VOLUME 58 ISSUE 14 APRIL 6, 2021 P103
List price: $299.95
Website: www.Axp-racing.com
S TANDOUT FEATURE
Massive coverage, simple installation
and burly protection
RIDER AN ALYSIS
Installing the AXP skid plate on the
Tenere 700 is simple. The hardest part
is working the t-shaped plastic block be-
tween the frame in the rear and setting
up the hardware to hold it. There isn't
a ton of space between the nut and the
exhaust and if you try to use a ratchet-
ing closed-end wrench to hold the nut in
place like I did, you'll soon discover that
it won't come off the tightened nut. Use
the open end and you'll only have to
tighten it once, unlike me.
The rest of the mounting is on stock
frame tabs so there are no hooks or
brackets or bars to span at all. Just bolt
it up. AXP recommends adding some
foam between the water pump and skid
plate to silence any vibrations there,
but I just rode off in a hurry with ours
and didn't experience much chatter.
I'm sure taking the time to drop a piece
of adhesive-backed closed cell foam
in there is worthwhile as vibrations do
come out of nowhere at times.
When I say this skid plate is full
coverage, I mean it. It covers everything
from your foot height down and from
header pipe to linkage. So, if you man-
age to bash anything down there hard
enough to get oil to come out—good
job, you've gone above and beyond
standard destruction.
As installed, the skid plate will
need to be removed for oil changes,
which isn't a huge issue as the service
intervals on these bikes make this an
infrequent event. If you want, you can
cut a hole for oil draining. AXP has left
you the outline to follow. But since the
oil filter is still completely covered, I
don't see the point in ever doing that.
Just drop the plate for oil changes. You
should probably clean the squirrels and
whatnot out of there, anyway.
Depending on other crash bars or
center stands installed on your ride, you
may need to trim the AXP armor to fit.
They have a compatibility list on their
website for popular options and most
aren't an issue.
Our test plate proved worthy of
some serious abuse. It went around
Southern California in photo shoots and
comparison testing and then it took
a Baja-bashing jaunt to Mexico for a
long weekend. It has passed all of our
tests and still looks great despite our
disregard for its safety.
Jesse Ziegler
LOWDOWN
•THE HARDWARE ISN'T ALL THE
HIGHEST QUALITY. WE'D PREFER
TO SEE ALL OEM-STYLE FASTENERS
AND NO MORE HARDWARE
STORE-STYLE BOLTS.
•FULL COVERAGE
•EASY INSTALL
•LOOKS AWESOME
•PROVEN DURABLE
•STOCK PART PALES IN
COMPARISON
T E N E R E 70 0 S K I D P L AT E
As you can see versus the stock
skid plate, the AXP Racing Skid
Plate (top) has massive coverage,
from header pipes to linkage
front-to-back and protecting the
engine's front-facing vulnerable
points all the way over the water
pump and cases.
