMW.

UHMW (ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene) offers a combination of exceptional properties. This thermoplastic material is tough with superior impact strength. It is corrosion-resistant and exhibits virtually no water absorption. It is also wear-resistant, non-sticking and self-lubricating.

[Chuck78]

Did you get it manufacturer direct?

https://sxslideplate.com/product/kdx-200/

This is the only other place I found selling it online after a quick search...

https://mojomotosport.com/products/sxs- ... 95-06-d406

$154 4/7/24

[Chuck78]

This is without a doubt a very very nice skid plate. one of the best on the market.

However, I do like how the Hyde skid plate wraps around the water pump almost entirely, giving it a moderate amount of protection. The SXS does leave it 95% exposed.



That being said, I did still manage to break my cast aluminum water pump cover flange where the hose nipple bolts on, playing on BIG rocks at the legendary Wellsville trails where TKO racers train, even WITH the Hyde skid plate covering 80% of the water pump cover area...







.

[ebulic19]

Chuck - I got it from Mojo since shipping was free from them. But the return address on the box was from SXS.

I almost got the HYDE skidplate because the coverage is nice and the price is more appetizing, but I was in the market for something that covered the linkage/knuckle.

[Chuck78]

Well, I've got a new SxSlideplate in the mail, but it's not arriving in time for our riding adventures this weekend, so I'm swapping on the Hyde Racing pipe guard skid plate combo that I'd been saving for my big build with all the titanium parts...
I was thinking for the SxS skid plate, I'd probably just fabricate some sort of cage type pipe guard to protect my fresh Pro Circuit Platinum 2 pipe from bending in hard slams. Normal pipe guards protect from dents, but I'm tired of always having bent pipes from the hard slams... I might make up something to support the pipe from behind on the fat side (right side) to give additional protection from bending with the Hyde Racing pipe guard skid plate, although the skid plate itself should help a lot more than any standard pipe guard.
When the time comes, I'll post my efforts!

[Chuck78]

I was up burning the midnight oil last night, fell asleep early AM before I could attach this photo! It will surely get put to the test where we're headed for the weekend, Southern Kentucky rocky steep rugged Appalachian terrain.

IMG_20250425_030124_595~2.jpg (3.98 MiB) Viewed 2256 times

The Hyde Racing pipe guard skid plate combo cradles the Pro Circuit Platinum 2 pipe quite well, despite being designed for the FMF Gnarly Desert pipe! Not quite perfect, but actually better than the pictures from another forum member years ago so it has exceeded my expectations for both fitment on this pipe which it was not designed for, as well as overall coverage and function... Getting the rear mounting bolt it took a bottle jack on the floor to flex the skid plate up enough to begin engaging the threads of the bolt (it was late and thale hack was sitting right next to me as I struggled to flex it by hand and tgread the bolt into a fliating mount, needed a 3rd hand! & a longer bolt is a NO, as it could potentially contact the engine case). They are designed to have a significant amount of spring to them, preloading the skid plate so it is always drawn tightly against the frame while using center mounting bolts and a small bracket, vs typical skid plate hook type clamps x4 on each corner. This works well but takes a bit of technique to install.
The oil drain hole lines up better on this vs the standard Hyde skid plate as well, but still is just a hair off, not a big deal.

The rear mount also benefits from having the thread-nut
clip thing with the open end facing forward, otherwise it's a tighter fit between the oil drain bolt and mount when using a socket on the oil drain bolt head.

I wish I would've gotten to this install sooner, as I might've liked to fabricate a support off the center front of the frame wishbone area over to the top front edge of the pipe guard for additional support for those hard slams.


I'm quite happy with this thing, and will likely add an Acerbis universal linkage guard to it (as other forum members have posted photos of in the past), and most likely order another one while Hyde still has them in stock, same with another Pro Circuit Platinum 2 pipe.

IMG_20250425_030138_385~3.jpg (3.5 MiB) Viewed 2256 times

Note that this Hyde Racing version doesn't cover the water pump areas any more than the SxS...
Acerbis linkage guard will get added to this Hyde skid plate ASAP as well.

For my other bike using the SxS, I will look into making a cage type pipe guard this summer or in the off season.