Police KZ1000P clutch issues

Is that the same disengage mechanism that you have? Pictures help immensely. Is your bike a shaft drive?

The object is to turn the adjustment IN until it starts to unload the clutch plates, THEN >OUT< 1/4 turn to just slightly load the pressure plate on the clutch stack. Be it clockwise or counterclockwise. Then, set up the clutch cable to the proper free-play to make the mechanism work.

This is what my 81 Kz1000K1 clutch release mechanism looks like. I dissembled and cleaned / lubed my chain drive clutch mechanism yesterday and got a couple of pics to show it's inner workings.


The adjustment bolt is right hand thread,so turning clockwise screws it in, and counterclockwise screws it out. There are 10 tiny steel balls that ride in the ramp grooves with a cage to keep them in the proper position for loading evenly. Not for the faint of heart. :S

His 2002 should have the newer clutch release mechanism that was used 1982 - 2005.

As you can see in the exploded view, there are only three pesky bearings to keep track of.

www.partzilla.com/catalog/kawasaki/motor...00-kz1000-p19/clutch

I figured it was different. Much simpler. My point was that the 8mm adjustment bolt is still a RH thread, unless KHI, for some reason found the need for a LH thread on the adjustment bolt. The parts breakdown shows #318, a 8mm nut as a 20 cent part.. Doubt it's LH threads. The clutch and the adjustment isn't rocket surgery.

#318, 8mm adjustment locknut part number (318B0800) is the same used on the 1981.

www.partzilla.com/product/kawasaki/318B0...e33f0f77a54ebdd9ffac

www.partzilla.com/catalog/kawasaki/motor...ltd-kz1000-k1/clutch

Yes, right hand threads on both, BUT they adjust in opposite directions because the adjustment bolt is scewed into a different part.

If you look in the fsm for the 1981-1983 KZ1000/1100, on page 2-12 you will see the procedure for the earlier style adjuster just as you have described it.

However, if you look in the 1982 supplement on page 10-18, it clearly says that the new adjuster must be adjusted in the opposite direction. Loosen the nut, turn the adjuster COUNTERCLOCKWISE until contact is made, then CLOCKEISE 1/4 turn. Tighten the locknut.
The op's 2002 has the newer adjuster and should follow that procedure.

One of the computer-savvy members here posted some really good drawings of how the two adjusters work. Hopefully he will come along and feel compelled to post them again.

I stand corrected. My general mistrust of the plagiarized and mis-interpreted jap manuals makes me skeptical of any info the aftermarket Clymer manuals provide.

Thanks for pointing that out. The slotted bolt moves the outer cam plate / ball ramp mechanism rather than the clutch push rod. I did a search and found this pic that the loud one posted in 2017. It's not for the kz1000, but for a 550 instead. Same theory / principal.

www.kzrider.com/forum/2-engine/607041-clutch-push-rod-problem

This pic explains the reason for the clockwise / counterclockwise confusion. I see said the blind man.

Kawasaki managed to create a situation bound to breed confusion.

The old style adjuster was used for just one year on the J engines, so the 1981 fsm shows that adjuster and describes how to adjust it. In 1982, the new adjuster arrived, but its description and its new adjustment procedure are buried way back in the supplement, where I bet more than a few folks have not looked.
Some of the aftermarket manuals seem to confuse the issue even more.

Oh, and the parts diagrams for both the 1981 KZ1000 K1 and the 1982 KZ1000 K2 show both of the release mechanisms, which makes me wonder if there was some overlap or random mixing of them.
Aaaaaand, the P series police bike parts diagrams, which did not get the J engine until 1982, only show the new style adjuster.

By the way, I wonder if the op figured out his problem :whistle:

TexasKZ wrote: Oh, and the parts diagrams for both the 1981 KZ1000 K1 and the 1982 KZ1000 K2 show both of the release mechanisms, which makes me wonder if there was some overlap or random mixing of them.
Aaaaaand, the P series police bike parts diagrams, which did not get the J engine until 1982, only show the new style adjuster.

By the way, I wonder if the op figured out his problem :whistle:

OP has a clutch problem? Oh yeah.. LOL
I am sure, like any production run that the switch over was not immediate, and there are a bunch of 82's with the ball/screw release mechanism. KHI probably scrapped it after thousands of dealer complaints from techs that disassembled it like I did, then could not get it all back together. :S I have had it apart before and knew what to expect, yet still found it a challenge to keep track of all of those tiny balls, and indexing the screw in the proper position. I marked it this time.
I do feel that the ball / screw release mechanism works great. After the clean / lube last week, the clutch operation felt much smoother and less "grabby" at the street lights. After the new OEM clutch frictions and steels last spring, it always seemed to drag with the lever pulled in, and not as controllable as it was with the old plates. It seemed to have some of the same feel back after cleaning and lubing the release mechanism. I guess it really IS rocket surgery!