Clutch question? Think I broke something

So I took the case off to get at the sprocket, and I noticed this little dowel. And it’s spinning freely but it’s connected to the clutch mechanism... did I break something? 1982 Kz550 C

Nope, its just a pushrod, its supposed to spin freely. Its goes right through to the clutch basket on t'othekr side of the engine.

Here's a note about the clutch adjusters on  KZ550's since you will likely be doing that soon.  The manual can be vague or wrong depending on which type of adjuster you have.

s3.amazonaws.com/gpzweb/ClutchReleaseMech.GIF

Your drive chain is looking poorly.  It needs some lube.

By Calvin9819: So I took the case off to get at the sprocket, and I noticed this little dowel. And it’s spinning freely but it’s connected to the clutch mechanism... did I break something? 1982 Kz550 C

Kind of related & this is probably applicable to the 550. In the 81 KZ650 manual, there is a warning about pulling out the Shift Rod more than x mm. If you do, the shift forks will fall down, then you've got a new problem to deal with. I've never fiddled with it, so I have no idea how easy it would be to make that boo-boo.

ps: from the pic this would be a good time to clean up the neutral switch connection as it gets pretty grungy.
my neutral light was glitchy & the flag connector didn't fit tight, so I crimped it a little. don't mash it.
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Hardrock: Yea its bad, you should see the rear sprocket... yeesh.  im replacing the sprockets and chain anyway. That's why i had to take the cover off. 
Loud: Ill look into that, thank you.
Martin: I pulled it out some and didnt hear clinking or see any defining marks of forks being on that. slid right back in to where  its supposed to be. Ill look it up, but fingers crossed...  and yea im cleaning the entire inside with some brake clean, and elbow grease. Got it lookin decent before i ran out of cleaner

Martin: Just looked up the diagram, the forks are supported by a rod with a c-slip. The rod i was messing with just seems to be set in place, and pushes on something internally. I think i'm good, but we'll have to wait and see. 

The rod in the photo is the clutch push rod. You can safely pull it completely out. There is no reason to, though, unless its leaking oil or bent or something.

Martin: Just looked up the diagram, the forks are supported by a rod with a c-slip. The rod i was messing with just seems to be set in place, and pushes on something internally. I think i'm good, but we'll have to wait and see. 

As already noted by others, that's the clutch push rod in the pic. 
I mentioned the shift rod so that you don't go messing around with that without knowing what you're doing.

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ahhhh okay, i get it. I should've read better haha. Thank you all