Problems Typical of an 1100?

I've got two 1983 KZ1100's. Both leak oil from the shift shaft, The one with 33K miles pops out of 4 gear. The one with 7,300 miles did 'neutralize' once on a shift to 4th gear and I've only got about 300 miles on it. Do KZ1100's have an inherent 4th gear and oil seal issue?

Big job to swap the seal? Looks like maybe I have to split the engine case to get to them.

There are no inherent gear faults and you don't split the cases to change any seals on these engines.
To change the shift shaft seal you just need to remove the outer sprocket cover and front drive sprocket to get to the inner cover which contains the seals for the shift shaft ,clutch pushrod and output shaft.
Once this is removed you can change the seal.
While the cover is off you may as well replace all 3 seals as they will be equally as worn and may be on the verge of leaking themselves.

Zed is absolutely correct. You should pull the cover and replace all seals and gasket. But, in a pinch, you can pull the shift shaft seal with a seal puller, or drill a small hole in the metal surround , run in a narrow screw and pull it with a pair of dikes. Seal is the uooer right in the photo. Pushed in from the outside.

There are three seals. Two in the sprocket cover and one in the tranny cover.
Steve
kzrider.com/forum/2-engine/599659-chain-cover-tranny-seals

Here you go...

The KZ1100A1-A3 are all shaft drive :ohmy:

This is what the front bevel gear case actually looks like behind the case cover, shown with the shift-shaft seal removed using the technique(s) suggested.
A simple repair, but care must be exercised when installing the new seal over the teeth at the shaft-end, as to avoid damaging it. I may have wrapped a layer of masking tape over the end to provide a smooth protective surface to slide the seal over.





Pics were taken 02/23/15

This is what is hidden behind the bevel gear case... :whistle:
Note~Removing thirty-five year old gasket material must be considered a labor of love, and that is all I can say about that. :evil:

Thanks so much for the responses and sorry for the delay. I had some trouble getting signed on for a couple days and then I was tied up. Love the pics. I do have the service manual but this helps immensely as I was wondering about the size of task. This looks very manageable.

EDIT - I should add that Z1E recommends you replace all three seals as Steve referenced. So I have them all sitting on the shelf. Time and inspiration are all that is keeping me from handling this problem.

Someone may have used synthetic oil. Seals in these old bikes are not made for synthetic oil and will be ruined and leak. Just for info, may not be the case here. Use regular oil, not synthetic. I've never had to replace a seal in all the miles I've covered on KZs.

I use Rotella T4 with an ounce of ZDDP added.

In other news I was out for a ride today. Long straight county road with a guy driving 50 mph in a 65 zone. I dropped from 5th to 4th gear, rolled on the throttle, the bike easily pulls up along the Subaru, pop...rpms race. Gear clash trying to upshift or downshift. So I slow down and drop back in behind the Subaru. I rode another 75 miles without issues, but this is pissing me off. It was a politely downshift and roll on, not a kick it down and crack the throttle WFO.

From your description it sounds like worn dogs on the 4th gear but it is unusual and more common to happen on 1st or 2nd due to bikes being launched hard from a standstill at the lights or wheelied.
It is more probable that you have a bent selector fork from a missed high speed shift but either way you will need to pull the lower case to discover which it is.

Thanks Zed. I suspect you are correct. I've experienced worn dog issues and hard throttle or suddenly dropping the throttle tends to make it pop. Bent shift fork is more likely here since this engine is only sporting 7,400 miles. Plus both instances of 'neutralizing' have occurred within a couple seconds of shifting. Once 4th gear is truly engaged, no amount of throttle shenanigans will make it pop out. Probably the result of someone stomping the 5 to 4 downshift. I can live with it for a while, but always wondering if I can count on it , ya know.

I dropped from 5th to 4th gear, rolled on the throttle, the bike easily pulls up along the Subaru, pop...rpms race.

Mine does the same thing. I cant remember if its 3rd or fourth gear though. I haven't ridden it in awhile. I don't know how many miles are on it. ODO says 4k miles, but title says exempt.