Clicking sound from front bevel gears

Hi all, I have a 1983 kz1100 shaft. And I noticed when in first gear, the rear wheel has a few inches of play, and it makes a clicking sound every time that it hits the end of the play. The clicking sound of coming from the front bevel gears. Should I be concerned or just a normal type thing?

A few inches is too much. Has the driveline been properly serviced?

Probably normal.  That happens when I rock my bike back and forth as the gears all tighten up in both directions, with the engine not running.
Same thing with engine in gear on the center-stand.



 

TexasKZ wrote:

A few inches is too much. Has the driveline been properly serviced?
 

just to clarify, 2-3 inches of wheel spin at the tire, the engine off, the bike on the center stand, with the rear wheel off the ground. I haven't serviced the drive line, no idea if the previous guy did (although I doubt it). I would assume I need to possibly grease the bevel gears?

daveo wrote:

Probably normal.  That happens when I rock my bike back and forth as the gears all tighten up in both directions, with the engine not running.
Same thing with engine in gear on the center-stand.

 

thats the exact situation I'm in, bike on the center stand, engine off, and it goes about 2-3 inches of wheel travel when I rock the rear wheel in gear.

That doesn't seem excessive to me, what does the manual say ref measurements for backlash in the driveline ? If the "backlash" is not in spec it can be adjusted with shims to allow the gears to sit closer together (tapered gears) the below diagram is for the front but I believe the rear can also be shimmed (have the oil in the final drive ever been changed ?)

 

Wookie58 wrote:

That doesn't seem excessive to me, what does the manual say ref measurements for backlash in the driveline ? If the "backlash" is not in spec it can be adjusted with shims to allow the gears to sit closer together (tapered gears) the below diagram is for the front but I believe the rear can also be shimmed (have the oil in the final drive ever been changed ?)

 

Just changed the final gear case oil, Great idea to look in the manual I don't know why I didn't think of that. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to find the specs relating to the final driveline in the service manual (it seems to only address the chain drive). If it gets worse I can start tearing into it. Thank you for your help! I didn't realize it could be shimmed up, that is simpler than I expected (compared to replacing the whole bevel gear assembly.