Help Removing Skid Plate

[Gcclubs]

I noticed a small amount of oil under my ryker right where the drain plugs are but I want to pull off the skid plate and have a better look. I have removed the 5 plastic rivets that hold on the skid plate as per the service manual but it seems that the skid plate is zip tied to something underneath it. The shop manual and it makes no reference to the zip ties but you can clearly see them in the photo. The zip ties run from the bottom left up and over to the right, in the photo. When I pull down on the skid plate after removing the plastic rivets it is clear that it is still attached to something, presumably with the zip ties. Can I just cut them and if so will I have to rezip tie them as that looks like it would be almost impossible to do.

 

[canamryder]

I noticed a small amount of oil under my ryker right where the drain plugs are but I want to pull off the skid plate and have a better look. I have removed the 5 plastic rivets that hold on the skid plate as per the service manual but it seems that the skid plate is zip tied to something underneath it. The shop manual and it makes no reference to the zip ties but you can clearly see them in the photo. The zip ties run from the bottom left up and over to the right, in the photo. When I pull down on the skid plate after removing the plastic rivets it is clear that it is still attached to something, presumably with the zip ties. Can I just cut them and if so will I have to rezip tie them as that looks like it would be almost impossible to do.

Here's a top view of the skid plate. I've seen cables of some sort going through this "channeled" area on my Rally. I would not cut those zip ties. Have you double checked other areas for oil leak? inc. oil filter canister lid, over fill (sorry, I had to ask), drain plugs snug? It's very easy to get some oil up there while draining.

 

[Gcclubs]

I will check again but believe everything is tightened to torque specs. It is due for its 1 year first service and I was going to do the oil change myself. The oil has never been changed from new so I am hopeful the dealership did not over fill it. It is a very slow leak. It is strange the service manual doesn't mention the zip ties

 

[canamryder]

I will check again but believe everything is tightened to torque specs. It is due for its 1 year first service and I was going to do the oil change myself. The oil has never been changed from new so I am hopeful the dealership did not over fill it. It is a very slow leak. It is strange the service manual doesn't mention the zip ties

Zip ties ARE for wiring harness.

 

[Gcclubs]

does anyone know if you can pull down the skid plate with out having to cut the zip ties?

 

[Mikey]

If you don't want to cut the ties and drop the plate down, try spraying some degreaser up and around in there and rinsing it out with water and run it around and see if the drips come back. There may be just some oil spillage from a oil change! Other than that I would say haul your skirt up and cut the ties, if the cables don't have any slack in them to pull down with the plate they have to go! Sorry! After you cut the ties and get the plate down you can tie the wires together with new ties and when the skid plates put back in you just slip it in that channel that it's in right now and put your pins in and be done with it! The bike was built from the bottom up and that harness was probably put in first and some yahoo tied the snot out it to hold them in place. It's made to be taken apart! Good luck

 

[EdMat]

It might pay to go ahead and cut the ties so you can have a good look at the leak since you have not changed the oil yet and can rule that out.

 

[Gcclubs]

So wanted to get back and say I clean everything with degreaser and rinsed that all off. The leak was from the main oil drain plug. Put a torque wrench to and it just hadn’t been tightened enough by the dealership. It has not had its first oil change yet but I will be changing all the fluids myself

 

[JeffAZ]

So today I performed my Ryker's first oil and filter change. Somehow this caused oil to become trapped in the skid plate. Because I frequently haul my Ryker in my motorhome toyhauler, I didn't want this oil dripping out onto the toyhauler floor. I consulted this thread and decided to attempt the skid plate removal. I always remove the skid plate when servicing my Polaris Rzr, which requires the removal of 20 screws and is about 8 times larger than the Ryker skid plate, so how hard could this be, right?

So following Mikey's advice, I hauled up my skirt and cut the 5 zip ties. Then I removed the plastic push pins. The plate was still retained from the rear border by a coated wire on each side that fit into a retaining feature of the plate's plastic. But I could now access the top part of the partially-released plate holding the spilled oil, so I just cleaned that up without totally dropping the skid plate. I suppose if I really had to, I could have finessed those wires out of the skid plate and totally released it, but it would prolly be difficult to put them back in place when re-installing the plate. So it seems the mystery of the Ryker skid plate is still intact, kind of like a map of of North America in 1870 with a large blank spot where the Grand Canyon is located. Hopefully someone here will completely remove this component and let us all know what lies above it.

Here are a couple of photos looking forward at the back border of the skid plate with the offending wires highlighted.

 

[michaelfrmtx]

I cut the zip ties then didn't run the wires back.just a couple tie wraps to the frame for the wires.now pull the pins and remove the skid plate whenever you want.

 

[JeffAZ]

Hi Michael. So how did you release the wires that are attached to the rear border of the plate (that are highlighted in my photos)?
There are no zip ties holding them, it appears that they are embedded in some type of retaining feature built into the plate.

 

[Markubis]

Hi Michael. So how did you release the wires that are attached to the rear border of the plate (that are highlighted in my photos)?
There are no zip ties holding them, it appears that they are embedded in some type of retaining feature built into the plate.

They're captured in a hook shaped part of the skid plate.You need to reach up and shift them out of the hook while you're lowering the skid plate.