Bike Tech

  I recently received an email from Dr Gregory Frazier. The Doctor and I had been corresponding about a trip he was planning through the Northwest on his 09 KLR Project Bike. One the stops on the trip was the Rally in the Gorge in Hood River Oregon. Well the Doctor had a need,“I put a new chain and sprockets on...

Happy Trails started manufacturing skid plates for the KLR in 1991, inspired by fellow adventure rider Damon Powell of Team Dual Dogs. In fact, some of those original skid plates can still be found on a few early model KLR's. Our latest skid plate incorporates 20 years of customer feedback and experience to create what we think will be another industry leading design properly named the Tougher Than Hell KLR Skid Plate.   One of those long-standing options for the Happy Trails Skid Plates has been the Impact Isolator Kit to incorporate noise reduction to reduce reflected noise to the rider. But even more important is this Impact Isolators Kit design to promote a soft mount and impact dissipation rather than transferring all energy to the floor of the Happy Trails Skid Plate and to the mounts.. Continue reading →

  Nothing is worse than getting stranded with a battery failure 20 miles from nowhere. Yet there are many reasons for possible battery failure. The battery might be weak to start with. Or maybe you find yourself in conditions you didn’t expect (like snow and 20° weather when you started out at 80°!) then the cold forces a failure. Dropping your bike can can mean a worn down battery as you try to clear a wet bike or get the bike started after flooding.   We love the ODYSSEY® battery for worry-free adventure touring, and we’ve fabricated a perfect Odyssey fit for both the KLR650A 87-07 and the KLR650E 08+. Continue reading →