Serviced the 800 XC over the weekend. I knew that the skid plates that I have on it from Ricochet were holding a lot of junk, so I took them off. I didn't realize how much junk they were holding. I'm trying NMKawierider's suggestion of putting 1" heater hose in several locations to space the skid plates away from the frame. Hopefully it is enough to allow me to get more of the junk out when I wash it. I will say that I am impressed with the skid plates, as much as I have bottomed out or ridden over rocks (some I saw and some I did not), the plates are scratched, but not deformed. Still, they were not fun to take off and put back on by myself. Did quite a number on my hands in the process. Being old with thin skin is not a good thing when servicing an ATV. Here are photos of the skid plates and the junk they held. The front skid plate was almost as bad as the middle skid plate, I had already knocked the big stuff off of it.
Underside of the ATV.
One of the injuries to my hand, hate it when the ratchet slips off the bolt.