Underwear for the V-Strom

Rev. Brian posted a comment on my previous posting "Summer, Seats, and Stelvio" and included that he was trying to decide between getting the OEM under cowling or a real skid plate.  I started writing a reply and then figured it would make a good posting, since it's been a while since I've added anything to the blog.  This, of course, then reminded me that I never made a post after attending the International Motorcycle Show in Dallas, TX last month, so that's something else to add.  Look for that soon.

Anyway, back to Rev. Brian's conundrum.  Before I go any further, I want to make it clear that the following is merely my opinion based on my experience and observations, be they correct or wildly not.  Much of it is supposition, because I have direct experience only with the OEM under cowling.  If you have better information from which Rev. Brian can benefit, then please leave a comment.  Flames or trolling will be deleted with extreme prejudice.  It is my blog, after all.  :-)

So for those of you who have not read his comment, Rev. Brian is planning an adventure to the Black Hills in June and is trying to decide what kind of underwear to buy his V-Strom.  My advice is to take a good hard look at the type of riding that you intend to do, and then purchase the appropriate item to meet that use case.

For me, very little, if any, of my riding is going to be off-road.  If I do go off-road, it will most likely be limited to fire roads or groomed gravel.  Certainly nothing requiring a 4x4 vehicle, so the risk of high-centering (maxing out the bike's clearance) or sliding over rocks/logs and needing to protect the exhaust pipe or engine casing is practically zero.  In my use case, the OEM under cowling should be adequate protection from any road debris that might get kicked up and threaten the oil filter and/or exhaust pipe.

Seeing as how Rev. B is going to be visiting the Black Hills, I would hazard a guess that he may see some off-road action during his trip.  Even so, the OEM under cowling may be adequate if sticking to roads such as those I described above.

Givi makes a belly pan that I think offers a level of protection between the OEM under cowling and a skid plate.  It's also quite cost effective at $160.99 from OneidaSuzuki.com.

It appears to be a light-weight aluminum belly pan that I think can be mounted without engine guards/crash bars.  It seems like it would provide a bit more off-road protection than the OEM under cowling, but not quite as much as a skid plate.  Having not seen one in person, I can't really comment on just how durable it is.  From posts on Stromtrooper.com, it seems to be fairly durable in light off-road duty.  I still think the OEM under cowling looks better on the V-Strom, but this option might look better with a coat of matte black paint or spray-on rubberized truck bed liner.

Another option that doesn't require engine guards/crash bars is the SW-Motech skid plate, which is available at TwistedThrottle.com for $259.99.

Some posts I have read showed concern for the fact that it attaches directly to the engine case and may potentially cause greater damage than the protection it provides.  I believe that the concept is that the mounting struts are designed to flex in the event of an impact, absorbing some of the energy.  This is SW-Motech's bread and butter, so I'd like to think that they thought this through and did some testing to make sure that impacts to the skid plate would not bust up the engine case.  Maybe I'm just too optimistic.

There are other skid plate options as well -- Hepco & Becker, AltRider, and many more that can be found on Stromtrooper.com -- that require engine guards/crash bars to be installed.  These are probably the strongest solutions, but I guess it all boils down to how the skid plate connects to the crash bars.  It would be interesting to see some crash testing done to find out how each solution performs and up to what impact levels.  The skid plates alone are probably on par with the SW-Motech, but then you have to factor in the cost of the engine guards/crash bars if you don't already have any.

So I guess to summarize, I would rank these as follows:

• On-Road Only -- OEM under cowling is definitely adequate; expensive but looks great
• Light Off-Road -- OEM under cowling is probably adequate; the Givi belly pan would be better, less expensive, but not as factory-looking
• Light to Medium Off-Road -- Givi belly pan on the lighter end; SW-Motech on the medium end; both have that after-market add-on look
• Serious Off-Road -- skid plate incorporated with engine guards/crash bars; after-market add-on or bad-ass adventure look, your choice

Remember, this is just my opinion based on what I've read and what I think about a product based on its manufacturer's description.  Rev. Brian, I hope you found this to be somewhat helpful in making your decision on what to get.