what the frick. clutch won't release.

I may be wrong but I think sears sells a left hand drillbit set to remove stuck screws like this. Using a drill in reverse the bits will bite into the stuck screw(s) and remove them.

Or if your good with a drill remove the heads and then use vice grips on what's left.

ghunt81 wrote:

... hard to get at the adjuster because someone who had the thing previously rounded out one of the screws that holds the cover on for that...and I'm not quite sure how to get it out....

Is the screw head too rounded out for trying an impact driver to remove it?

Well I got that other screw out tonight. Tack welded a bolt to the head of the screw and it came right out.

OK, so I played with the adjuster and the cable and I still can't really get it to work.

My maintenance manual says to screw in the center cable adjuster completely, then back off the adjuster at the clutch lever. Turn the adjusting screw on the release in until you start to feel resistance, then take the slack out of the cable with the center adjuster. Adjust at clutch lever for 2-3mm of play in the lever.

I had also pulled the release mechanism off, looked at it, disassembled and greased it, reassembled and made sure it was reassembled and reinstalled exactly as shown in the manual.

Well, I followed the instructions, adjusted everything, feels like I have good resistance at the clutch lever, everything feels like it should, EXCEPT the clutch is still not releasing...at least not fully. With the lever pulled and the bike in gear, I can turn the rear wheel but it still has a fair bit of resistance, especially when you first start turning it.

Could this have anything to do with the fact that the bike sat with no oil in it for about a week, and I just put new oil in it yesterday?

I just don't really understand what the problem is that this point and it's really getting frustrating.

With oil in the engine, pull on the clutch lever all the way and in neutral you should be able to use the kick start mechanism and loosen up the clutch plates if they are stuck together. Adjust your clutch per the manual and it should work.

I will try that tomorrow evening. Thanks.

ghunt81 wrote:

Could this have anything to do with the fact that the bike sat with no oil in it for about a week, and I just put new oil in it yesterday?

YES

"Turn the adjusting screw on the release in until you start to feel resistance, then take the slack out of the cable with the center adjuster"

Your quote above seems to be missing something. After screwing in until you feel resistance, shouldn't you back off 1/2 turn? Hope it's just a typo...

Are you sure you have the wormgear/lever type clutch mechanism? My twin has the ballbearing plate/ramp type mechanism and it's adjustment is the exact opposite of the wormgear type. Another possible source of the problem is loosing the ballbearing plate (p#92045). It will sometimes get stuck on p#13102 and fall off when you don't notice it.

Sorry, tried to put up the exploded view from the kawasaki parts diagrams, but KZR aparantly won't take a bitmap image. Here's an image of what I'm talking about. the ballbearing plate (p#92045)is in the "cup" and p#13102 is the "plug" w/the round indentations below the cup.

Garrett,any chance you forgot to install any internal parts,such as the ball bearing for the clutch push-rod?(part # 22).



And just to verify...the clutch WAS working before?

No, it's definitely the worm gear mechanism.

Not sure what ball bearing you're talking about there Sandy...I don't even know what that picture is showing.

And yes, clutch worked before.

Since I got it to partially release, I'm thinking the clutch is sticking for some reason.

Well,on that clutch release mechanism,it pushes on the clutch ROD,and at the end of that rod(inside the engine housing,and closer to the clutch-plate side)there is that ball bearing,right in behind the clutch PUSHER(#23 in the pic).
When you pull in the clutch lever,you're applying pressure TO that clutch PUSHER,which makes contact with the clutch spring plate(# 24 in the pic),and it turn,it takes the pressure off of the clutch PLATES,unloading all power to the gearbox/tranny.

If this ball bearing is missing,then you're missing that amount of adjustment.It HAS to be there!

So you managed to remove that one cover bolt...did you try loosening the lock-nut,and turning the adjustment screw??

Oh, I never took apart THAT clutch release mechanism...I mean the one that was mounted on the cover.

And yeah I played with the adjuster...got the bike started for a minute or so last night but the battery was dead. Didn't have a chance to play with the clutch again, may tonight.