She's Been Sittin' fer 8 Years!

What part of Portland are you in? I'm in West Linn. If you ever need someone to come over, stand there, and scratch his head, I'm your guy!:laugh:

Seriously, if you ever need some help, let me know. I'm not nearly as knowledgeable as some of the guys here. But I've got four KZ rebuilds under my belt, so I've learned few tricks. And I love seeing people getting these old girls back on the road.

hardr0ck68 wrote:

If it lurches at all, the clutch plates could be fused... It happened to my 650 when I let it sit just 2 years. Rev it up pull the clutch lever and kick it into gear to knock them free. I needed to do it a few times to get them to let go.

lmao, thats a bad idea. You're just looking to hurt yourself when the thing takes off in gear and hits the garage wall. You also may end up breaking some clutch plates. Big Z plates are notoriously brittle when they get old.

Kilgor: Do it the right way, not the backyard mechanic "hold my beer and watch this!!" way.

With the engine off, try rocking the bike back and forth in 2nd or 3rd gear. If this doesn't work remove the clutch cover and if you can reach them, pry the plates apart with something made of plastic, NOT METAL! If you can't reach enough of them, you'll have to pull the pressure plate and work them loose that way.

try adjusting the clutch first,once you get it freed up put a little sea foam in the oil and ride it around a while to clean things out in there(read instructions on can).see if your neutral safety switch is bypassed allowing bike to start in gear.

TerryK wrote:

Kilgor: Do it the right way, not the backyard mechanic "hold my beer and watch this!!" way.

If your buddy is going to hold your beer have him hold a video camera in the other hand.

Kawickrice wrote:

TerryK wrote:

Kilgor: Do it the right way, not the backyard mechanic "hold my beer and watch this!!" way.

If your buddy is going to hold your beer have him hold a video camera in the other hand.

EXACTLY!! :woohoo:

Thanks everybody for the advice. I'm really feelin' the like! (Sorry, I'm just not ready to love yet, lol). I was all gun-ho for the in-gear, throttle, brake thing (thanks Ed), but she's just too big and torquey for that - especially w/no clutch! Got 'er into second and rocked back & forth (thanks Terry) - no go. Forgive my ignorance, but does this mean I have to drain my $16 of new oil (did I mention I'm poor? Shoulda seen how I got those rock-hard air box hoses back on, lol!) and go through the right side cover?

PS I would attach a photo, but I don't think any of you guys would believe someone would actually ride that thing, lol!!!

If you put the bike on its side stand, you can actually remove the clutch cover and pull your plates and disks without dropping your oil.

I'm sure there are worse rides around here...I wanna see! I think you might be able to put it on the sidestand and get the oil over to the left side of the motor and then pop the clutch cover off with no leaks.

Okay, due to popular demand, here she is ... the one, the only... Berta!!!!

Dirty, but doesn't look too bad to me.
Besides, we've all had girlfriends that were a lot of fun to ride, but you still didn't want your friends to catch you on her.:woohoo:

Well, ah, since I'm in here anyway ... What should I be looking for in terms of a "bad" clutch?