OP here. So... I bled the clutch slowly and carefully, doing the clutch master cylinder first, then the slave cylinder. Got a good firm lever. But after a few minutes, and after the bike heated up, things started changing. The 4-5 upshift loss of clutch resumed. And when I accelerate, then decelerate, with the clutch lever pulled in a bit, I can feel the engagement point shifting. All very strange. Then...

A slow 2-3 upshift had a "crunchy" sound. The shift was firm, but it appears something is loose inside. I limped home, sometimes hearing this crunch, sometimes not - but it dawned on me what this likely is: some of the legs on the four leaf springs /star springs have probably broken. So... I am off to elsewhere in the Forum, to look up star spring troubles and replacement. I've read it's not hard, there are 2 each of two similar springs, that I need a gasket and an end nut as well. Maybe what I was feeling the whole time was the clutch "bump" described by those who have broken star springs.

Thanks for your help! I'll report back here once I check this out.

I had to go look at your first post here, to see for sure what year you have.. and also to be sure we are talking C14... and how many miles..
so it's a 2014, new old stock, with like (original post was 14k) now 18k miles on it..

I'm thinking it ain't the star springs.. it would have to have been really abused for one to break with that low a mileage, and time.. and again, star springs will exhibit the same symptom in ALL gears, not just one typical shift up/down sequence.. like you are reporting.

Thanks for your help! I'll report back here once I check this out.

Please do so, Thanks.

Well, the problem WAS the soft clutch... but after bleeding and a test ride, shifting became crunchy at random. I rode the mile home, and most shifts seemed to be normal. Then I put the bike on its centerstand, fired it up, and let the clutch out. It seems there is a bit of rattling. I shifted into first and second at idle speed, and there appears to be random noise. Possibly unrelated, I sat on the bike, gearshift in Neutral, and was unable to shift up into second (that may be Kawi's patented feature though).

It's possible that I won't be able to touch it for  a week, but I will be back. The reason I  suspected the star spring is that my Sportster had small leaf springs as a clutch assist, riveted on to one of the steels. Those rivets wore down, sending the little springs bouncing around the clutch basket. I hope that's all it is... more to come. Thanks Marty!

Glad you are tracking down the problem and especially glad it is a clutch problem. Transmission problems can be pretty nasty. The entire clutch is accessible from under side covers so repairing that will be a lot easier than anything in the transmission.

Best of luck moving forward!

Brian

Well, the problem WAS the soft clutch... but after bleeding and a test ride, shifting became crunchy at random. I rode the mile home, and most shifts seemed to be normal. Then I put the bike on its centerstand, fired it up, and let the clutch out. It seems there is a bit of rattling. I shifted into first and second at idle speed, and there appears to be random noise. Possibly unrelated, I sat on the bike, gearshift in Neutral, and was unable to shift up into second (that may be Kawi's patented feature though).

It's possible that I won't be able to touch it for  a week, but I will be back. The reason I  suspected the star spring is that my Sportster had small leaf springs as a clutch assist, riveted on to one of the steels. Those rivets wore down, sending the little springs bouncing around the clutch basket. I hope that's all it is... more to come. Thanks Marty!

Couldn't resist going into the clutch today to see if the star springs were broken. It's not hard to pull the cover off, then the springs. One steel and one friction plate came off as well. I broke the clutch hub nut loose and removed it. The star springs are fine...So I re-assembled, put the clutch cover on, added the oil, and started her up. Ran fine, shifted a couple of times at idle on the center stand. Then I gave the bike some throttle - and something rattles inside. It sounds like a loose cam chain might sound like, but it's coming from the clutch area. I pulled the cover off again, pulled the clutch springs, re-set the steel and friction plates. It appears that the friction plate's tab is one slot over from the others (like a secondary clutch). Fired it up again, same noise. Do any of you experts know what I may have done wrong in the reassembly process? The clutch has good feel   - just now this new noise.

Getting to learn about Connie a bit at a time...
Thank you! Mac

The only rattle I know of common to this bike is the cam chain, which is on the right side of the engine. However, it only rattles on start-up due to it needing oil pressure to extend; when the bike is first started, the chain rattles because it is a bit slack. There are threads about this on this forum. But again, this is usually only a start- up rattle, not something that happens after, say, 5 or 8 seconds of running.

The usual problems with the clutch are on the hydraulic side simply because the system is so hard to fully bleed. Of course that does not cause any rattle but it does result in a clutch that engages at different points as the engine warms.

Otherwise I am afraid I cannot be of much help with the mechanical clutch itself- unless a spring(s) is broken or tabs have been sheared off, they do not make noise.

Hopefully someone else can shed some light on this. Best of luck going forward.

Brian

Couldn't resist going into the clutch today to see if the star springs were broken. It's not hard to pull the cover off, then the springs. One steel and one friction plate came off as well. I broke the clutch hub nut loose and removed it. The star springs are fine...So I re-assembled, put the clutch cover on, added the oil, and started her up. Ran fine, shifted a couple of times at idle on the center stand. Then I gave the bike some throttle - and something rattles inside. It sounds like a loose cam chain might sound like, but it's coming from the clutch area. I pulled the cover off again, pulled the clutch springs, re-set the steel and friction plates. It appears that the friction plate's tab is one slot over from the others (like a secondary clutch). Fired it up again, same noise. Do any of you experts know what I may have done wrong in the reassembly process? The clutch has good feel   - just now this new noise.

