Yep. It is yet to be confirmed but it seems the boys in oZ have done the same thing the Seth Efikarns did on their first extreme adventure.
So all the gnarly adventurers out there, watch this carefully. The YAMAHA skid plate has a rear mount attached to the cast aluminum (aluminium) sump plate.
I know Jeremy at Altrider is aware of this and Wasp is too, so the first thing to do if you want a skid plate is..
1) Make sure YAMAHA is told about every instance of this, because they seem to listen.
2) Don't buy the YAMAHA accessory unless you are just doing easy stuff, it's probably OK for most easy off road as a stone guard.
3) Make sure that your vendor of choice does not mount to the sump and has some form of load distribution to the frame. The frame is steel and is made like that because it will take a hit without breaking.
4) Don't assume this bike is a WR250.
This and the radiator fan mount are the two weak points that need to be watched if you plan a gnarly adventure. Most crash bars out there will protect the radiator fan mount at least.
Before everyone gets too excited about the radiator position, there are good reasons why it is where it is, but the fan mount is too weak to survive a 268kg bike dropped on it. It bends and pushes the fan into the radiator which then can harm the radiator. The radiator is generally OK until the fan wears a hole in it OR the bike gets hot because the fan is stuck hard against it. If you drop it on that side check the fan is operational before proceeding. All that may have to be done is bend the bracket back. The fan is usually OK unless it has been burnt out after being stuck for a while. The fuse to the fan could also be replaced with either a smaller one or a self re-setting Positec device. (PTC Thermister used to protect speakers generally)
Both times this has happened the S10 has had 1 day prep and used standard, straight out of the showroom accessories, so it may be a good idea to give a bit more thought to it if you are doing a big trip across a rocky desert at a fast pace.
Cheers
Graham
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