Can't disengage clutch 81 KZ550

I have a 1981 Kawasaki KZ550, the clutch has never given me any issues before.

I swapped out the sprocket cover for a spare that I had polished and now I can't get the clutch to disengage. I have a Clymer manual and followed all the instructions, and adjusted the clutch according to the manual after as well. The clutch feels "normal", or it at least feels how it did before I swapped covers, but the clutch will not disengage. I've tried adjusting the cable a million times to no avail.

I can still put it in gear and if I rock the bike it won't go anywhere, but pulling the clutch cable does nothing.

The clutch push rod WAS pulled out a bit while the cover was off, but never all the way out so the ball bearing could escape. Could that have caused any issues? I really couldn't find much about the push rod in the manual, is there anything special to note about it? Should I be able to manually push it in and disengage the clutch?

Any advice on what to try next is greatly appreciated.

I thought I had a problem a while back wih something similar. I had broke a clutch cable on a ride and after getting it home and installing a new, couldn't pull the clutch in. Does your's pull in? I just put it in neutral, started it, held moderate pressure on the clutch and slamed it into first . Never had a problem since. Do this at your own descretion though lol

Yeah, I can pull the clutch lever in fine it just doesn't disengage the clutch when I do.

never mind, i'm an idiot :blush:

I went back and literally moved the adjuster screw a mm at a time until it finally worked... I've replaced the clutch cable twice (once when I installed drag bars and once when the original snapped) but never had this much trouble adjusting the cable. oh well, back to riding!

fwiw for anyone else who has a similar issue and finds this thread, after researching I found it should be virtually impossible to push the push rod by hand, and that really nothing bad can come from pulling it out as long as that little ball bearing doesn't run away.

this happened to me one time. left out the 3/8 ball bearing.

Check out the clutch mechanism instruction in my signature. The C1ymer has the directions wrong for the ball-ramp type.

Also, there is a lot of other info in my sig you can use. Get the manuals while you can.