Happy Trails Heavy Duty Shifter Kawasaki KLR650 - All Years

The KLR650 is a terrific adventure touring bike. Oddly, it has a couple of weak points, one of which is an inferior stock shifter which is prone to breakage. The stock shifter also has a very small surface area where the folding tip is welded on. When the bike goes down the shift lever flexes in and the small surface has a significant focused impact zone and can puncture the side cover.

For years we have welded a pad on in this area to broaden the impact zone and greatly reduce the chance of a punctured side cover. Happy trails has a newer design that is unique only to us. We manufacturer a shift lever arm that is contoured to fit the bike with a more significant pad in folding tip of the shift lever area.

Dave Despain States: "You may or not you view the KLR650 shift lever as a known weak point but we of the Sasquatch or "Bigfoot" persuasion can guarantee you that the shifter is a problem. Put on a pair of dirt riding boots anywhere north of size 12 and no matter how you adjust it, you will likely be unable to get your toe under the lever to execute proper gear changes. The solution is an inch longer shifter and the Happy Trails version offers obvious advantages. In addition to the added length, the lever boasts a lot more beef; it is simply a heavier and stronger piece, and nicely finished too. The Happy Trails shifter also addresses the inherent problem with a longer lever. The business end of the stock shifter swings in an arc for which clearance has been cast into the side cover. Thus when we "Bigfoots" (as we must) extend the lever by an inch, we find that it now extends beyond that clearance. This increases the likelihood that the shifter might puncture the case, given just the right impact. Thus the Happy Trails shifter incorporates a large (more than 1 inch) round surface facing that side case, designed to spread any such impact and reduce the chances of case damage. In addition, the Happy Trails shifter increases the clearance between the shifter and the case to roughly one-half inch, meaning the meaty part of the lever will have to bend a long way before shifter meets case. I would say odds of that happening are close to zero. So how does it work? Well, for one who has been up-shifting with the back of his heel for way too long, it is simply magic. Sitting on the seat or standing on the pegs, there is now plenty of room to get that big foot into the correct position to make smooth and positive shifts both up and down. As for the additional clearance " the fact that the lever now sticks out further " it took about three gear changes to get used to that. Bottom line"wouldn't it be nice if all motorcycle-related problems were this easy to solve!"

Length Choices: We make two versions of this shifter, the KA-8 is the same length as the OEM shifter. The KA-8L is 1" longer. Please select below.