Kawasaki Sportsbike Riders Club - Australia - Online Forum

I know I know.. it pains me to ask, but I'm living across the country from my Zed atm

Just moved again and looking to put my Zed in storage at a family property for about 12months/2 years at this stage.
(I could never go without a ride so I have gone to the dirty side and will be getting into some ADV action on my new Africa Twin)

Still love my Zed and wont ever sell it, so what is the best way to store and maintain my beast for this period of time?

Cheers Poss

The owners manual may have some suggestions which may be more appropriate for storing the bike for the duration of a snowy/icy northern hemisphere winter.
In a more temperate aussie climate the preparations can be less broad.
I would use fuel stabiliser in the petrol and run that for a while to get it all through the system.
Park it up and take out the battery and make sure somebody keeps the battery charged.
Give the chain a lube and that's about it.
Maybe plug or tape over the exhaust outlet/s.

My GPX owners manual suggests draining the carby floats, taking off the tank and emptying it, then rolling some motor oil around inside the tank to coat it and pour out the excess. I'm not sure how how more modern bikes with EFI would take to that.
The GPX manual goes on to suggest: "Remove the spark plugs and put several drops of SE class SAE 30 oil into each cylinder. Push the starter button for a few seconds to coat the cylinder walls with oil, and install the spark plugs."
I don't quite see how a few drops of oil dropped down the plug hole are going to coat the cylinder wall. Yeah, you'll coat the top of the piston and whatever carbon is there will soak up the oil until the bike is restarted after storage and clag an O2 sensor.
Would a cloud of RP7 or WD40 squirted in each cylinder do a similar job?

Mister_T wrote:The owners manual may have some suggestions which may be more appropriate for storing the bike for the duration of a snowy/icy northern hemisphere winter.
In a more temperate aussie climate the preparations can be less broad.
I would use fuel stabiliser in the petrol and run that for a while to get it all through the system.
Park it up and take out the battery and make sure somebody keeps the battery charged.
Give the chain a lube and that's about it.
Maybe plug or tape over the exhaust outlet/s.

Cheers MT, i have just found the manual (thought i left it in the bike )

(Just posted for the benefit of anyone else .. )

ok so it says
* Clean the whole bike
* run the engine for 5min and drain. Refill with fresh oil
* Empty the fuel tank by idling until the engine stalls
* reduce the tire pressure by 20% and put the bike on a stand so both wheels are off the ground
* Spray oil on all unpainted metal surfaces
* Lube drive chain + cables
* Remove battery
* tie plastic bags over mufflers to prevent moisture
* put a cover over the whole bike

Sweet !