Enduro Engineering YZ250FX Skid Plate

What it is

• Brand New Skid Plate for the first edition of the YZ250FX.
• Enduro Engineering designed and made in the USA.

Enduro Engineering has created a skid plate for the brand new Yamaha YZ250FX out of 3/16” thick 5052 aluminum. The skid plate uses the stock mounts that come on the YZFX with an additional bracket that ingenuously utilizes the mount under the engine.

How it works

• Mounts up easily to existing mounts.
• Fits snug against the frame and the engine.
• Lowest profile Skid Plate for the YZFX yet.

The stock YZ250FX currently does not include a skid plate at purchase although it comes with the mounts on the frame. Though the new WR250F comes with a plastic plate they seem to have skipped that detail for this model year on the race version.

Being that the YZFX is the race edition one of the very first things I feel it needs to have on the protection side is a skid plate. A simple tip over in the rocks could easily result in a hole in the case and a DNF in the results. The addition of a skid plate is pretty much a "no brainer" and will give you something to bounce off of through the rocks while still protecting the frame rails, water pump, cases and clutch cover.

Enduro Engineering offers a very beefy while very compact solution. It is made from very thick, machined and bent 5052 aluminum that is welded and polished. The hardware is billet aluminium as well with a solid rear mounting system. While the front is slotted for the 8mm bolts making for an easy fit, the rear mount does not go directly into the frame. Instead it has a "U" shaped bracket that sits on top of the existing frame mount so that two much larger allen bolts can mount the plate. This makes for a more solid mount in the rear.

The mounting of the plate takes a little bit of a balancing act, especially when doing it alone, as the back mount consists of 2 floating pieces that bolt together. Once you get one bolt to get a thread in it all goes together very easily. The downside to the mounting is that it takes 3 different tools to put this bad boy on - 8mm socket, 5mm allen, 4mm allen. Their handguards were very similar a few years back but they have since updated to just a 5mm allen so I'd hope they will move towards that soon on the skid plate.

The fit of the plate if very tight up against the frame which for muddy racing minimise places for the heavy stuff to get packed in. While protecting the essentials it also has extra flanges on the back end to protect the foot peg mounts, an added bonus for more extreme terrain. The bottom design offers no real way to drain the oil however. There are 4 large holes machined into the bottom that do allow access to the drain bolt but the oil drains in such a way that it is nearly impossible not to make a good sized mess. Having to remove the plate to change the oil is nothing new, although an added luxury.

Once mounted on the plate is solid and very quiet. Instead of reacting like a tuning fork with the tiny rocks from the front tire or on an abrupt hit. As the plate is very compact it doesn't catch or hit on stuff unnecessarly. I did not notice any change or affect the handling, some skid plates that pount tight to the frame can really mess up a bike's feel. No doubt the rear mount in the rear allows for some flex where it's needed most.

Enduro Engineering knocked it out of the park once again on the Skid Plate for the YZ250FX. It could get a little better with some fastener refinement but it is well worth the money. For me it is the first thing I feel you need to put on the bike before heading out into nasty off-road terrain.

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