We all know that most manufacturers don’t do a very good job at outfitting their bikes with proper protection, especially for off-road. I was in need of some good bike armor for my new KTM 1090 Adventure R when ADVMoto sent me the Hepco-Becker skid plate to review. It was perfect timing given I still had the stock plastic “thong” KTM puts on the bike.

The skid plate showed up at my house the day before leaving for Pahrump, Nevada for the Rally Panam road book training put on by Scott Bright and Ned Suesse.

The Hepco-Becker skid plate is lightweight and made of 5-mm aircraft aluminum. Assembly was easy, about 30–45 mins of drinking adult beverages and—Bam! It was mounted.

Make sure when ordering to get the correct mounting hardware for your bike. There are two sets of hardware for the 1090R, with or without Hepco-Becker/stock crash bars. I am guessing that the large 8-mm bolt where the crash bars mount is longer when you have the bars. All the nuts and bolts fit perfectly, no major issues installing. But also make sure to keep all bolts loose until all are in place before tightening them.

My only complaint is the same as one for just about every other skid plate for the 1090, you have to remove the foot pegs. The removal isn’t the issue, it’s the re-assembly!

Pro-tip: Push a screwdriver through the bottom of the foot peg mount as you put the peg and peg spring in position. After the peg and spring are secure, slide the pin in place from the top pushing the screwdriver out.

This skid plate is great for the average rider. It’s lightweight and surrounds the engine and header well. In my experience, it held up well in the sand and gravel of Nevada and South Carolina, but once I had it in more technical terrain, like riding over logs and larger rocks, a weld cracked on the front right side. Yes, it protected the engine but the integrity was compromised. After a weekend at Brown Mt, NC, with the large rocks and rock faces, the weld separated more and I decided it was best to replace the skid plate with a new one.

Over all, it’s a great medium-duty skid plate for the average to moderately aggressive rider, but I would not take it to the extreme of bouncing off big rocks and logs on a regular basis and expect it to remain intact. MSRP: $335.61 MotoMachines.com