carb re-installation

[jarmstrong1283]

hi, this feels like a very dumb question, but I have spent the last 2 hours trying to reinstall my carbs after pulling them and dropping the bowls to make sure everything looks clean around the float levers. I can't seem to fit the air box boots back onto the carbs properly. They don't seem to come together at the correct angle where I can get the entire boot over the carb. It's such a tight space that I can't grab the center boots to line them up more accurately. Am I missing some simple step here? I have a 1981 GS750L.

I know this is ridiculous question, try not to hate on me too bad. Just hoping somebody has run into this and found a better method than the obvious.

[Nessism]

Loosen the airbox and shove it as far back as possible. After that it's just a matter of stuffing them in. Before you do that though you should consider tearing the carbs down properly and cleaning them per the procedure listed on the GSR homepage. You can get an O-ring kit from cycleorings.com. Failing to clean the carbs properly and replacing the sure to be hard and brittle O-rings means you will have to pull them off again most likely.

[Patman]

I just put mine back in an '83 750 and I put a little WD 40 around the boot and the carb and then I took a heat gun and warmed up the boots and with lots of force, I got them in. Not a lot of fun!

Good luck.

[wrgum]

Just put mine on a few weeks back. Take the hose clamps (for lack of a better word) off of the airbox side boots. The boots will now slide on easily. You'll have to uncurl the clamps a bit and work some magic to hook the clamps back around the boots and tighten them down, but it's worth it for the good fit. Muscling them on is just asking to damage something.

WG

[Steve]

New boots aren't cheap, but they work SO much nicer.

.

[BassCliff]

Greetings and Salutations!!

Hi Mr. jarmstrong1283,

Indeed, it can be more difficult if you are working with old, hard rubber boots. New ones are much easier to work with or you can try some lube and heat on the old ones. I recently replaced all of the rubber in my intake system along with the clamps. It was a piece of cake. Everything practically jumped back together all by itself.

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Here is your very own magical, mystical, mythical, mind-expanding "mega-welcome". Please take notice of the "Top 10 Common Issues", "Top 15 Tips For GS Happiness", the Carb Rebuild Series, and the Stator Papers. All of these tasks must be addressed in order to have a safe, reliable machine. Now let me roll out the welcome mat for you...



Please click here for your mega-welcome, chock full of tips, suggestions, links to vendors, and other information. Then feel free to visit my little BikeCliff website where I've been collecting the wisdom of this generous community. Don't forget, we like pictures! Not you, your bike!

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BassCliff

[spyug]

Patman's method works best and I've been doing it this way (on many different bikes) for several years now.

Get a good paint stripping heat gun and warm up the rubbers until they become soft and pliable. You can heat them really hot so watch you don't burn yourself. A good shot of silicone spray around the mouth of the rubber and you should find they will slip on without too much fuss.

When popping the carbs in I find it best to introduce them on angle of about 30 deg or so from horizontal and push them in as you lever up to the horizontal. I use a long handled pry bar with the foot resting on the rear motor mount with a piece of 1x2 across the mouths of the carbs to crank them in. Sometimes one side will pop in first but a judicious tap on the other end carb with the rubber mallet gets them all in.

With the airbox the same technique applies. Heat and lube the rubbers. Line them up and wiggle the box to get them on.

Do it a few times and you'll be able to get them on in under 5 minutes.

Good luck,
Spyug

[jarmstrong1283]

great advice. Thank you everybody. I'll try heating and lubing them up a little later this afternoon.

[ChicagoBob]

Also, remember to rotate the airbox boots so that they are parallel to the carb openings.