HERITAGE TEST RIDE | 1987 KAWASAKI KLR650

After two and a half years and 60,000km in the saddle, Tony Kirby had a solid understanding of what worked – and what didn’t – on his 1987 Kawasaki KLR650. Over that time, the big Kwaka served a variety of roles: suburban commuter, two-up tourer, farm hack, outback explorer and even Safari support bike, chasing the Australasian Safari from Sydney to Darwin before being ridden all the way back again.

TK had nothing but praise for the KLR’s reliability, putting its impressive longevity down to regular maintenance – oil changes every 2500km, greased bearings, tappet checks every 5000km, a clean air filter and frequent chain oiling. As for faults, there were only a few: a flimsy plastic bashplate, a screen that was too low, and a handlebar that didn’t suit his riding position.

TK got to work making a few practical mods to better suit his needs. He swapped out the stock handlebars for a set of Renthals that were lower and set further forward, which shifted his riding position slightly and made a big improvement to both comfort and aerodynamics. The choke was relocated from the left switchblock to inside the fairing for easier access, and the standard handguards were ditched in favour of a set of Barkbusters.

While the stock 23-litre tank offered a decent range of just over 400km, TK wanted more. He extended the fuel capacity to 29 litres by welding on extensions to each side of the original tank. The original tank walls were left in place to act as internal baffles, with holes drilled through them to allow fuel to flow between chambers – boosting range to more than 500km.

To improve front-end performance, TK added a bit of good old Aussie ingenuity – four twenty-cent coins were used to pre-load each fork leg, and the fork oil was swapped out for 12.5-weight to stiffen things up. He admitted he was tempted to go a step further with heavier springs for future fast desert work.

Out back, the standard shock was replaced with a Fournales unit, which TK rated highly – even daring anyone to bottom it out, pillion and luggage included. For carrying gear, he ran soft panniers mounted on custom racks, modified from an old Gearsack setup to keep the bags secure and well clear of the exhaust and sidecovers. A rear rack provided extra space for longer hauls.

The KLR had a busy – and at times hard – life, so a few issues were to be expected. But according to TK, there were only a handful of failures worth mentioning. The original fuel tank started to weep around the rear mount at 12,000km and was replaced under warranty by Kawasaki. The replacement tank also developed a leak at 24,000km, but welding the rear bracket fully across – instead of relying on the factory’s three spot welds – solved the problem for good.

The only other mechanical issue was a worn steering head bearing, which gave up at 47,000km. Remarkably, the engine and cam chain were untouched, the swingarm and wheel bearings were still original, the exhaust remained quiet, and even the clutch cable was the same one fitted at the factory.

After experimenting with a few different tyres, TK settled on Metzeler Enduros, which offered excellent grip on bitumen and performed well on dirt roads – though he admitted they struggled in mud. Like most things in adventure riding, it was a compromise.

The original brake pads lasted an impressive 35,000km. After a stint using EBCs, Tony eventually landed on SBS pads as his go-to. Chain and sprocket life averaged between 15,000 and 20,000km, depending on conditions.

The original battery lasted almost the entire ownership period and had only just been replaced a few weeks before the review. As for reliability, the electric start only let him down twice – once due to moisture in the starter relay, and the other from a flat battery.

After all that time and distance, Tony was still more than happy with the KLR. He did concede it could use a better bashplate, a stronger headlight and a slightly taller fairing, but those were minor gripes in the grand scheme of things.

He summed it up best when he said: “When you can cruise around the Sunny Corner Rally, then put the mirrors back on and run with a Ducati 900 through the twisties back to Sydney, you know you’ve got a fun machine.”