KZ440 - brass pushrod/output shaft bushing

Howdy, owner of an '80 KZ440B here. Recently been dealing with an oil leak from the center of the clutch pushrod seal that only happens when the clutch lever is held in. Already replaced the seal itself with an OEM kawasaki one with no improvement and verified the pushrod itself is clean and straight. I looked behind where the pushrod seal goes and discovered the brass bushing that sits inside the output shaft to hold the pushrod straight is very worn out and no longer does a good job of holding the pushrod (pic 1). I did buy a brand new bushing (pic 2) to confirm this - the new bushing holds the pushrod snug with very little wiggling at all. I figure this means when the clutch is squeezed the worn out bushing lets the pushrod shift and stretches the center of the oil seal out, causing the leak. It's gotten bad enough that I'm not comfortable riding the bike unless I absolutely had to take it a short distance to a mechanic or machine shop, and even then I'd be touching the clutch as little as possible. Video of the play in bushing here: i.imgur.com/e3hpkhG.mp4

My question is, how in the world is it possible to replace the bushing? The Kawasaki factory service manual says nothing about removing or replacing the output shaft let alone the bushing, and searching the internet hasn't turned up anything. Maybe an aftermarket manual like a Haynes goes into this? I did find an exploded transmission parts diagram online (pic 3) and a lousy diagram in the FSM (pic 4), but that's pretty much it.
Pic 5 and 6 is my best understanding of exactly what I'm dealing with at this point. I've removed the circlip but the race still doesn't budge, so maybe it needs pulled out from the far side, the right side of the crankcase? I'd rather not go into that blind.
My only other thought is to go to a machine shop and have them custom make a bushing to go inside the race and on top of the brass one. I believe it would need to have the slightly rectangular shape of the brass one to allow oil to circulate past it.

Any advice greatly appreciated. This thing has been a great little beater bike and has seen me through all kinds of adventures, it's driving me nuts to have such a tiny achilles heel keeping her sidelined.

 
 
 
 
 
 

From what I can see you appear to be going about this all wrong - the circlip you removed will only release the bearing when the input shaft is out of the motor and there is no need to remove the clip.

1. I think what you need to do is split the casings so you can remove the input shaft
2. Tap a thread in the old bush, then use a nut, bolt and spacer to extract the old bush
3. Insert the new bush using a press (will need to make a press tool to avoid damaging the bush so if you don't have access to a lathe you may want to get this bit done by a machine shop)
4. Re-assemble everything and head for the horizon

You could try and do it in situ but you would need to drift the new bush in so every time you hit with a hammer the shock would go through the transmission and risk damage