FWIW....You 650 vets....

are already aware of this but I would never have guessed it myself!! :ohmy:
I lubed up my clutch pivot bolt and lever as well as the cable when I first got the bike almost 2 months ago and everything felt great.....
But I still had this nagging feeling that I should look at the release mechanism in the sprocket cover.
I'm at home recuperating from a dislocated shoulder and figured this would be a good time to take a few hours and look into the whole thing.
Imagine my surprise when I finally got the release mechanism out of the cover and disassembled it to find ZERO grease anywhere on the worm or in the balls/cage. There looks like there MAY have been a little bit of grease when it left the factory in 1978 but it's been long gone for quite awhile....
And this is on a bike with ~1400 original miles !!!:ohmy: Who'da thunk ???
So just a passing thought for you newbies on here to take some time and lube your release mechanism. Your left hand/arm (and wallet) will love you for it.

I've never lubed mine once, even on the 167,000 mile 650 and 80,000 mile KZ1000 and the clutches work smooth as silk to me. You can really tell a difference?

Well, Ron, I guess it's a very subjective thing. I'm sure someone with some kind of measuring scale graduated in grams could "prove" that a greased release mechanism requires X grams less effort to pull than an ungreased one.....but that's not the point I'm making here.
I'm astounded that you've never had to grease your release assemblies. It may be one of those cases where the pull effort increases slowly over the years and is not easily noticeable. Admittedly, the design of this release assembly with the caged balls is FAR better than the old style release that didn't use any balls at all.
With my H2 with the old style release (a male worm gear inside a female worm housing) it has to be cleaned and greased at least every 2 years or so. If not, it starts to bind and the pull effort increases exponentially and really quickly. This, of course, has made me extra careful with release assemblies on ALL my bikes.
Obviously, from your experience, the ball-style release assemblies are very sturdy and will handle lots of abuse with zero maintenance.
However, I always remember my dear old mechanic dad telling me that grease and oil were cheaper than shop labour and parts.
If I was you, I'd pull my releases apart just for the heck of it. Who knows what you'll find ??

Thanks for passaing along the tip. . .I know I have seen a grease port on a Honda here or there, but it never occurred to me that some periodic maintenance on the Kawasaki pivot point might be in order although the port is absent.

I think the binding, even if minimal, might contribute to cable stress / breaking.

I suppose that the pivot maintenance could be done at the time of chain / sprocket replacement.

And I am no newbie. . .

When I first got my 650 the mechanism was all gummed up, so I set the whole side cover on a box so I could still work the lever. Then I filled the adjustment cover recess with oil a couple times and looked the lever so the oil worked it's way through the mechanism. After I had done this a few time, I disassembled it and lubed it with never seize. Haven't had any trouble with it since. I just clean it whenever I have to take the cover off to change the sprocket and relube it.
Ride safe.

Had a chance to verify this in the last couple of days, as I broke a clutch cable last week. Again.

The only thing I could put in at this time was a used cable, as the shop I do some work for is ordering me a new cable. In the interim, I used an old gummy cable. Had to clean that, too.

After years of use, I think I can tell what "normal" pull feels like.

After lubricating the cable and worm pivot, lever resistance feels like about half of what it was. The prior cable or clutch springs weren't the source of the stiff pull.

When the new cable comes in, that little pivot point is getting the de-lux-o cleaning and etc.

Pull resistance broke three of these cables in the last four years. I just thought it was cost of doing business.

Now I know better.

Mine all pull extremely easy now even with all the miles and never touching them. I'll lube mine one of these years and see if any difference. I doubt, but worth a try for sure.