Clutch not engaging

Engaged means you're together. Disengaged means you're split up and she kept the ring!

Lol. Thanks for the correction.

Guess ill get fluid in the brakes before i mess with the clutch.

Brakes? Who needs em! They just slow you down! lol

If plates are stuck and the bike has a centerstand, we prefer to have the bike on the centerstand with the motor idling, tranny in 1st. gear, then pull the clutch lever to disengage the clutch. If the plates are stuck the rear wheel will continue to spin under power. While the lever is depressed, we then apply rear brake and, if needed, a little throttle until the plates break free. It's much gentler on the clutch & the whole driveline than suddenly shocking the entire driveline with the rear wheel on the ground & slamming it into gear. Doing so can break fiber plates.

Good Ridin'
slmjim & Z1BEBE

I would tend to agree with slimjim. Kicking it into gear is a shock to everything, but THAT is how I usually find out iI find out the clutch is stuck in the first place. Motor running, helmet on, kick it into gear and bang. Oooops.. Restart, and then everything is fine. It would be nice to do everything oh so carefully, but that is not the case in most scenario's. Carry on.. lol

Slimjim's way of freeing the clutch plates certainly sounds a bit more gentle than mine, but I don't believe I have ever fractured a fiber clutch plate from my method. The actual "shock" if you want to call it that is over in less than a second. If the fiber plate material did fracture as a result of this it was probably time to replace the clutch plates anyway. I guess one way is quick and easy and works almost immediately and the other can drag the process out a bit. Besides, I don't think I could remember to use Slimjim's method all the time on my bikes when they have sat for more than a few days, plus not all have a center stands. I think that act of riding a motorcycle puts much more stress on the driveline than the act of freeing the clutch plates using either method.
Rick H.

Since I can remember, I've had the habit of placing a bike in gear before a cold start, pull the clutch in and rock it fore & aft until the plates break loose. If a bike is ridden regularly the plates usually release easily within two or three rocks back & forth. At the same time, I'm looking down & back at the lower run of the final drive chain to eyeball chain slack as part of pre-ride checks.

Old habits from the day; don't remember how/why I learned them.

Good Ridin'
slmjim

I was taught to put the front tire against the side of a car tire parked still on the car of course and then slipping it into first gear bike goes nowhere worked every time two or three times for me over the years. Note that the bike warm up well before I put it in gear.
Jimmy

slmjim+Z1BEBE wrote: Since I can remember, I've had the habit of placing a bike in gear before a cold start, pull the clutch in and rock it fore & aft until the plates break loose. If a bike is ridden regularly the plates usually release easily within two or three rocks back & forth. At the same time, I'm looking down & back at the lower run of the final drive chain to eyeball chain slack as part of pre-ride checks.

Old habits from the day; don't remember how/why I learned them.

Good Ridin'
slmjim

+1

Old habits need a history of the plates sticking to acquire the habit in the first place. I usually back it out of the shed, put it on the center stand and start it for a minute or two. Shut it off so I can check the "running" oil level after the oil has been re-distributed throughout the engine, chain slack / lube, etc. The plates sticking are definitely not on my mind because I have never had the problem in the past with any bikes, this one included. At least not until I replaced all of the clutch frictions and steels last year. NOW, there is absolutely no slippage on the road. They do stick occasionally. The lesser of two evils IMHO.

The 1100 J-engine has six 92081-1114 clutch, and twelve 92081-1115 clutch damper springs. They differ, and are not interchangeable. Part drawing link below.

www.cmsnl.com/kawasaki-kz1100a2-shaft-19...04.html#.Xm-C1Lh7mt8

I ordered a set of six Barnett clutch springs with the hope they will compensate for weakness in the damper hub springs. Am getting a little bounce in the clutch when moving from a dead stop. Despite that, the clutch works incredibly with the new fiber and steel clutch plates.
There's a new crisp and precise feeling when shifting gears that I will enjoy getting used to.

:woohoo:




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