Clutch housing wiggles?

Hi you guys. Haven't been here in a while as my bike has been running quite good. I also picked up a zl900 and am messing with it. Been on their forum a lot and I must say that although I really like the bike it seems more complicated to me. Maybe I'll get used to working on it. Juries still out though. Almost sold the KZ but I just can't seem to part with it. Anyway, I noticed a rattling sound coming from the clutch area so I just disassembled the bike tonight. Don't have the clutch housing holder yet but upon removal of the internals I noticed the clutch housing wiggles. I'm pretty darn sure that ain't right so I looked in the service manual and it shows a washer, 2ea thrust washers and a collar. Do you think that one or more of these failed or is it the housing itself? I know upon inspection I'll probably figure it out but wanted to get your thoughts as I am speculating. The housing apparently moves enough to bind the clutch. Oh, and my friction discs are worn down to the bottom of their useful life. I'm glad I found this as the sound was scaring the crap out of me. Looking forward to you wise words. Thanks, Keith

Did the nut that holds the basket onto the crank come loose?

Good thing you got on it before it all came flying apart :pinch: :blink: :ohmy:

It sounds like your clutch hub is dead. APE sells the parts and services to fix it if it's not too bad.

When you say clutch hub do you mean the basket? The shaft doesn't move so I figure thats good. I will get it apart and see whats up. Hopefully an easy fix. More to come....

Are you talking about radial play between the basket and the drive gear? If so the clutch hub needs to be rebuilt with heavy duty springs. Check out this link for a kit or send them your basket. kzzone.com/clutches.html

It's normal and common for some play in the clutch on the roller bearing even from new and some noise which quietens when the clutch is disengaged.
It's very rare for these to fail and the usual area for attention is the six damper springs in the back plate which grow weak or break after many miles or hard use.
As already mentioned rebuild kits are available with new springs and rivets.

TexasKZ wrote: Did the nut that holds the basket onto the crank come loose?

Good thing you got on it before it all came flying apart :pinch: :blink: :ohmy:

Clutch isnt bolted to crankshaft.

Thanks guys. That's just what I needed to know. Waiting for the holder tool to arrive to remove the basket. I wondered what the springs did. So the basket floats and is held in place by the springs? I'll let you know what I find. Keith

Markovich wrote: So the basket floats and is held in place by the springs?

No!
This is how it works.
The clutch assembly runs on the input shaft on a needle roller bearing and due to the size (diameter) of the basket this exaggerates any natural clearances in the bearing assembly which shows up as the "wiggle" you mention.
Even fitting all new bearings and thrust washers in that area will never remove the wiggle ,they were like that from new.
The clutch basket is riveted to the large clutch drive gear which is slotted so that there is some radial movement between the two.
The springs in the back plate control the radial movement and act the same as the cush rubbers in the back wheel and dampen out the pulses from the crank to give the gear train an easier life.
When the springs wear (sag) or break the clutch gets very chattery because of the un damped free play.
Disengaging the clutch takes the load off the assembly and it quietens.
To be honest unless the clutch noise is drowning out the rest of the motor ,the springs are broken or there's major clunkiness on shifting it will probably be good for many more miles if you don't mind the chattering at tickover.

Thanks Zed. So my tool arrived and I got the basket off. The noise was pretty loud and it looks like the basket was moving enough to bind up the clutch a bit. I'm not sure if this is a problem or not. The clutch was at the end of its life so I had planned on replacing the fibre rings anyway. Could that contribute to the clunkiness on shifting that I recently started feeling? The springs in the basket are complete but are not tight. They move around in their slots fairly easily. Does anyone know the place to go to find the dimensions of the collar, thrust bearings etc. I just want to make sure they are good before I reuse them? Thanks, Keith

So what I'm really interested in is the id of the basket bearing that goes over the collar as I dont know if there is too much play between those components. Tried to find the dimension and no luck so far. If someone has a basket laying around and could mic it I would be grateful. A new one even better. I did measure the friction discs and they were not too far out of spec at least not enough to be the cause of a grabby clutch I think. Here are my thoughts. If the bearing on the collar allows too much play then the basket can cock off center enough to bind the clutch causing the assembly to engage even when te clutch cable is pulled. I have always had a rather hard pull on the clutch handle but when I put it into 1st gear the bike wants to jump and rpms drop. I tried to adjust it out but no change was felt. As time went on it became more pronounced even when shifting gears. I know I'm grasping here but could the cable stretch enough to consistently cause thi to happen? So, that and the noise is what is leading me to question the basket. Sorry for the long post but I wanted to see if I am missing something obvious. Thanks, Keith

I was having a similar issue a month ago and decided to replace the cable with a real Kawasaki one.
I also removed, cleaned and relubed the clutch release mechanism under the counter shaft sprocket cover, since it was apart to replace the cable.

The difference in clutch and tranny feel, after cable replacement, proper assembly and clutch rod adjustment was just shy of ASTONISHING !

Still clunks a wee bit when going from neutral to first but it always did and they always do... but finding neutral from 2nd or 1st .... and shifting up and down is a joy now.

added:
My clutch housing, hub and bearings are the same from when I bought the bike new 43,000 miles ago....