i'm all in pieces

alright everyone, the problems have just begun for my kz650. she doesn't want to go into gear, so my g-pop and i looked at everything, and we narrowed it down to a couple of things. 1) the clutch cable needs to be replaced cause it isn't pushing the push rod enough. 2) a couple of springs from the shifter fell into the oil pan [which will not drop off the engine] and need to be put back. 3) the bike just hates me for rescuing it from a dealer in texas who was letting her rot out in the weather.

if anyone has had problems getting their bike to go into gear (and it already starts up) let me know what was wrong or how you fixed it please...i have work in a week and no way of getting there is my bike is still in pieces.

OK. Try something for me. Try clutchless shifting through the entire gear range while the engine is switched off. Then try clutch shifting with the engine off . Now , this will help you narrow it down. Try it and tell me the results. I suspect the clutch is out of adjustment(the actual clutch not the cable)as if it was the gearbox it would typically be only on some gears & not others. Z650's are a great bike but if the clutch goes out of adjustment they are pigs to change gear on.

Most of the KZs, including the 650s, have a positive neutral finder mechanism - this means that unless the bike is rolling (output shaft spinning, engine running isn´t enough) you can only select neutral and first, that´s the way it´s supposed to work. If you can´t even shift into first there´s something wrong.

Not sure which shifter springs you are referring to that could fall in the oil pan though, all the shifter springs (external shift mechanism, see my post below) are located behind the mission cover behind the front drive sprocket, you don´t need to remove the oil pan to access those.

As for the oil pan, did you remove the oil filter bolt? If not the oil pan won´t come off.

Take out your service manual and refer to the part about adjusting your clutch.

You can also find basic diagnostics for your clutch in the service manual.

Here´s a pic of the external shifting mechanism after removing the mission cover - in the red box you see the ends of the shift return spring, in the green box you see the spring that keeps the shift pawl (left) and the overshift limiter (right) together.

Btw, right above the red box you can see the end of a shaft with a snap ring on it - that is the shaft that holds two of the shift forks. DO NOT pull that shaft out, if you do the shift forks will come off and you´ll have to split the cases to reinstall them.

alright, by the end of today we will know what the hell is wrong (wishful thinking??). i'm gonna get started in about an hour, and i will go through all of the ideas you guys have put here for me to try. i'll post back with the results. thanks guys

That's some good info,OnkleB!
Especially the part about the shaft with the c-clip.:ohmy:

alright, i can shift through all 5 gears no problem, with or without clutch pulled in. i readjusted the clutch, but it is still not disengaging. and the oil filter bolt is stripped, which means a fun afternoon. i have another question as well. will the cable for a 900 or 1000 fit the 650?

and here is the final verdict, or as much as i can do before i get the required parts. the shifter works both with clutch pulled in and not touched at all. the clutch is adjusted correctly, but the inner plates will not disengage. and the oil filter is off, which mean the oil pan came off. now comes the fun part. i have a rubber damper and its metal accomplice from the camshaft relaxing in the pan. they are both chewed to hell. but no bolts...yay fun. plus there is some really bad sludge, that is grayish in color, in the pan. i have some pictures, just sos yous can look in awe at the horrid condition eileen is in thanks to the previous owner.

heres the clutch. mind you a month ago i looked at it for the first time and the plates were stuck together.

and here is the oil pan...and the gray sludge...

yikes!