Long term Z1 storage - how to reduce clutch pack sticking

pull clutch lever insert a small bolt 6mm or so in the gap on the perch. 

Scirocco wrote:

So to be on the safe side, remove the clutch cover, spring set, all clutch friction and steel plates until reuse of the bike engine.
Storing a bike more than your persenal life span is bullsh*t. Bikes has to be driven as they are build for not for storage and look a like on display.
 

We have nine bikes between us; six Z1's, two '93 CB750 Nighthawks and a '09 ST1300A.  We tried for a few years to keep them all prepped to ride with fresh gas and enough batteries to be swapped between them.  It's really impractical.  We now rotate prepping our Z1's most years.  That means any one Z1 will usually be ridden for a season every five or six years.  The Lovely Z1BEBE has decided to hang up her keys (but not her helmet) due to her own perceived age-related declining Ridin' ability.  With ~100K miles under her butt on her own bikes over the past 30+ years, she's a better Rider than she gives herself credit for, but it's her call.  I've always encouraged her to 'ride your own ride', as in 'don't blindly follow me into trouble', and ride within her abilities.  Her decision is based that.
\hijack

Good Ridin'
slmjim & Z1BEBE

Our CB750 Nighthawks will free up fairly quickly when rocking, even after being unused for 2-3 months.  The '72 Jaffa we're Ridin' this year just won't release after concerted efforts under power on the centerstand and rear brake, and we can only run it in the basement for a minute or so before the CO2 detector whines about it.  Venting the basement this time of year makes the whole house cold.

We pulled the plates yesterday.  They all slid apart easily, but trying to pull them apart straight was a no-go.  The last fiber plate in contact with the hub was very reluctant to release.  All the steels are straight & flat with no heat bluing; they look new.  The fiber plates are near-new spec.  We scrubbed the glaze off the fiber plates with solvent & a scotchbrite-type pad.  I'll mix up all the plates during install so they're not in the original positions.  There's no significant notching to be seen or felt on the hub or basket.

A friend suggested, as did a few in responses above, tying or propping the clutch handle back to relieve pressure on the plates during long-term storage.  We're reluctant to stress the cable in tension for years but, that might be the answer.

Another thought; we'll try an experiment by locking two nuts together on the clutch adjustment screw under the teardrop cover, and use the nuts to turn the adjustment in enough to relieve or reduce pressure on the plates.  Trying to rotate the screw against that much pressure using a flat blade screwdriver would likely damage the slot in the screw.

Good Ridin'
slmjim & Z1BEBE

You could always sell a few of your Z1's.  That would mean the remaining ones would be used more often, requiring less prep time.  

Chances are good you don't need to do anything. I've had several sit 10yrs and clutch still worked just fine. I guess someday I may find out more as all 7 of my Kawasakis have sat for 9yrs or more now. 

Found a faint ring of friction material, only about 0.1mm wide, adhered around the inner circumference of both sides of all the steel plates.  It could be seen but not felt with a fingertip, spudger or fingernail.  Vapor blasting removed it fairly quickly, leaving the steels with a nice, clean semigloss finish.  Strangely, no friction material was apparent on the aluminum surface of the clutch hub facing the last friction plate.  The difficulty removing that fiber plate from the hub must have been simply the oil's surface tension holding them together.  Two right angle probes got it to release.

Scrubbed the fiber plates with scotchbrite-type pads in the parts washer to knock any glaze off, dried overnight then soaked them in clean motor oil for a few days.  After assembly, no sticking was apparent after a few days.  That wouldn't have been the case prior to cleaning all the plates.

The answer we came up with for reducing/eliminating the tendency for the clutch pack to stick during long-term storage is really fairly simple: Remove the adjuster screw/locknut from the steel worm gear under the teardrop cover, and replace it with any random 8 x 1.25 bolt of sufficient length.  Finger tighten the bolt until firm contact with the pushrod, then use a wrench to further tighten only one turn.  On the freshly-rebuilt clutch, that one turn relived clutch plate pressure enough that the fiber plates would spin free, leaving the steel plates & clutch basket stationary even when the tranny is in neutral. Not quite as convenient as tying the clutch handle back, but won't stress the cable under tension for long periods.  We'll store the adjuster screw/locknut in the battery box, which will be empty anyway for long storage.

Good Ridin'
slmjim & Z1BEBE