| 685-705 Upgrade....
I'm going to do the 685 upgrade to my '08 not in the interest of increased performance but to reduce oil consumption when the RPM is sustained above 5,000 RPM.
It's common knowledge that the 650 KLR suffers from 'ring flutter' above 5,000 rpm and that results in increased oil migration past the oil control ring and the resultant consumption by burning the oil in the combustion chamber. In extreme cases, Kawasaki will replace the OEM ring set and hone the bore as a warranty item but retention of the stock piston and the replacement OEM rings don't always eliminate the blow by and the inherent vibration remains as the only way to reduce the inherent harmonic vibration is to employ a lighter, aftermarket piston.
I'll be using a Schintz Racing 685 Piston and ring set with a modified Kawasaki head gasket and double base gaskets to retain the numerical compression ratio at stock so I can run the KLR on regular unleaded pump gas without pre-ignition.
I'll be boring the stock cylinder (with steel sleeve) and honing to size, in my shop as well as modifying the OEM head gasket, the disassembly, machining and reassembly will be pictorialized and added to the album here. We will also set the valve clearance and re-set the cam chain tension.
The only difference in shop procedure between the 685 and the 705 upgrade is the pressing out of the OEM sleeve and the pressing in of the new Schintz sleeve. The bore and hone as well as the fitting up, remain the same. | 
