starter clutch and hard shifting?

i bought an 84 gpz 550 off a friend with a bad starter clutch, and i have a few questions that i could not find answers to.

first at the time that the starter clutch went out it became difficult to get the bike to change gears are these two problems related? if so how?

second i get the bike home and the starter seams to work fine " at least the 6 or so times i tried it in the garage" can a starter clutch be an intermittent problem or once they go there done?

and lastly will i damage anything riding it with the bad starter clutch. i have a long bike trip on Wednesday 700+ miles

i appreciate any insight or help you guys could give me

thank you

On the 750 twins, the starter clutch can lock up the crank to the starter which kills the engine and locks the rear wheel while you are going. Some people took them off altogether because of that. I'm not sure what yours does if it goes bad, but it ain't good.

I believe a bad starter clutch can be intermittent since it has three roller bearings and two could be working and one stuck.

The over running starter clutch on these older bikes are made up of three rollers and springs that over time and use develop wear and start to slip requiring replacement.

On most of the Kawasaki's the starter clutch is behind the alternator magnetic rotor requiring the left side engine cover be removed, the rotor be pulled usung a special tool and new springs and rollers be installed.

As for hard shifting, I'd suggest changing the oil to Shell Rotella 20W50 or 15W40 as some of the oil for cars contain a friction modifier that is hard on wet plate clutches and could affect the starter clutch causing it to slip.