Intake boots don't line up

[icecreamman]

My intake boots don't completely line up with the carb. No's 1 and 2 line up and 3 and 4 line up but the boots between 2 and 3 are about .200" wider than the carb. What's with that??? I can get the thing on but it takes way too much oomf.

Im thinking this may be related to the idle issue I have where the bike runs so lean I need full choke to keep it running, then dies with throttle. I took the carbs apart for a good cleaning but they are better then expected. Also, somebody gasket cemented the boots to the bike also and I'm gonna have a time if I have to clean that up.

[almarconi]

Are you talking about the rubber boots at the front of the carbs? They have to be turned or rotated in the proper direction for the carbs to fit on the bike. If you have to force them into place then they are not aligned properly.

[icecreamman]

Are all the screws suppose to be facing the same direction? 1 and 2 face the opposite direction than 3 and 4.

[almarconi]

What screws are you talking about? The ones on the clamps??

[Nessism]

You haven't provide us with any information regarding what model bike and year so we are just guessing here. Most models have R and L boots, they need to be on the proper side. The screw in the boot is for the vacuum sync adapter access - the screws point outward in pairs - R boots have screws pointing to the right and visa versa.

Good luck.

[icecreamman]

Sorry. It's an 82 850L. I can look for the R/L marks but the syncronizing ports are pointed down and out like I would expect them to be.

[Nessism]

New soft carb boots are better than porn to the GS faithful. Might be time to replace yours considering the misalignment and sealant gunk.

[icecreamman]

It does seem to lean that way. Still, I can't understand how these could be installed wrong and they are still fairly soft. And I had one off the other day. The oring was in good shape. Although I wondered if it was the right one. It seemed a bit small and stretched a bit in the groove. I put it back on with a little sealer like it was. Maybe it didn't work

Any tips on how to get an impact screw driver onto the inner screws? I'm not real keen on making a slot the way it's suggested at cycleorings.com.

[Rat44]

I just pulled those same pieces off my 850.
I was able to get vise-grips onto the screw heads to break them loose.
I have never had luck with impact drivers anyways.
Replace the screws with allen head bolts.
Good luck.

[psyguy]

maybe the 2 inner boots are from a different model so of a slightly different shape
they have to be a snug fit to the carbs

[brs127s]

I just replaced the originals on my 83 850GL. The rubber was still soft, but I started looking them over much closer. The rubber was beginning to separate from the flange. If fact, 2 of them pulled away from the flages easily. My bike does run better with the new intakes.

[Johnny K]

Hey I have the same problem. 82' 850GS. I bought my intake boots and o-rings last year. Very excited when I got them, however I still have to push one side of the carb into the boot. The "L"s are on the left side and the "R"s are on the right side. My left boot is slightly curved inward more than the others so that when I put the carbs into all 4 of them, that one boot is not flush with the carb. Have to force it in. Guess I was in denial for a year cuz I bought them new and didnt want to think that was the problem. But now am in the process of 4 new intake boots, o-rings(even though they are fine, order for piece of mind) and new carb diaphragms because on 2 of them, there are very tiny rip/tear. None on the inner part, but on the edge here and there. Also going to order 4 of those. Ill let ya know how it comes out as I too have some major idle issues from those factors. Hope this helps.

[rickt]

Your can get extended phillips tips for the impact screwdriver. That should allow access to the screws on the engine head. Your problem might be on the other end of the driver if you don't have enought space to use the hammer.

rickt

[Skyboy8950]

BRS,

I just ordered new boots because they were literally falling off the flanges too. One came off with the carbs! This made my bike backfire into the carbs and be sluggish when I wanted power. Also, had to up the mixture to rich as it was drawing air from outside the carbs. Can't wait to see how this puppy runs now...

BTW, vice grips = easy screw removal. I usually break the first one loose, remove it, then rotate the boots to losen up the other one I can't get the vice grips to.

[snowbeard]

for the screw removal, I used the tip from my impact (manual hammer style impact) driver. placed the big fat phillips in the screw, then tapped it in with a small hammer, to set the tip and to break the threads free a bit, then I used a crescent wrench on the hexagonal portion of the tip to turn it while holding it tight in the screw head with a lever. then replace with allens, good tip.