Still shows the metal skid plate on the 2013 Sportsman 500 and the 2014 Sportsman 400. Dirt Cheap Yamaha, Honda, Arctic Cat & Polaris OEM Parts & Accessories – Cycle Parts Warehouse I agree on the plastic skid plates not holding up that well,plus trapped a lot of mud because of no holes on most of them. Saw a bunch of em come in the shop all ripped up.

 

Depends on where you ride, and if you trust that thin piece of tin they call a skid plate. Riding in the Rocky Mountains, they are worth every penny.

 

That's about how a skid plate looks in New England too.

 

The XP still gets a good stock skidplate like the Sportsmans use to have at one time made of steel.

Here is a stock XP . Not sure if its plastic or metal though.

 

I pulled plastic off of my XP when I put the Ricochet's on. The underside of my wife's 500, and my old X2 were metal, but it is very thin and weak and easily bent. Better than nothing for sure, but nowhere near the protection I prefer to have.

 

I wish there was a skid plate as strong as 1/8" steel, as corrosion resistant as plastic or aluminum, and that would slide over obstacles as easily as plastic. Maybe the thick high molecular skids would be the answer. Anyone have them?