The Rival Components skid plate for the Yamaha Tenere 700 offers increased protection over the factory skid plate in numerus ways. The first and most obvious is the thickness. We use 5mm thick 5052 aluminum plate. The factory skid plate is 2.1mm thick it, might be okay for the small stuff, but nowhere near the protection and coverage the Rival Components skid plate offers. Next issue is the shock linkage on the Tenere is unprotected by the factory skid plate the Rival Components skid plate features a UHMW plastic shock linkage protector to help prevent damage while you're bombing over obstacles out on the trail. Finally, the Rival Components skid plate gives you more coverage than the original equipment skid plate protecting more of the vulnerable underside of the bike.