CMA HeartBeat September 2018 | Page 22

Gear Review By JOHN Ogden Jr KLR 650 is a good entry bike into the world of adventure riding. It is the Jeep CJ of the motorcycling world. It’s simple yet effective. As CMA continues its Fast Lane area of ministry more people are choosing the KLR to get involved in this seg- ment. When attending a Roads and Trails rally you will surely see a KLR in the mix. They are plentiful on the used market and inexpensive. If you shop around and get a good price it’s something you can use to THE see if you like ADV riding and then sell it and get your money back. Many have done just that and decided on a bike that suits their needs better, while others stay with the KLR. In this article I want to show you how I like to set up a KLR for on and off road fun. Early this year we introduced Happy- Trail.com and that is where I turn to for most of my KLR needs. If you plan to take the bike off pavement the first order of busi- ness is protection for the bike. H-T has designed their own skid plate that gives better protection than what you typically find and it comes in two versions. If you plan on hitting the trail hard and jump- ing logs and bouncing off rocks then you need the TTH skid plate. For the sane people their standard version will suit you fine. It not only protects the underside of the bike but the water pump as well. It also has a port that makes adjusting the balancer easy to do. No need to remove the plate for general