So there is no going back now.  I have heard back from Sham Kanji, wrencher at The Motorcyclist and founder of the Ontario Dual Sport Federation, that my newly bored cylinder is in transit from Gord Bush Performance.  While the project is taking a little longer than I hoped, my KLR650 will be no more.  It will be a KLR685!

So what’s the deal you ask?  Some KLRs are known to burn oil.  Mine is one of them.  This means, that especially at highway speeds, oil is making it past the piston rings and being burned up in the engine.  This not only increases pollution and dirties up the engine, but it can be a real PITA on long trips.  Who wants to be topping up oil all of the time?  You will burn *some* oil, but 1/2 litre a day or so is just inconvenient and expensive.  And if it gets to low — your engine can seize.  Just ask my friends Tyson and Yerema who experienced this problem several summers ago on their London to Cape Town stint.

What is being installed is the Schnitz Racing big bore kit.  If it works as advertised and proselytized by users, it should not only clean up the oil burning issue, but could increase fuel economy, reduced vibration and certainly increase power.  Actually Tyson and Yarema’s trip mate Tom is running it in South America as a write — and reportedly with great success.  Its a rather large modification to make so close to the beginning of a trip so I am crossing my fingers on this one.

Why leave this so late?  It was because I know that it is a big change.  I’ve read about plenty of success stories but was still nervous.  It was really when Tyson explained to me about Tom’s success that I took the plunge.  It is also worth noting that this is *attempt number two*.  The bike had its factory rings replaced under warranty to no avail.  Still an oil burner.  And to top it off, the particular mechanic at K***** was such a hack that he scratched up my frame and after-market crash bars with my gas tank during teardown and assembly. Needless to say, I am not a fan at the place.