Black Mounting Plate 23

This T mounting plate (shown with optional Grip 1 deck pad in the video) is designed to accommodate all RIKT kick tails. It comes with two screws and a hex head L key for mounting any RIKT kick tail, and 3M adhesive on the bottom which you can peel off to mount the mounting plate to your surfboard. This mounting plate is lighter weight (48g) than our stingray 25 plate which weighs in at 92g.  Because of the decreased surface area on the bottom of the plate for the adhesive to bond with the surfboard deck, you have to really be strict about mounting it correctly and we recommend this mounting plate ONLY for new boards.

IMPORTANT!! Since RIKTs allow you to push with a lot more force against your kick tail than you can with a typical traction pad, the bond between the mounting plate and your surfboard needs to be at maximum strength. To make sure you install your mounting plate correctly, please watch the Mounting Plate Install video. These simple tips will help when installing your mounting plate:

#1 Clean the surfboards surface thoroughly with a wax remover to remove any grease, grime, oil or wax from the surfboard surface. 

#2 Rough the surfboard surface with 120 grit sandpaper.

#3 Apply in a room where the temp is between 70˚F and 100˚F. 

4 Apply clamps and a ten pound weight and let sit for 72 hours with the ambient temperature between 70˚F and 100˚F before taking your board into the ocean or wave pool. Do no not let your board sit outside in the cold during the 72 hour cure period!

#5 For even greater mounting plate to surfboard strength, install a RIKT front traction pad which fits on top of the mounting plate tongue and holds the mounting plate in place. This increases the adhesive bonding area and overall strength of the adhesive bond by about 300%.

This mounting plate has a circular cut-out so it can be mounted as far back as the front edge of your leash plug, with the ramp extending up and over the leash plug, or as far forward as you want. Mounting as far back as possible results in sharper turns, allowing you to "whip" your board and shoot spray more easily than if you mount the mounting plate further forward. 

How aggressively you surf to a certain extend will determine the placement of your mounting plate. If you're more of a smooth carver you may want it further forward. If you like to get vertical and execute very sharp snaps and turns shooting lots of spray, farther back could be a better choice. Try a couple of different boards with mounting plates in different positions to nail what works best for you.

IMPORTANT! It’s undeniable that RIKT kick tails take your surfing to the next level. But it’s very important to choose the right RIKT product for your surfboard and install the RIKT mounting plate properly if you choose to ride our interchangeable kicks like the one featured in this package. Our interchangeable kick tails offer the highest level of performance of any RIKT product, but the mounting plates require a really smooth surface for the adhesive to bond to that is 100% free of wax or dirt so the bond between the board and the required mounting plate is at full strength. For this reason a new board is the easiest fit for an interchangeable RIKT. If you want to use a RIKT on an older board that has pressure dings from your heel where a mounting plate needs to be installed, a RIKT Grip 2 traction pad is your best bet and we would NOT recommend an interchangeable kick tail set up. The pressure dings will make the surface area under the mounting plate uneven, the adhesive may not bond at full strength and your kick tail could come off in the water. Our Grip 2 traction pad has an integrated kick identical to the Chris Ward flat top, offers great performance, and supports your entire foot like the interchangeable kicks.

IMPORTANT! It’s undeniable that RIKT kick tails take your surfing to the next level. But it’s very important to choose the right RIKT product for your surfboard and install the RIKT mounting plate properly if you choose to ride our interchangeable kicks like the one featured in this package.  Our interchangeable kick tails offer the highest level of performance of any RIKT product, but the mounting plates require a pretty smooth surface for the adhesive to bond to that is 100% free of wax or dirt so the bond between the board and the required mounting plate is at full strength. For this reason a new board is the easiest fit for an interchangeable RIKT. If you want to use a RIKT on an older board that has pressure dings from your heel where a mounting plate needs to be installed, a RIKT Grip 2 traction pad is your best bet and we would NOT recommend an interchangeable kick tail set up. The pressure dings will make the surface area under the mounting plate uneven, the adhesive may not bond at full strength and your kick tail could come off in the water. Our Grip 2 traction pad has an integrated kick identical to the Chris Ward flat top, offers great performance, and supports your entire foot like the interchangeable kicks.

But if your board, new or used, is a good candidate for a RIKT, to insure the mounting plate adhesive bonds at full strength you need to thoroughly clean the deck surface before securing the mounting plate the board. If you attach a mounting plate to a new or used board the adhesive requires 72 hours of curing time between 70˚F and 100˚F  before exposure to water to bond to your surfboard deck at full strength. This is coming straight from 3M tech support and is good practice for any traction pad installation, but critical for a RIKT mounting plate. If you live in a colder climate we recommend heating up your board with a hair dryer to get the board temp above 70˚F. We also recommend using clamps or anything you can find to weigh down the mounting plate during the curing time. Clamps from your local hardware store work best but if you don’t have clamps you can use a can of paint, books, just use something to press the plate onto the deck and keep it there for 72 hours. With a RIKT you can push with tremendous force against your tail so it’s much more critical to let the adhesive have the time it needs with pressure applied to achieve a full strength bond to the deck of your surfboard.

Using clamps, thoroughly cleaning the deck surface and waiting 72 hours before exposure to salt water we installed a RIKT mounting plate on a 35 year old board and it’s stayed on great so you can install a RIKT on older boards if you follow these recommendations.