Happy Trails Blog

  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 →

This is a 126 mile loop starting and ending at Lewis & Clark Resort near Kamiah. The Elk City Wagon Road is picked up at Clear Creek and is followed to Elk City with the exception of two detours to Corral Hill Lookout and Pilot Knob Lookout. Continue reading →

When we are on Dual Sport ride or Adventure ride we have the opportunity to meet many people. There is something about meeting someone that has something to offer to you. In motorcycling we are always looking for a great ride that meets our needs and when someone takes you on  a ride that keeps a constant smile on your face you know you have a winner. One day I had the pleasure to meet Tom. Continue reading →

Heart of Idaho Adventure Motorcycle Ride September 8-11 2016 Hopefully you have made reservations at Challis Hot Springs and you have your Adventure Motorcycle or your Dual Sport ready go.  The first stop you want to make in the Challis area is the Land of the Yankee Fork State Park information located near the intersection of Highways 93 & 75. Visit the museum and visitor center, for guided and self-guided tours of Yankee Fork dredge, Sunbeam Dam, Challis Bison Kill Site, travel the Custer Motorway Adventure road and explore ghost towns of Custer. They have plenty of printed of material about the area. Continue reading →

This 'Adventure Motorcycle Ride' is in the area of what is called the Boise Front and the Boise Back. The Boise Front consists of the foothills and the mountains that are on the edge of Boise. Rocky Canyon Road starts in the City limits of Boise and is one of several routes to the Boise Ridge. The Boise Ridge has four main peaks; at the south end is Lucky Peak at 5904 feet, Boise Peak at 6490 feet, Doe Point at 7057 feet and Shafer Butte is on the north end at 7572. Doe Point and Shafer Butte are part of the Bogus Basin ski area. Continue reading →

Boise Front & Boise Back GPX - (NEW - 06-13-16) Continue reading →

This ride was 155 mile (my odometer showed 160.6) round trip from Boise, total time for the trip was 9:07 hours. This day trip would take us from the Boise Valley through the ‘Boise Basin” and Back. The Boise Basin is just over the ridge and consists of the Gold Rush mining communities making up Boise County.  The elevation ranges from 2750 feet in Boise to a high of 6050 feet at mile 44. You can see from the vertical profile in the chart below that the day consisted of a medley of valleys, basins and ridges. Continue reading →

By Alexander Tolchinsky From Lethbridge I took Hwy 3 west to Hwy 22 north, before connecting with the TCH west into Banff National Park. The road was no longer straight, in fact a straightaway of more than a couple of miles would not come again for a very long time. As I climbed ever higher into the Rockies, my little 4-cylinder Honda made no complaints regarding altitude (I wish I could say the same of my KLR). Continue reading →

Part 1 of 3 By Alexander Tolchinski Crossing the world’s second biggest country felt like a daunting task: more than 4000 miles through at least 6 climate zones, the inevitable rain, wind, and snow, and incredible stretches of solitude. This was certainly no “easing into” my journey around the world. But I had to start somewhere, so off to the...