My 2002 Kawasaki Prairie 650 4X4 has developed a loud gear whine at low speed.  As I slow down to about 5mph, this noise "kicks in" quite abruptly.  It drops out as I slow below about 1mph. Speeding up above about 10mph causes it to sort of fade away.  Happens in both low and hi range, 2WD or 4WD.  I just had the belt replaced, but that didn't fix it.  The mechanic said it "might be" the actuator, but that's a pretty expensive replacement item.  Any ideas?  How do I find out if it is indeed the actuator?  

OK, I'll answer my own question.  It is not the actuator, it is the bearing on the clutch cover that the actuator arm presses against.  The description of when the noise occurs is exactly when the actuator is "active", keeping the clutch engaged for engine braking.  Now--does anyone know the significance of the three different clutch covers (14041 Red, Blue, and Paintless).  I see they have different dimensions--is that to tune engine braking somehow, or does it have some other meaning?