KZ750 CSR Clutch Suddenly Out

Hello everyone. I would like to ponder a question to all you people and see if anyone has any suggestions or advice.

So for the record, the bike is running perfectly if not smoking a good bit. I was out on one of the last warm days before the cold riding with a good buddy of mine. I had ridden about 40 miles with no issue at all when we both pulled to a stop sign and went for a little race. While powering through the gears and pulling ahead in the race, I may have missed a gear because the bike really revved up and didn't accelerate. It was probably a combination of bad shift timing and clutch work on my part. But when I went to shift down for the next turn, I noticed my clutch was all out of adjustment. When I pulled it all the way in, it only made engagement and had resistance through the last half inch or so of pull. This was barely enough to shift gears and I pretty much had to rev match to shift at all. I came to a stop ahead to see what was the matter and was able to get it into neutral.

When I took a look at it, it seemed fine just WAY out of adjustment all of a sudden. I tightened it up on the lever and when I pulled it in, I heard a loud pop. At this point I assumed it was a broken clutch cable because of that snap.

When I got it home, I took off the sprocket cover and found the cable to be intact. I don't recall how the clutch rod should be but mine rotates freely and seems to be able to be pulled out and does not seem to go in at all as far as I can tell pushing on it. I thought it could be a worn clutch actuator but that looks in decent shape and it greased. I fiddled with the actuator adjustment and all I could get was a bit of tension on the clutch lever before the same loud pop noise I hear earlier.

Could the actuator wear out and cause these problems? Or could have something gone wrong in the clutch causing it to lock up somehow?

Sorry for the poorly written post and I hope someone has some ideas as to what could have happened!

A few things/questions come to mind...

- stretched cable?
- have you adjusted the cable to FSM spec? ...after this experience?
- what oil are you running?

Please let us know...

bpchura wrote: I may have missed a gear because the bike really revved up and didn't accelerate. //////Sorry for the poorly written post and I hope someone has some ideas as to what could have happened!

On my 750 twin, the tranny would always "find neutral" between fourth and fifth gear if I didn't shift it really firmly going into fifth (really annoying). Not sure what happened to yours, missing a shift shouldn't have hurt the clutch.... maybe float a valve but never heard of one hurting the clutch.

Seymore, like I said, I thought it was originally a stretched/snapped cable because it literally happened instantaneously. But when I took the sprocket cover off, it was totally normal and didn't seem to be damaged at all. And I did mess around with the adjustor nut on the actuator but I heard different sources saying it was supposed to be all the way clockwise then half turn out and another said all the way counterclockwise and then a half turn back. I tried both and was only able to get partial resistance in my lever before another pop. And for oil, I am currently using 10W-30 Rotella dino oil. Its what I run in all my bikes.

Bountyhunter, yeah I probably did find one of those mysterious neutrals in the trans. It has happened to me before. I was just not sure it was due to one of those neutrals or because of the clutch suddenly having problems. Because it was just after that when the clutch lever went crazy.

Do you know if the clutch push arm is supposed to freely rotate and should you be able to push it in with the cover off using your hand? Also, is it bad to pull it out entirely assuming you don't lose the small bearing? Any good ways to check on the clutch actuator system without removing the oil/right side cover?

Thanks!

Is your bike a twin cylinder or a 4 like mine ? It would really help if you put year etc in your signature.

If a 4 cylinder like mine then the clutch push rod can be rotated freely as it is not fixed to anything.
If a 4 cylinder like mine then I would remove the left side sprocket cover and disconnect the cable at the cover and at the handle bars and inspect. I had a somewhat similar problem to yours when I once got the mid cable adjuster caught between the exhaust and a frame down tube and it slipped . I would clean all the dirt from inside the cover with brake cleaner and inspect for cracks. I would disassemble the mechanism that moves the push rod and reassemble with fresh grease and then go through the cable tension setup. Hopefully the problem is found and resolved by doing this but if not then you know the left side is good and you will need to look at the right side and the clutch itself.

If your bike is a twin then I dont know if the above is applicable

Good luck

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Good Fortune!

bpchura wrote: Do you know if the clutch push arm is supposed to freely rotate and should you be able to push it in with the cover off using your hand? Also, is it bad to pull it out entirely assuming you don't lose the small bearing? Any good ways to check on the clutch actuator system without removing the oil/right side cover?

Thanks!

My memory is:

The clutch throw out rod does turn freely.

I do not think you should be able to push it in by hand, there should be a lot of force required as it is working against the springs.

It doesn't hurt to pull the rod out but don't lose the ball bearing.

JR wrote: Is your bike a twin cylinder or a 4 like mine ?

I thought the CSR models were twins, going from memory.

bountyhunter wrote:

JR wrote: Is your bike a twin cylinder or a 4 like mine ?

I thought the CSR models were twins, going from memory.

Could be and probably is a twin now that I think about it

Hey all, sorry about the profile information and not telling all about the bike. I have tried many times to update my information but for some reason, the save button on the profile information form doesnt seem to work or do anything at all?

You guys are correct, the bike is a twin. Sorry about not mentioning that earlier.

I am glad that the push rod is supposed to spin,,,, I never noticed it before and am glad its not a big issue! I will pull the rod out and check on the condition on the bearing.

Is there a way to know if your actuator is overly worn? The bearings are in round and it seems that the pusher plate does have gouges in the surface but I cannot tell if it is an issue. Thanks for all your input everyone and I will update on the situation when I am able to dig into it.

I tried to go to Kawasaki.com and get an explosion diagram of the actuator assembly but it only goes back to 1987 now. I guess those asswipes have thrown the rest of us under the bus.

Here's one fro bikebandit but their picture resolution is terrible.