• 4 Stroke Husqvarna Motorcycles Made In Italy - About 1989 to 2014
     TE = 4st Enduro & TC = 4st Cross

  • Hi everyone,

    As you all know, Coffee (Dean) passed away a couple of years ago. I am Dean's ex-wife's husband and happen to have spent my career in tech. Over the years, I occasionally helped Dean with various tech issues.

    When he passed, I worked with his kids to gather the necessary credentials to keep this site running. Since then (and for however long they worked with Coffee), Woodschick and Dirtdame have been maintaining the site and covering the costs. Without their hard work and financial support, CafeHusky would have been lost.

    Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve been working to migrate the site to a free cloud compute instance so that Woodschick and Dirtdame no longer have to fund it. At the same time, I’ve updated the site to a current version of XenForo (the discussion software it runs on). The previous version was outdated and no longer supported.

    Unfortunately, the new software version doesn’t support importing the old site’s styles, so for now, you’ll see the XenForo default style. This may change over time.

    Coffee didn’t document the work he did on the site, so I’ve been digging through the old setup to understand how everything was running. There may still be things I’ve missed. One known issue is that email functionality is not yet working on the new site, but I hope to resolve this over time.

    Thanks for your patience and support!

Hyde Skidplate on a 449/511

Tinken said:
I actually like the stock one, but it needs to be covered with kevlar I think.
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I had considered that. It really seems easy. A lot of people use layers of Kevlar and Carbon Fiber. The kevlar makes it bullet proof and the carbon fiber make it stiff as heck. I did some research and I think you would spend about $50 for materials and have some left to make some other guards for the bike like a pipe guard or to replace the plastic pivot guards.

I was thinking of pressing the a layer of carbon, a layer of kevlar, another layer of carbon, and a final layer of kevlar into the stock plate, on the inside. The plastic would be on the bottom to protect the carbon against scrapes. The carbon and kevlar makes the stock plate bullet proof.

I was all set to go this route, but realized the stuff would probably sit there in the garage for a while. And then there's the heat treating issue with the plastic in place -- depending on what type of rosin you use.
 
bigmo said:
Unless I misunderstood - that pic from Hyde (above) is actually Cafe's own Tunp!

You guys must dip your bikes in Simple Green! Mine was dirtier than that by the time I got home from the dealer with < 1 mile on it!
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yes its mine, and it gets a wash after every outing (usally) But to be fair the bike was fairly new when i bought the hyde and they asked for some pictures since they had none of the 449/511 for their website.
 
I made custom brackets for them to mount to the frame at the lower engine mount. If you have serious interest let me know. I've made duplicates for a few local people.
 
CRAP!

Well, I received the Hyde - and it doesn't fit. I emailed and called them with no response which is not good news. The overall fit of the skidplate is "ok" with about 40-50 pounds of pressure it will sort of conform to the frame. The problem is the rear mounting holes are WAY too narrow on the plate. I measured with my calipers and center to center is 80mm. The OEM plate is ironically 80mm. However, the Hyde measures in at 72mm. The material is so thick there is absolutely no way I can get any kind of movement to make up for 8mm.

I have a 2013 - I wonder if there were some minor tweaks to the way the skidplate attaches on the later models?

I suspect that a better option is Hyde's plastic mold has issues.

I will give them a couple more days to respond and follow up here.
 
Had some time to try and warm it up - bzzzt - no amount of heat is going to buy me 8 full mm! Crap - well folks, I have to say that Hyde's should be off the table for at least 2013's...bummer.

Here is the OEM plate - it matches (go figure) the frame perfectly at 80mm OC.

CAM00999.jpg


And then here is the caliper left static and moved to the Hyde:

CAM01000.jpg


And here is the Hyde at 72mm OC:

CAM01001.jpg
 
bigmo said:
CRAP!

Well, I received the Hyde - and it doesn't fit. I emailed and called them with no response which is not good news. The overall fit of the skidplate is "ok" with about 40-50 pounds of pressure it will sort of conform to the frame. The problem is the rear mounting holes are WAY too narrow on the plate. I measured with my calipers and center to center is 80mm. The OEM plate is ironically 80mm. However, the Hyde measures in at 72mm. The material is so thick there is absolutely no way I can get any kind of movement to make up for 8mm.

I have a 2013 - I wonder if there were some minor tweaks to the way the skidplate attaches on the later models?

I suspect that a better option is Hyde's plastic mold has issues.

I will give them a couple more days to respond and follow up here.
Click to expand...


I had to do exactly what Mr. Tinken said. Slot the holes. It won't make any difference in the durability. The super heating process only helps to get it to fit around the fame better. I spent a lot of time with the heat gun around the rear mounting holes, prior to tightening the bolts, to widen the recesses in the Hyde.

This stuff is a one time thing. So get it out of the way and you'll be grinning every time a rock hits the Hyde and you hear a loud "CLONK"! It's one of those sounds that immediately grabs your attention.
 
I got a very nice (light weight) carbon fiber one for my 511 over two years ago from Piri Performance. Don't know if he still makes them. Mine took like a month to arrive but I almost
feel fortunate after reading other less timely shipping encounters from him. Nevertheless, it did make it and is a quality product.
 
tunp said:
Yes i had to take a file and slot the holes also, and when I sent them pictures i made them aware that the holes spacing was off. Glad to see they care about:mad:.
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Ugghhh - I HATE fixing new stuff!

