Acerbis Full Body Panels

ACERBIS FULL BODY PANELS

CW EVALUATION

Off-road coverall

A COMMON CONCERN WITH THE CURRENT crop of motocrossers—and many fully faired sportbikes, too—is that, aside from colors and graphics, they all look pretty much the same. For a relatively low-cost update, Acerbis USA offers sectional panels that combine with standard plastic for a fully shrouded appearance, not to mention acres of space for sponsor decals.

Available for late-model 125 and 250 motocrossers, the Italian-made plastic panels attach at standard mounting points, except for the lower portions, which mate to case covers via longerthan-stock bolts. We installed ours on a '95 Suzuki RM250 in about 20 minutes. Fit was perfect, typical of Acerbis replacement plastic.

Looks may be in the eye of the beholder, but in our opinion, the colormatched panels woke up the appearance of our test Suzuki, setting it apart from the average MXer. In use, testers remarked that their boots no longer got hung up on frame rails, subframe bolts or the rear-brake master cylinder. And since the panels provide a gap-free lit, boot tops no longer snagged on sidepancls or lower radiator shrouds.

There is, however, a price to pay lor this performance. The panels have openings to get to the fuel petcock and shock compression-damping adjuster, but accessing the sparkplug and, more importantly, the carburetor, is impossible with the panels in place. Whenever we changed jetting, panel removal doubled the time required to complete the task. Same goes for adding gear oil. We also thought the panels might lessen the amount of mud that reached the engine. Not true. Mud easily got underneath the shrouds and was difficult to wash out. Our test panels proved durable, but scratched when exposed to constant brushes with rider's legs, even though the result was nothing more than a slightly dulled appearance. No damage was incurred from ordinary crashes.

Priced at $100, the Acerbis USA (9402 Wheatlands Ct., Suite A. Santee, CA 92071; 619/562-1440) panel kit sets your bike apart from the crowd, but you may miss seeing the engine you could once get your hands on—or learn to hate the eight screws and bolts that must be removed to get to it. □