TOPIC:

I have a clunking noise just as you describe. It is more pronounced if I don't give enough throttle as I pull away from a stop. If I give a little more throttle the noise doesn't appear.
I asked this same question maybe 6 months ago and someone here said to check the starter clutch. The person said that the bolts holding the starter clutch come loose from the factory torque settings but cannot back completely out because they are inside the stator cover. I haven't gotten around to tearing down my bike so I can't say for sure if this is what makes the clunking noise on my bike.
Grant.

Well, that sounds reasonable, and could account for my condition. I looked at the drawing schematic on Kawasazki.com, and also my KZ1000 factory manual. What I have difficulty determining is in order to check the bolts, do I need to remove alternator rotor to get to the bolts to check, or can they be checked by simply removing the cover?

It's a shame actually - I just had the cover off to replace the gasket due to a small oil leak at the rubber wire plug just two weeks ago. Now I will have to drain the oil, remove the cover, check, then clean the gasket sealant around the rubber wire seal, re-apply and hopefully the gasket will seal again. Someone wrote a song about "wish I knew then what I know now". LOL

Oh well, them are the breaks... I'm a perfectionist (not that I ever acheive perfection - just an annoying behavior trait, really), and really want to get to the root cause and correct. Any input or insight on checking this potential cause is greatly appreciated!!!

I will check my manual to see what it says about getting to the starter motor clutch and let you know what I find out.
Grant.

I don't drain the oil to take off the alternater cover, I lean the bike against a wall and chuck the wheels. My neighbor replaced his leaky alt. cover gasket but didn't silicone the rubber grommet where the alt. wires come out and still had a leak. Let us know if your starter clutch bolts were loose, I may have the same issue.

Update - got the alternator cover off and checked the starting clutch gear (large gear), the starting clutch assembly, and all seem nice and tight. Granted, I did not remove the alternator rotor, which would need to come off to physically check torque on the starting clutch assembly as the bolts run home from the engine side into the rotor. Removing rotor appears to require a special "hold" tool to remove primary nut.

Nevertheless, if the starter clutch bolts had become loose, I would imagine there would be some play between rotor and the starting clutch assembly/gear - which there is not, everything is on tight.

At this point, having ruled out the above issue, and I assume the clutch itself would not be the culprit based on the nature of the clunk sound/feel, that leaves the following items:

1. Chain slack/wear
2. Wheel misalignment (corrected)
3. Transmission (shifts fine, at 12K should be insignificant wear, no contaminants in oil, noise/feel remains with no-load)

I will re-assemble, tighten chain slack/travel to 1 inch, verify wheel trueness, test ride, and report back. Thanks again to everyone who has responded and contributed. I hope this exercise is useful to some of you guys!

In closing out this thread, I test-drove the bike. No audible noise detected, slight "clunky" feel remains, but I'm not sure that it is part of the drivetrain as it no longer feels centralized like it did. After aligning the rear wheel and tightening chain slack to 1 inch, I believe I took care of the issue.

The slight feel that remains may even be my perception and excessive expectation; after all, the bike is 27 years old, chain-drive, and assembly tolerances in 1981 were not held as closely as they may be today as evidenced by the need to drop my engine somewhat just to slide the clutch cover off.

Conclusion? Slightly misaligned rear wheel coupled with excessive chain slack. Back full circle to what the initial post responders suspected and advised. Kudos to you guys! Thanks again to all of you who helped me work through this issue, you're a terrific group on a great forum!!!

Walter