clutch adjustment

my clutch is effective during about the last 4mm of travel of the hand lever. the barrel adjuster is adjusted all the way out on the lever body. when the clutch is let out it doesn't slip at all, it's just that only having about 4mm to work with is tough when starting from a stop, on a hill or just whenever the clutch is used. (so, not that often except for all the time) ANYWAY, is there another adjustment somewhere, or do i need to replace the clutch? this is on my 84 zn700 shaft.
thanks

yep,

I have no experience of your model but own a 1000J of like vintage. In there it describes adjusting the clutch on a larger capacity shaftie, and I would bet that yours is similar.

There is an adjuster in the cover just near the gear change lever.

Adjustment involves removing the adjuster cover, which requires the gear change lever to be removed. The adjuster is inside that cover and is pretty straight forward to deal with once the cover is off.

Firstly slacken the cable adjuster right off and unclip cable from lever. After removing the gear change (10mm spanner and circlip pliers), loosen the tin cover over the starter (beneath carbs) and remove the 4 long bolts holding the cover on (10mm heads again) When replacing be careful not to over tighten as the aluminum threads are easy to strip.

I quote from Clymer: "Once the adjuster is revealed loosen lock nut and turn adjusting screw clockwise until resistance is met. Turn the adjusting screw back 1/4 turn counterclickwise from there and tighten lock nut. make sure the screw does not turn as lock nut is tightened". refit cable at handle bar and adjust so that there is sufficent slack (1/4 inch or so)

Frankly I would invest in a manual which describes this in detail. Clymer M451 covers the models 1981-85 Z1000 and 1100 including a shaftie. I have no idea whether Clymer produce a manual for your model.

Good luck!

Post edited by: Kiwiz, at: 2007/04/28 17:56

i did some digging around and was disappointed. i took off the foot shifter and cover and found a vertical splined shaft with a lever attached (it has spring tension), and to that the clutch cable was attached. something silly told me that refitting the lever on the splined shaft with more tension would produce my desired result. (what was i thinking) so that's what i did. i installed the lever on the splined shaft making sure there was more tension than before. re assembled everything, turned my bike around in my driveway so i was now pointing up the hill and pulled in the clutch. i then kicked her down into 1st and let out the clutch slowly and with hope. my hope dissolved when the lever was full out and i was going nowhere. ha ha.

i took it all apart again and put it back the way it was which is with the lever/splined shaft moving freely until theres no more spring tension (clutch full out) ---duh--- and any additional slack in the cable taken up once again by the barrel adjuster. i don't think theres much more hope for this situation than to replace the clutch but any extra insight would be much appreciated!


next question, how do i replace the clutch. ha ha.

I'm not familiar with the ZN either, but kiwiz's quote from the Clymer manual is how mine is done(although the 650's adjustng screw is turned out a 1/2 turn), after you adjust the clutch cable's centre adjuster by loosening the locknut and screwing both parts of the adjuster together to allow the maximum amount of cable slack.
You do not need to remove the sprocket cover though (the 4 bolts). There should be a clutch adjustment cover near the centre of the sprocket cover.

Ther are more steps involved. A manual should be used. Do you have one? Or I can scan the one I have.

RetroRiceRocketRider (aka 4R & Chris) owns a ZX700. He may know the proper procedure.

Post edited by: rstnick, at: 2007/04/28 20:28

this is perhaps where things can get a bit confusing in that Kawasaki had two clutch lifting mechanisms.

The most common is the worm where the adjustment is adjusted by screwing in clockwise until the screw hits the push rod and then back 1/4 turn, or the ball and ramp where the adjustment is exactly the opposite where you unscrew the adjuster until it stops and the back again 1/4 turn

to tell which you have yoiu have to look inside thr cover. The ball and ramp is a solid cylinder of steel with a central blind hole, to which the clutch operating lever is attached. Under it (it pulls out of cover) is a tin piece with three ball bearings in it. If thats what you have its a ball and ramp. If its this have a play around with the adjustment screw with the cover off and see which way the cylinder moves as you screw the adjuster. Remember you are trying to screw it towards the center of the bike whilst maintaining a small clearance.

What I found was CLYMER ONLY DESCIBED THE WORM ADJUSTMENT AND NEGLECTED TO SAY ABOUT BALL AND RAMP WHICH IS 100% THE REVERSE.

Also Clymer seems to imply that for a shaftie that the cover needs to be removed to make the adjustment.This is what I have quoted. This surprises me and I wonder if as with the chain bikes this adjustemt can be made with the cover in place via a smaller cover with two screws in it. Is there one of those incorporated into the cover?

Post edited by: Kiwiz, at: 2007/04/29 05:29

My ZN700 clutch is the same way - stiff lever pull, and doesn't really release the clutch until the last few MM's of lever travel. I've even replaced the cable thinking it was frayed inside and binding, but it still feels the same.

I've been over the entire clutch (adjustments on cable and at lever, clutch plates/springs, push rod and release mechanism) and can find absolutely no visible signs of excessive wear or anything that would indicate something is binding or amiss.
I'm thinking that this may just be something inherent with the ZN700 model, or perhaps the entire ZN model line? :huh:

The clutch doesn't drag and make my bike "creep" at a stop, and doesn't slip under high rpm's, so I've basically just grown accustomed to it and really don't even think about it anymore.

my gpz750 and vstar 650 were the same way.. i hated it. But my gpz 1100 was nice. as soon as you moved your hand a bit to let it out it was grabbing.

as far as i have found, and i have looked pretty thoroughly, there is nothing that screws and adjusts anything under the cover. the only things that screw and adjust are the barrel adjuster on the hand lever and the center barrel adjuster on the cable that runs along the down tube of the frame. nothing else screws to adjust anything.blah. should i replace my clutch or not? it isn't slipping but it such a pain in the butt.