If you're looking to freshen up a popular off-road or motocross machine, you have a variety of choices these days. Which has meant many of the OEMs have had to revise their prices for plastic bodywork to remain competitive. One of those forcing that price change is the Portuguese brand Polisport. We tried a full set of bodywork for a KTM and for a Yamaha YZ450F. Naturally, Polisport is touting its price point, but it also claims its parts are glossier and more flexible, are less prone to scratching or marking and hold color better than stock or other aftermarket choices.
The Polisport parts are certainly smooth and glossy, and they seem to hold up quite well. Its KTM one-piece, rear fender/side number-plate combo definitely is more flexible than the stock part, and its Yamaha plastic can be bent without getting white marks in the surface, as the stock units do. The Yamaha parts also matched the stock color well; while the KTM pieces were a rich and vibrant orange, they weren't a perfect match with the six-month-old stock 2004 parts. Polisport lists the same rear fender for the 2004 SX and EXC models, but you would need to drill holes in the fender and find some hardware to attach the stock taillight and mud flap. Polisport expects to have the latest-style KTM fender in summer 2004, but the front fender we tested was still the older shape and didn't turn down in front like the fender we took off. All of the parts fit very well, so installation was easy overall.
The Yamaha kit adds up to a suggested retail of $133.22, while stock parts would run $175.30. The KTM set was $126.21, while KTM's complete kit through its Hard Parts dealer catalog is $150.84. But that kit comes in black, orange or silver and includes fork guards, which Polisport did not include in our packages.We definitely like the fit and the smooth, glossy finish on what Polisport calls the "durable gloss polypropylene" material. The pricing also looks pretty good, especially for the radiator shrouds we compared on both bikes.