1981 KZ550c2 ltd clutch apart- advice please

I tore apart the clutch basket because of a severe rattle at idle. This was way more noise than normal. (Releasing the clutch a little and the noise decreased.) Bike only has 8300 miles.

The clutch basket had several thousandths of side to side play which lead me to suspect the bushing and the bearing. Why would that go bad so soon? (I ordered new ones for it.)

Also, this troubles me, is the oil pretty much gone from the filler window when the bike is running?

Any advice or experience with this would greatly be appreciated. Thanks.

It may not be so much a matter of mileage as a matter of age. After being around for 35 years they just break down from heat and abuse and age. The rubbers in the clutch basket of my '83 750 disintegrated badly. Left a bunch of hardened rubber bits in the crankcase, ate the crank bearings for lunch, the rod bearings for dinner and caused a knock (rebuild time). Not to scare you or anything, just what happened to me. While you have it apart check for particles laying in the bottom of the case if you can, and change the oil filter. Pull the pleats of the filter apart and check for bits. If you find any I would suggest changing the filter again one time between normal filter/oil changes.

As for the oil in the window. You have to remember that while the engine is running, the oil pump is feeding oil all the way up to the top of the engine. This brings the level in the window down some as it doesn't flow down as fast as the window can fill back up.

The same advise goes for checking engine oil in your car. You should check the oil level(via dipstick) and tire pressure when both are cold.

If you try to check the engine oil while it's hot you will probably over fill it as most of the oil is up inside the engine. And for the tires, you can take too much air out and be severly under inflated.