Carb Intake Boots...sealing/treatment?

[mkaczmarek]

I was just wondering if some kind of treatment, perhaps in spray/liquid/other form exists that could be used to prevent the rubber intake boots from "dry rot" and eventual air leakage.

The reason I ask is because I will be doing my carbs soon as well as the intake O-Rings between the head and carb intake boots. I didn't want to replace the boots as a precautionary measure as my dealer wants $70+tax EACH X4 = $320+ with taxes...especially since mine look good, clean and flexible.

At the moment I think a thourough carb cleaning should be good enough to get the bike in proper running condition, but since the parts will be out I thought there may be some kind of treatment, whether through soaking, spraying etc. that may "renew" the rubber and keep it flexible, while preventing it from leaking air and possible future dry rotting.

Offcourse if it turns out after I do my carb cleaning, synching etc.etc. that there is air leakage via the intake boots, I will have to shop around and find myself a better deal for the intake boots and replace them. But I figured it wouldn't hurt to ask if anyone knew of a product or method to prolong the life of my current intake boots.

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1979 GS1000E

"NEVER MESS WITH A GS"
"The less you know, the more you believe."
"We thought that we had the answers, it was the questions we had wrong."

 

[mark]

Very, VERY, light coat of hi-temp grease is what is usually recommended on the 0-rings. Some use a silicone spray lubricant on the O-rings(Not silicone gasket!). Not sure about the boots themselves, I don't use anything.

$70.00 a piece from your dealer is too high. Bike bandit.com has them for $25.00 a piece, I just got new ones for my 850. (Not sure about what "import" fees you might have to pay though).

 

[Redman]

Yah, Like Mark said, the boots are in the mid twentys each, so all four should be less than 100 bucks total (US dollars). I had to replace a set a couple years ago, they had been stiff for years, then one cracked, cause bad running and backfiring.

You say yours are flexable, so I would think they will be good yet for long time. I dont have any specific recomendation to prolong thier life.

And good that you are going to replace the o-rings when you have the carbs off, if it hasnt been done in several years. WHen you take the boots off, take care to notice that ones for 1 & 2 are different than the ones for 3 & 4. Bwringers web site has a good description of replaing the boots orings.

 

[mkaczmarek]

Yah, Like Mark said, the boots are in the mid twentys each, so all four should be less than 100 bucks total (US dollars). I had to replace a set a couple years ago, they had been stiff for years, then one cracked, cause bad running and backfiring.

You say yours are flexable, so I would think they will be good yet for long time. I dont have any specific recomendation to prolong thier life.

And good that you are going to replace the o-rings when you have the carbs off, if it hasnt been done in several years. WHen you take the boots off, take care to notice that ones for 1 & 2 are different than the ones for 3 & 4. Bwringers web site has a good description of replaing the boots orings.

Yes, bwringer knows his stuff, I like his site as it gives lots of invaluable info and I actually got a chance to read up on the Intake O-Rings as I was collecting all my information on how to rebuild my carbs., but thanks for the heads up.

My quote was in canadian dollars, but with todays exchange rate its almost a non-issue since $0.88USD = $1CDN and ($70CDN + 15% tax = $80.50CDN X $0.88 = $71USD)...

I've been trying to find some kind of product or advice online and have found a product that MAY be worth checking more in depth.

"Zymol Seal: A thick, glycerin rich product designed specifically for live rubber gaskets and seals."

I got this from here...I probably won't be attempting this before doing more research, I may even try to contact Zymol and see if they would recommend this sort of product.

http://www.autoeducation.com/carcare/tires.htm

I also found this website which has some product for the Aviation industry (hence much $$$)

http://www.chiefaircraft.com/cgi-bi.../Aircraft/Chemical/DeIce-RubberTreatment.html

But from the description, some of these products may be an actual solution to prolonging the life of various rubber items.

The only issue I thought might still not be taken into account with these products is exposure to high temperatures since these rubber boots are connected to a HOT Air Cooled engine. But with the prices being what they are it makes no sense to try these products unless you have access to it for FREE.

If I remember correctly we have a member on the GSR that actually has an "Aircraft Maintenance Shop"...DaveDanger if I believe, i remember this because I replied to a post of his just the other day. I wonder what his two cents would be on this issue...

==================================================
1979 GS1000E

"NEVER MESS WITH A GS"
"The less you know, the more you believe."
"We thought that we had the answers, it was the questions we had wrong."

 

[bwringer]

Thanks for the kind remarks about my site. I'm glad it's been useful!

There's nothing you can do to salvage cracked and dried out original rubber intake boots. You have to replace them. Even boots that haven't dried out may have started to come loose from their aluminum flanges, so check them over carefully.

With that said, the new ones will easily last another 20 years with no special treatment and normal use. It's something you will probably only need to do once. I wouldn't trust o-rings for more than 5 years or so, but they're so cheap you might as well replace them every couple of years if you have the carbs off anyway.

The magical Zym?l elixirs supposedly preserve rubber parts (more likely they simply make them shiny on the outside), but they can't resurrect cracked and hardened parts. Actually, I wouldn't use them on new parts either -- anything that claims to "penetrate" will actually be some sort of solvent that could weaken the part.

A bit of silicone spray or a few drops motor oil are all you need to lubricate the boots and slip the carbs into place. If you want to shine them up on the outside, silicone spray should be safe (I blush to mention this, but silicone-based lubes are considered safe to use with delicate latex condoms, so silicone spray is safe to use with rubber motorcycle parts like boots, seals, and o-rings, but never tires or footpegs obviously.)

Whatever you do, do NOT use Armor-All. Anywhere. For anything. It makes things look great in the short term, but it contains solvents that strip out plasticizers and you end up prematurely aging plastic and rubber parts. Nasty stuff, but popular with used car salesmen.

On the other side of the carbs, most of our bikes are still wearing the original airbox/carb tubes (they last longer in the cooler environment), but some of these have already needed to be replaced, and I imagine most of these will need to be replaced eventually as our bikes creep up on 30 years of age.