Carb to intake boots..

[siffty]

First of all, i have a 81 Suzuki GS450....Im putting my bike back together, and i finally got to the point where i put the carbs into the intake boots, and i have spent a few hours.. trying to put those stupid things on the carbs, it looks like they should fit. I finally got one on, and now that i got it on, it comes on and off way to easily, and there doesnt appear to be any clamps or anything to hold it on. So i took both of the boots out of the intake box, and am desperately trying to get them on. Im quite frustrated right now, so im not sure if this makes sense to anyone but me.
But if any of you could send pictures, or any advice of how these are supposed to fit together, that would be great...
thanks
Sam

[RotaryRodder]

there should be a metal band hose type clamp around the rubber part.

[Alixn]

I don't know about your specific bike, but I have similar problems with my 82 GS750T everytime I remove the carb rack. The boots on mine are tight fit on AND off of the carbs and engine ports. To slide them in, I usually only put a tiny amount of white petroleum on the carb ports and muscle them into the boots (with the boots fitted on the engine ports). Then I tighten the metal clamps around both ends of the boots to secure them in place.

As for the airbox side ports, these are hard to fit properly because they come off so easily. I use the same method though, slightly lubing up the ports before sliding the carbs into the boots. Then I tighten the metal clamp, making sure they are well over the ports. It seems pretty straight forward in text, but in practice I usually need a few trials to get it right.

An instant idea I've never tried on carb boots before : prior to muscleing them onto the greased ports, heat them with a hair dryer to soften the rubber. It works very well with water fittings on hoses! Ok I'll :arrow:...

Hope this helps or springs some ideas for you.

[siffty]

so it looks like i need to go get some metal clamps for the carb/intake side... hmmm thats a pain, yea they go on soo hard, but then they pop off so easily... but ill try and find some clamps to keep them on... if you guys got any more ideas or suggestions, or what im doing wrong.. please send help..
thanks

[siffty]

also... is it easier to put the boots on the carbs, and stick them through the intake box, or should i leave the boots in the air box, and just hook them up through there??

[marek]

Well I've put the carbs back in a few times and I think I have it down pretty good.

If the intake boots and the rubber boots that go in the airbox are old then they're probably very hard and stiff. It's best to order new ones. ~$22 each for the intake boots and ~$7 each for the airbox rubbers. This will probably solve many air leaks too.

If you don't want to get new ones then the best way to get them on is to warm them up with a hair dryer, this helps a lot, especially with the airbox boots.

Here is a rundown of how I get them on, also on my GS450, much easier if you do this with a friend to help:

1. Place the carbs in between the intake boots and airbox and connect the throttle cable and fuel line now, doing this at the end is much harder.

2. Use hair dryer (or two) to warm up the intake boots. The carbs should go in pretty easily, have someone hold them while you tighten up the clamps.

If you can't get them in with your hands then get some kind of bar (I've got one coated with rubber so it does not damage anything) and place it behind the carbs where the airbox would connect. Stick the bar through the bike horizontally and sit on the bike and push the bar forward, this should make the carbs go into the intake boots.

3. Now the airbox is the hardest if you have old boots. What I like to do is take them out completely, warm them up until they're very soft, push them onto the carbs as far as you can. Now you have to be very gentle because they come off easily.

Warm up the back of the boots again and push the airbox forward onto the boots, making sure they're aligned properly and that they don't fold outward when you push the airbox in. This is best done with two people, but I've managed to do it alone.

If you did this right then the airbox is on the boots about halfway and the boots are still on the carbs. Now take that pry bar and stick it behind the airbox through the frame from the top and use it to push the airbox forward while pulling the airbox forward by grabbing it from the bottom. Make sure the back of the airbox is not too high or low by lining it up with the bolt holes on the side of the frame. Now you just have to keep on forcing it, making sure the boots have not retreated off the carbs and into the airbox completely. Once you have the airbox aligned completely with the bolt holes on the frame then you know you're done with that. Tighten the metal clamps, connect the battery and hope everything is ok so you don't have to take it apart again

I've got new rubbers on order right now, that will make all this much easier I hope.

[siffty]

thanks alot that really helped... i heated them up and put them on.. so hopefully after they cool, they will be on a little tighter.. im just afraid now, if the box gets bumped that they will fall off, but we shall see how this goes.. its just a pain to get putting everything back together and such, im sure you all understand.
thanks again
one last thing... are the intake boots supposed to go all the way up on the carb mounts, or just like halfway, i just pushed them on as far as i could get them, but it looked like they could have gone slightly further...

[txironhead]

Standard hose clamps won't work either, they're too wide and won't fit properly, you really need the factory-style clamps. I've tried radiator hose clamps in the past and they never clamped properly because they won't sit in the molded groove and you invariable either end up with air leaks or damaged boots.

Sure wish I could find the factory-style clamps in stainless, though.

[marek]

Yeah, you need 3/8" wide (not 1/4 like I stated in my previous thread) clamps, most hose clamps are 1/2" wide.

I wasn't able to find any in any local store so I ordered them from www.fastenal.com

They only sell them in packs of 10 but it was only ~$12 shipped.

[sbbloom69]

Best Carb Boot Lube

Hi,
I just did my carbs on a GS550 for the third time. No more frustrations. I used some stuff called "astroglide" otherwise known as "female personal lubricant". It is glycerine based. Man did this do the trick. The carbs just popped right in to the boots. I can't wait to try it on my Honda CBX (6 carbs in a rack) next weekend when I have to replace the float needles. The wife was ****ed when she found my greasy paw prints on the bottle (her comment was "getting kinky with the bike, eh??). Don't borrow the wife's stuff!

Anyway, give it a try. You can get it any grocery store, pharmacy or Wally World.

Stu
78 GS550
79 CBX
73 CB350F

[80GS1000]

I spray a little bit of WD40 in the rubber intake boots on the head when I reinstall the carbs. Works really well, so does getting new intake boots as others have said. Make sure you hook up the throttle and choke cables before putting the carbs in the boots because it's pretty much impossible otherwise.

[txironhead]

Hi,
I just did my carbs on a GS550 for the third time. No more frustrations. I used some stuff called "astroglide" otherwise known as "female personal lubricant". It is glycerine based. Man did this do the trick. The carbs just popped right in to the boots. I can't wait to try it on my Honda CBX (6 carbs in a rack) next weekend when I have to replace the float needles. The wife was ****ed when she found my greasy paw prints on the bottle (her comment was "getting kinky with the bike, eh??). Don't borrow the wife's stuff!

Anyway, give it a try. You can get it any grocery store, pharmacy or Wally World.

There is soooo much I could say here, the possibilities are endless, but since this is "supposed" to be PG-rated stuff I'll decline.....I still got a good chuckle out of it.

I've actually heard of people using Vaseline, don't really know the pros and cons of petroleum based vs glycerin. I normally wipe down the inside of the boots with a rag soaked in WD-40.

One comment, I couldn't resist.....at least she knew it was the bike you were getting kinky with!