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Black Dog skid plate problem

3K views 9 replies 5 participants last post by  RobieCreekGeorge 
Has anyone installed a Black Dog skid plate on their Pan America special?
I attempted to install one today. It will not bolt on without hitting the voltage regulator. With the front 2 bolts loosely in place, the rear of the plate is still over an inch from reaching the mounting bar that Black Dog supplies with the skid plate.
If I push the plate up to the bar so the rear bolts can be threaded in, the front of the plate pulls back on the bottom of the voltage regular. The regulator is mounted to a plastic bracket that flexes upon contact with the skid plate. I have no doubt that this contact will either crack the mounting bracket or damage the voltage regulator. Most likely both of these things will happen
Has anyone else had this problem? If so, did you contact Black Dog about the problem? What did they say?
I’ve been running a Black Dog skid plate on a R1200GS for over 10 years. The plate has withstood a lot of abuse. The only thing I’ve had to do is replace the mounts that come with the plate twice. They bend/crack with repeated contact with rocks etc… I expect this with repeated ground contact. I also expect to be able to install a new plate on a nearly new bike with no clearance issues.
Any input would be welcome.
I installed mine last week. Good quality and looks nice on bike. I had a hell of a time getting the rear to line up properly so I could install the bolts. I didn't consider that it may be hitting the voltage regulator up front. Everything appeared fine. I am not looking forward to removing at my next service, however, at that time I may look at "slotting" the 4 bolt holes to give me a little more flexibility when remounting. One thing I did notice pulling into garage, yesterday - I went to put side stand down, however, it was stuck in the up position. I pushed my rear stand down a little and this seemed to have released my side stand. I have not looked to see what the issue was, however, never had this issue prior to putting on skid plate.
 
Mine went like so;

Attached both rear screws. Then, with a bit of a fight (explained below), attached the front left screw, which left the right front screw approximately 3/4” below where it needed to be to attach. Any effort to force that side of the plate high enough to insert screw was futile. Close inspection revealed the rubber bumper-brick (glued to the top of the plate) was FIRMLY hitting the engine case’s ridges where the two halves meet, as well contacting a pair of the side-to-side screw bosses that join the case halves, each of which protrude down towards the skid plate nearly as far as the case’s center ridges. After Dremeling relief troughs in the rubber brick, the plate was finally able to swing up high enough that both its forward screw holes were the right height, while the unDremeled remainder of the rubber bumper’s upper surface dutifully nestled against the engine case… like Black Dog intended I reckon.

The next issue was the forward plate holes were ever so slightly aft of ideal alignment on both sides by about a tenth of an inch. It wasn’t possible to position the rear bracket further forward to overcome the shortfall, since it was already firmly against the rearward facing factory bolt head on the left side, which helps attach the unitized foot peg/shock link mount crossmember to the engine case. I was able to lay on my back, put a foot against a foot peg to push against while pulling the skid plate towards the front and BARELY get each front screw started without cross threading them. Egging the plate’s forward holes with a rat-tail file just a smidge, eliminates most of that battle, and its countersunk holes help “walk” the plate into optimal position once the screws are fully tightened.

Final issue was minor, and possibly an intentional design feature to ease installation, wherein the plate’s forward holes were nearly a quarter inch further apart than the distance between the Pan America’s respective mounting points. Being mild aluminum, the plate yielded fairly easily as it’s forward mounting screws were cinched down.

Once fitted, I liked it. Not keen on the tedious aspect of getting the rear screws into their floating clip threads, but hey, they do the job!
Sounds like my experience and how I addressed mine. By slotting the holes, solved my issues. I do have the occasion when the side stands is stuck when trying to put down. However, really like the part, and their many decals of a black lad they give you!
 
Sounds like my experience and how I addressed mine. By slotting the holes, solved my issues. I do have the occasion when the side stands gets stuck when trying to put down. However, I really like the part, and their many decals of a black lab they give you!
I just pulled mine off, for the first time since installing. I have been putting this off as I did not want to fight putting this plate back on. I pulled skid plate off to access the battery to install a NOCO booster jump start cable to the battery. On my original install I had slotted the screw holes on the bash plate, slightly. This time, as before, I installed with the front two screws loose, barely to the point where they stay in. I lifted the rear and loosely installed the two screws underneath, at the rear. Once all screws were installed, I tightened with no issue. Total install time, less than 10 minutes.
 
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