Finding the right skid plate for your machine can be a tricky ordeal, because you need just the right balance between protection and performance. In other words, you want to find something that weighs less than a standard cinder block while still guarding your bike’s underside from all the nasty stuff the great outdoors may throw at it. Oh, and all without changing or altering frame flex, please. Acerbis (pronounced uh-chair-bees) has what it feels is the perfect skid plate for both MX and off-road usage, and it’s made of-you guessed it-plastic. The crafty Italians at Acerbis have a knack for manufacturing sturdy, lightweight plastic components, and the skid plate follows this trend of simplicity and protection.

To install the plastic skid plate on a Honda 450, I simply unbolted the stock components, slam-dunked them into the trash can and mounted up the new unit. Due to the locking-rear of the plate, only one bolt is necessary, but despite this Spartan design I never had the skid plate come loose. I did see a similar Acerbis plate lying in the middle of the track at Glen Helen one Thursday, but I’m guessing that dude had never heard of Loctite.As expected, the Acerbis setup didn’t change the handling of the bike at all.

With its low weight and non-rigid design, the plate wasn’t even noticeable while riding. Like most skid plates, this one catches a fair amount of dirt, but it’s so easy to remove this didn’t bug me. The plastic surface of the skid plate sits well on a bike stand, and it was a cinch to clean off with a power washer.

For Acerbis MX-Style Skid Plates for your Dirt Bike and more, shop with our sponsor partspitstop.com