Getting to learn about Connie a bit at a time...
Thank you! Mac

So, a brief update to the rattle I now hear.  I bled master and slave cylinders, removed slave cylinder for inspection, tore clutch down, stopping at the point of tearing down the basket. I did not measure every part, bike only has 19K miles mostly country riding, and there's little wear on anything, and no broken parts. With all the clutch parts out, I can run the engine and there is no rattle. With everything installed - by the book, slowly and carefully - there's one heck of an intermittent rattle, that appears more on decel, but is still occasionally present, even at idle. It almost sounds like a bearing, maybe on the output shaft near the front bevel drive. Because sound travels so well through bolted-together metal pieces, it's very difficult to find, and I can't use my stethescope on a spinning clutch.

I'm at the limits of my mechanical ability to diagnose this. So - onto the trailer and down to the local dealer, where I'm told there's a person that does a lot of Connie work. I saw a case of a dry bearing elsewhere in this forum, and I pulled the rubber cap off the front drive, all looks fine and can't hear noise there when running.

I have a voice memo of what it sounds like, that I'll post later. I'll update this when I receive a diagnosis. Holding my breath...and wallet...

Sponge' thanks for taking the time to keep us in the loop. Good Luck with the diagnosis and the $$$ part associated with that.

Yeah, as Marty said, thanks for the update.

And again, the best of luck in that it is something that can be corrected reasonably (read: not outrageous in price).

<snip>

I have a voice memo of what it sounds like, that I'll post later. I'll update this when I receive a diagnosis. Holding my breath...and wallet...

Hoping for reasonableness but above all a correct diagnosis, so that if it's big bucks to fix, it can be a winter project at home (likely a big one). Thanks.

Supposedly the best Kawasaki mechanic in the state is scheduled to look at it, but not until October 9. Being booked up isn't a bad thing! I'll report the findings.

Bringing this thread back with an update: As noted, I had a soft clutch only on 4->5 upshifts, had some softness running in 5th gear, which could be modulated with the throttle (softness point would change in response to throttle input). Replaced and bled clutch. Rattle developed. Tore clutch down to point of removing basket (but no further) finding nothing. I took the bike, on a trailer, to the dealer (who is reputed to have the best Kawasaki mechanic in the state).

Well now I have an update: They say they found both the shift drum cover plate and the transmission output shaft cover plates loose, to the point of being held in by only three threads or so. They've torn the engine down and want to replace a lot of parts as a result of looseness and parts hitting and damaging each other. I understand their suspicion that I went deeper and left screws untorqued, but I did not. The only thing I can think of is that they were improperly torqued at the factory, or that required threadlocker wasn't applied (a skipped operation step).

I sent Kawasaki a letter noting this, along with a copy of what the dealer proposes, asking for help. It's a '14 with 19K easy miles, but I did not buy the extended warranty. So - does this sound plausible? I guess a note to those replacing clutch plates might be to pull the basket and the big washer behind it, and check the torque of these screws.

I'll post the responses I get. It does explain why I couldn't find the rattle, despite probably eight hours of trying.

Do you mean the big nut that holds the assembly on the transmission shaft was loose?

These are bearing keeper plates that prevent endplay in the two shafts. I'll have to post a pic of the parts they want to replace. It's considerable - the transmission shaft and several gears. It's hard for me to see how so much damage could occur with so little noise. I will be sure to ask for all the parts they take out.

That means they must split the case.  Cheaper to replace the complete donk with a used one as it's gotta come out to do that much work.  But bearing keeper plates in these are a new one on me - and I've been in there that deep.

They already tore it down, so I kind of stuck myself. Yes they want 30 hours of labor to tear down and re-do. I'll be asking for the used parts. Thanks. I thought about a used replacement but decided since I had such low miles, I'd bite the bullet. I have 10-15 road riding years left and I love this bike; I figure it will be my last big one.
 

I know on my old SV1000 clutch became noisy with chatter. It was the basket springs, I replace the basket and problem solved. I haven't looked at the C14 clutch so I might be off base here just a thought.     

These are bearing keeper plates that prevent endplay in the two shafts. I'll have to post a pic of the parts they want to replace. It's considerable - the transmission shaft and several gears. It's hard for me to see how so much damage could occur with so little noise. I will be sure to ask for all the parts they take out.

Have you seen the parts they say are bad?

Ride safe, Ted

Justa thought; Ebay; lots of tranny's/engines available.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/2014-10-14-Kawasaki-Concours-1400-ZG1400-OEM-Transmission-Drum-Shift-Gears-Forks/324117802361?fits=Model%3AConcours+14%7CMake%3AKawasaki&hash=item4b76ed2d79:g:lGgAAOSwWnhefumg#viTabs_0

https://www.ebay.com/itm/08-10-Kawasaki-Concours-14-ZG1400-Engine-Motor-Transmission/254747974003?fits=Model%3AConcours+14%7CMake%3AKawasaki&hash=item3b50299973:g:kUIAAOSw2bVfhgYK#viTabs_0

Thanks,
I'm asking them to save the parts. I wonder if some will become less necessary to replace as a result of my asking; if not, I'll have a good look at everything and have material for an art project.
I have the shop manual but I don't trust my ability to tear it completely down, measure and replace everything, and re-assemble. In my younger days I would have taken a shot at that.