Just got a set of new Happy Trails Paris-Dakar nerf bars, and ran into a problem when mounting them. The left side upper mount does not even come close to lining up with the hole through the frame. Even with pushing and pulling everything as far as it will go it's still a good 4-5 mm off. Did I get an odd set of these, or is this a common problem? Looks like even if I hillbilly things upwards by filing, grinding, etc, the upper part of the mount will interfere with the protective housing that the cables run through above it in this picture. And, once you get them installed, do you have to remove the left one to get the radiator cap off??
What did you do to resolve the issue? I've run into the same thing. I haven't gone through and loosen everything up a whole bunch yet, but I supposed it'll be something to that extent. I'll report back if I don't hear back by the time I find an answer.
Mine were installed by the previous owner and when I looked closely,( after the grin wore off and I actually started looking at the bike). Anyway, they are installed with two holes. they must have drilled another if there is a factory one there. One if the bolts goes right through the frame serial number tag. Weird.
You are right. There is a hole on both sides. On the brake side of the bike there is a hole underneath the VIN sticker that you can poke open with a screw driver. There is a hole on the drive side of the bike that's in open view. You can't see it in the picture above so it can be a bit misleading. I've started a post over here to document that escapades. I've included an upgraded diagram of the OP's picture. I went ahead and emailed HT about the fitment issue. I hope to hear back sometime tomorrow.
Dont bother calling them, they'll tell ya that their jigs for makeing them are fine. Trust me I called several years ago when I had the exact same problem. Pissed me off to where I will never get anything from them again. But as to mounting that side you got two choices, first would be mount the upper part first them use your foot to puch down and put the bolt thru the the bottom mount. Choice two....put it in a vice and bend it till it lines up but that will probably crack the powder coat. I did the second after my bars started rusting a little. Third choice would be to sell them to someone and get the sw motech bars.
Every Happy Trails item that I have bought I have had to cut, grind, bend, drill, modify in some way to make fit. Have had fit problems with crash bars and pannier racks. The last set of pannier racks that I bought for my wifes new Super Sherpa fit terrible and took alot of tweaking to get to fit. Not just fit problems but stuff welded out of square and looked bad once installed. I just keep buying there stuff becouse of price and I have the tools and ability to make them fit. So, to answer your question you will just have to bend them around a bit and enlarge or redrill holes to make fit, maybe get some longer bolts to help pull things into place as you tighten.
Junk. When you crash the forces will be transmitted to that thin head brace gusset and it will bend. Buy the Acerbis tank, that's the best set of crash bars you can buy.
Huh.... Not exactly what I was wanting to hear. Well, I'll hopefully have a positive response from HT tomorrow. If not I may have to get freaky with the nerf bars.
I just picked up the nerf bar and skid plate combo deal that HT was running before Thanksgiving that included free shipping in the continental US for my 1997 KLR 650 and everything fit perfectly. Fortunately for me, it looks like they fixed whatever problem you all have experienced. I just looked at their website and it looks like they extended the sale to the end of the year. And no, I don't work for HT and I'm not being compensated by HT.
