my buddy just took off the cover on his 95EX and i wanted to know if this is a bad or good idea. he also took off the flat plastic piece that covers the fron grill on the inside of the engine. what do both these parts do?

 

The grill one protects the radiator, you can cover that up with mesh if you wnat, i thnk that looks good.

That other piece is just a heat shield. It's always a good idea to protect your engine/parts from heat, but in all honesty its not necesarry. They usually just get in the way and rattle anyway.