Piece of Mind – Pro Armor Skid Plates

Piece of Mind

August 15th, 2006
By: Staff report

The DS650 is, no doubt, well built, but as with any ATV, there is always room for improvement with body armor and heavier duty tires. When we picked up the Bombardier DS650, one of the fist first things we noticed was that it was lacking protection underneath as well as heavy-duty heel guards to keep your feet on the pegs rather than under the rear tire. We also found that the stock tires couldn’t handle the harsh desert environment. When you have the throttle pinned across the desert, the last thing you want is to have a rock go through your engine case or blow out a tire! These simple bolt-on items will save you money from ruined parts as well as medical bills!

First, we take a look at the Pro Armor skid plates. Pro Armor offers some heavy-duty aluminum skid plates for a wide range of ATVs. For the DS650, they offer a-arms guards, full body skid plate, swing arm skid plate, and a replacement exhaust shield all of which come in either brushed or polished aluminum.

Both the full body skid plate and the a-arms have “kick-up” shields that add protection to your engine oil lines and the lower shocks and bolts, as well as add style. The full body skid extends from the front bumper to the rear of the motor. This also helps the DS650 “glide” over obstacles or dune razorbacks when it high centers. It protects the underside of your motor and allows you to keep your momentum. The a-arm guards also take a beating in the desert. Rocks seem to come out of nowhere and aim straight for your expensive a-arms and shocks. Both the a-arms guards and the full body skid plate bolt on in minutes with the supplied bolts and brackets.

The rear swing arm skid plate is made of ¼” thick aluminum. It protects your swing arm along with your lower shock mount, rear brake disc, sprocket and chain. Ever priced a brake disc? They are not cheap! Install this heavy-duty skid plate and never worry about it again! It also has a two-strap slot cut out of the rear of the skid plate, which is handy, when you need to tow a friend back to camp. It allows all the towing weight to be low for maximum traction.

This skid plate bolts over the stock plastic “skid” rails. It seemed like it lowered the ground clearance quite a bit, but in reality, it’s only ¼” lower. It felt like we were dragging more in rutted out trails. What is really happening is the skid plate provides more surface area to drag than the stock plastic skid rails did. Installation was a little tricky, but not hard. For a couple of the bolts, you will need to lay down facing the rear of the ATV to be able to see what you are doing. Then, you will need to rotate the axle/sprocket to insert your hex key through the sprocket into the bolt. It’s a tight fit, but again, it’s easy.

The exhaust shield is designed to add style while keeping the rider from getting burned on the pipe by dissipating heat faster than the stock steel shield. It bolts on in seconds with the existing hardware.

Pro Armor offers high quality protection for a good price.

Next, we look at Diamond-G Racing’s aluminum heel guards. These tough guards are made from lightweight 6064 aluminum and they provide much more foot protection than the stock guards, as well as extra clearance for larger tires or paddle tires. The Diamond G heel guards stand up to the pounding the desert can dish out. They come powder coated in black and are easy to install with the supplied mounting hardware. They mount securely under the foot peg to the bottom of the rear fender. They are strong enough to stand on and give your rear fender plenty of support. Extra protection for your feet is cheap insurance!

Lastly, we felt that the stock tires needed to be upgraded to handle high-speed runs in the desert. The stock Ohtsu tires provide plenty of traction but we felt they were too thin and soft for the heavier DS650. The front tires seemed to fold over or wash out in higher speed turns. On our first ride in the desert, we found a rock that promptly put a large hole in the sidewall of the tire where it meets the tread. It took 4 plugs to hold air! The next day while wide open on a dirt road, the plugs let loose and put 8 evenly spaced holes or tears in the sidewalls of a rear tire. We have never seen this happen before! ITP to the rescue! ITP sent a set of their Holeshot XCT’s. The front tires (23x7x10) are 4-ply while the rears (22x11x10) are 6-ply. The front tires feel “stiffer” and don’t seem to roll over or wash out on turns. The rear tires withstood the rigorous beating the rocks in the desert can dish out. No more flat tires, good turning ability and good hook up!

Next time you are thinking of spending your hard-earned cash on an exhaust pipe to gain a few extra horsepower, think about investing in some products to make it back to camp and at the same time save your investment!