Hyde racing engine guard and Obie Linkage guard

[brantsdad]

going to try one also ... See link

viewtopic.php?f=18&t=622

[ricoyam]

I ordered the Hyde skid plate and put it on yesterday. After reading these posts I was expecting a bit of a nightmare but I found it fit pretty well.
Thinking it could be technique, here is how I installed mine.
There are three mounting screws on my 430. I'll assume this is pretty much the same across the line.
I started by putting in the rear screw just threading it in a few turns.
Swinging the front of the plate up I noticed it would be a tight fit around the frame so I used an under the frame stand which pushed the plate up into position. The holes in the front still did not line up real well so leaving the bike on the stand, I undid the rear screw and shifted the bike around which seated in better into the skid plate. Gravity is our friend. This brought the fron holes very close and just required a bit of pushing to get them perfect to hand start the front screws. Then, with the bike still on the stand I went back and reinstalled the rear bolt. It wasn't lined up perfectly but just took a little push to get it started. I dropped the stand, then tightened the bolts. Easy.

Today I dropped a screw and naturally it fell into the skid plate. I had to undo the rear screw to get the magnetic pick up tool I there and thought I might have to fight things to get the bolt back in but it pretty much went right in.

[Phatpat]

I too had problems fitting the Hyde skid plate, had to cut and modify some, especially in the rear to get my Obie linkage guard to fit. Just got back from a race in Romania and the obie linkage guard is already damaged and bent by a hit to the linkage, just one hit against a log and that was it. Getting a fastway linkage guard now.

[Darkside]

After finding the bottom of my frame bashed in with the stock plastic skid, I finally installed an EE alum plate. I trimmed off the back tab so my modified obie guard would work. I put some foam weatherstripping between the plate and the frame to hopefully reduce some noise