1982 Z550GP H1

Any idea if a Zephyr 550 clutch is 100% swappable with a Kz550?
I wonder if any other modern Kawasaki might use a swappable clutch.

To be honest I didnt know it was an issue with the 550 s . I have 2 1983 and have never had the pan or clutch baskets off of either of them but when I saw those bits in your pan I went right to ebay and looked up the basket and saw they had the rivets not the springs like my 81 . Thats when I knew . Guess Ill be doing my 550 too . Didnt want to see you go that deep into your engine and not correct that while you were in there .

www.partzilla.com/product/kawasaki/13095...ad68e75db443d44e8a76


According to partzilla the zepher up till 93 fits .

The Zephyr zr550 clutch baskets and gearing are identical to all the gpz550's.
Part # 13095-1128

Oddly enough the 1985-97 zx600a-c shares the exact same inner clutch hub as the 550's but the basket has a different size gear on it. But....they possibly share the exact same dampers so maybe newer rubbers can be found in the later years??

I have a zr550 motor with only 4K original miles and even with a rough stumbling idle (rust clogged carbs) it was the quietest 550 I have ever heard. There wasn't a clunk from the clutch or the primary damper at all.
So if a super low milage clutch from a late model 550 or possibly 600 can be found it may have dampers that are in better shape.
Years ago I considered investing in having a template made and buying a sheet of Viton rubber and selling 550 dampers like turbosteve does for the 750's, but the initial investment was more than I could afford and I wasn't sure if there was a market for them.

The dampers look close . Wonder how steves dampers would fit on the 550 basket . Have you tried them? I have a set of dampers in stock not sure if I have a 550 basket anywhere to check it out . Hmm Ill have to have a look . Most of my 550 parts are at my sons house . Guess Ill have to have a look .

How do you check? Just wiggle the basket one way then the other and it should not slip in relation to the gear? When the rubbers are new the basket should not shift and hold a new relative position, correct?

I know at least one of my clutches has play that way (I don't recall how much), but the bike seems to shift ok without too much of a clunk etc.

I did try fitting turbosteve dampers into the 550 basket. They do not fit and will not work!

The slop in the clutches is really not that big of a deal but can make a racket during warm up and mostly felt as slop in the drive train when the weight of the bike transfers during coasting and acceleration. It is literally slop in the drivetrain.
The time to worry is when the dampers get so brittle that pieces show up in the oil pan. The clutch I took apart did not have any broken or cracked dampers, but they had virtually turned to stone.

I thought I had found dampers from Hinson or Rekluse that might be repurposed to work in the 550, but I never tried buying some to try them out.

Ive taken 4 turbo clutches apart same thing they are either like stone or broken into pieces in the pan. Pretty much everyone on the turbo site has too with the same results




Sorry for the hijack on your thread . We should start a new thread on this .

I dont mind, This is good info to know.
I pulled the clutch basket apart and while the dampers haven't started falling apart yet but hey are very hard and seem to have shrunk im going to look into repacing them with something else

I assume you tapped the hole, correct?

loudhvx wrote: I assume you tapped the hole, correct?

Yes the rivet holes are the right size to run a M6x1 starter tap through. I had some button head cap screws lying around so i used them to hold it ll together until i get some the correct length.
I refitted the basket to the gearbox input shaft and it spins freely . How much clearance between the heads and the crankcase i am not sure as i haven't measured it,

Daftrusty found some bolts with 1.5mm tall heads.
1.5mm is ok, according to him, as long as you leave out the red gasket material, allowing the plate to sit closer to the basket.
This was on a 750, so maybe it's different on the 550.
Here's a link to the great photos and write up.
kzrider.com/forum/11-projects/602462-kz750e-resto-mod?start=40