Throttle Cable Adjustment

I'm finding it impossible to get zero clearance between the throttle cable bracket and pulley stop at the carburetor as Clymer states there should be. The return cable is lengthened as far as it will go, and it seems like if there were just a bit more thread on each adjuster I could get it right, but there isn't. Is this an issue with the cable, or something else? If I leave it how it is will it be a problem later on? I feel like I've had this issue before and fixed it, but now can't remember how.

Chuck the Clymer manual in the trash and get a Kawasaki Service Manual. I don't have the manual for your bike, but I can tell you that on the KZ650 there is suppose to be a 1.6-2.0mm gap there. The gap allows you to force the slides closed using the throttle grip. You adjust it so that gap is present then you twist the throttle grip hard to the closed position to test that it works. Ed

If the handlebars & cables have been replaced, it's possible someone installed ill-suited cables.
When I installed lower bars on my 650-CSR, I got Z1R cables but they wouldn't work as there wasn't enough "slack" in one of them for my bike (end to end movement... of the inner cable within the outer sheath).

You could also pull the tank and check the routing of the cables. Rerouting them can (sometimes) give you a bit more slack.

With both cables as loose as they can be, I adjust the pull cable like a single cable with slight freeplay and good "snap" closed. Then slowly take the slack out of the push cable testing action as you adjust. Once the closing action slows down, back off the push cable a little until the throttle works as it should and lock them down.