My thoughts on widening the holes is that it will eliminate their protection by sitting int he recessed wells. Having two bolt heads protrude down will not last long if you spend much time gliding the plate over stuff (especially rocks).

It makes me angry that people like you took the time to inform them that they had a problem and they did absolutely nothing about it.
 
jerbear610 said:
I got a very nice (light weight) carbon fiber one for my 511 over two years ago from Piri Performance. Don't know if he still makes them. Mine took like a month to arrive but I almost
feel fortunate after reading other less timely shipping encounters from him. Nevertheless, it did make it and is a quality product.
Click to expand...


The reason I went with the Hyde is that I like quiet (thus no aluminum plates) and it was the only one that covered the lower edges of the clutch and mag covers. I have already drug and gouged both of mine and I havent even had a really good beating on the bike yet (I'm sort of an expert at that). I need that extra space.

I do admit that your plate looks awesome. If those edges came up a bit higher I would be all over that.
 
banning them should be seriously considered on this site, im watching these s-plate threads not leaning anywhere yet, but must invest soon, once the bike is broken in, hell will be addressed, been riding near 50 years, if I had a dime for every time I heard the word "mod" combined with direct fit, just bolts on, no --- necessary? I can only answer with a show of my huge 50 year collection of tools that aided all the combined installs. -imo-
 
bigmo said:
The reason I went with the Hyde is that I like quiet (thus no aluminum plates) and it was the only one that covered the lower edges of the clutch and mag covers.
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This is why I stuck with it; the side protection and the rear frame is totally enclosed as well, which the other options lack. Mine has been great for 1,000+ miles and has never come loose or felt loose. It's a little goofy jockeying it into position to get the two rear bolts in, but not enough to bother me into finding another solution.

The apathy by Hyde on the hole alignment issue is the worst part of the experience...but still not enough for me to abandon the product.
 
Guys you are making too much of the hole alignment issue. I know it should fit as claimed. But everyone who's been able to look past the minor problem with mounting loves their Hyde plates. Do a search for the KTM Hyde reviews. Those guys had pretty major issues with the mounting hardware. But the guys who stuck with them, love them, too. The coverage is great. The durability is amazing. With a heat gun you can make them fit better. And with a heat gun you can change the location of the recesses to get slightly better bolt protection. Just get a little creative. It's gonna take you .5 to 1 hour in the garage to get it working for you.

Personally, on the subject of bolt protection, I think we need to do more than just a recess. I think a slide rail would be better. I keep meaning to go over to the dollar store an pick up a plastic cutting board. I figure I can cut two strips out of it counter-sink a couple of pan head bolts to attach them to the plate. They would cover mounting bolts with a hole drilled completely through where the mounting bolts are. I'm probably going to taper the front ends sharp so they will still slide up onto stuff. I might also drill the mounting bolt access holes just smaller than bolt head so the bolts stay in place when the plate is removed. I'll probably replace the stock mounting bolts with allen pan bolts as well.
 
Cosmokenney said:
Guys you are making too much of the hole alignment issue. I know it should fit as claimed. But everyone who's been able to look past the minor problem with mounting loves their Hyde plates. Do a search for the KTM Hyde reviews. Those guys had pretty major issues with the mounting hardware. But the guys who stuck with them, love them, too. The coverage is great. The durability is amazing. With a heat gun you can make them fit better. And with a heat gun you can change the location of the recesses to get slightly better bolt protection. Just get a little creative. It's gonna take you .5 to 1 hour in the garage to get it working for you.

Personally, on the subject of bolt protection, I think we need to do more than just a recess. I think a slide rail would be better. I keep meaning to go over to the dollar store an pick up a plastic cutting board. I figure I can cut two strips out of it counter-sink a couple of pan head bolts to attach them to the plate. They would cover mounting bolts with a hole drilled completely through where the mounting bolts are. I'm probably going to taper the front ends sharp so they will still slide up onto stuff. I might also drill the mounting bolt access holes just smaller than bolt head so the bolts stay in place when the plate is removed. I'll probably replace the stock mounting bolts with allen pan bolts as well.
Click to expand...


I'm not making a big deal out of it - I would be personally embarrassed to sell something new that knowingly does not fit the application. It's not like these are discounted - it is a $127 piece of plastic - it should fit! Some of the original complaints from KTM owners stated that Hyde claimed KTM had poor frame quality control and they cannot be held liable for poor motorcycle construction...

Based upon the fact that I have not received a return email nor call starts to tick me off.

I actually like your idea about the bolt protectors. You could actually bolt the front rails all the way through and then use a sunk pan head for the rear. The front will receive all the stress.

I do agree there is nothing else on the market that delivers what I want...and so I may be forced to eat it. I cannot however endorse others gettign a product they know wont mount up. How about a little honesty/integrity with a warning:
""Skid plate will not fit the Husqvarna without redrilling mounting holes and therefore exposing them to rocks and other trail debris. We know about this problem but choose to ignore it because we are so awesome."
 
bigmo said:
I'm not making a big deal out of it - I would be personally embarrassed to sell something new that knowingly does not fit the application.
Click to expand...
Sorry, I wasn't trying to start a thread war. I'm kind of like rainman sometimes, so I can write things that don't match the thought behind it. I agree with your feelings about this. It's been my experience that anything I buy for my bikes lately won't go on without some sort of modification. The dremel no longer gets put away. It's got a permanent spot on the work bench.
 
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