Airbox Hose \ boot Question

[devauxr]

The other day I was trying to put the airbox back on my bike (1980 gs850) but the boots that go on the back of the Carb's into the airbox were stiff. I tried putting them in warm water but still they just didn't become pliable enough and as soon as they touched the cold carb's they becamse stiff as a rock again. My question is, is it worth it to try and put these things back on or should i go with a new set? or am I going to have the same problems with a new set just because it's sooooooo darn cold in NY? Also if anyone has any tips or tricks to get these bad boys on I would be more than happy to take those. And I promise after i get the airbox on i'll put some proper bike porn on here of her.

[gustovh]

You could try squirting them with Wd40 to help slip them on, but you should probably replace them.
V

[rcp]

A heat gun or hair dryer works nicely for making them pliable as you work from one side to them other. A little bit of lube helps too.

- Richard

[Larry D]

Get new ones ! They are a little pricey but you'll never need another set. well, maybe in 20 years or so.....They will be look bigger than the old ones and will be soft, squishy, smushy and soft. It makes getting the carbs in and out much, much easier. If your clamps are bent out of shape, you may as well get those new too.
Here's a pic of my new ones vs. the old.

[devauxr]

after that picture I think I'm getting new ones, that is a major difference. Anyone know what they cost at the Dealers (roundabout) I see them on bikebandit and babbits but I hate paying so much for shipping and then waiting god knows how long for them, I would much rather just run up to a local dealer if they had them in stock.

[Larry D]

The ones for my '81GS750L are listed for $12.00 each here.....

http://www.flatoutmotorcycles.com/default.asp

Should be about the same at your local dealer. Probably don't have them in stock. Call them up and talk to them and see......

[focus frenzy]

I am soooo with Larry on this. the new ones will practically suck them selves right onto the carbs. even at those prices when you factor in the time savings alone they are so worth it.

[Larry D]

Also, when you call the dealer, have the part number already looked up. It will make it easier for the guy on the other end of the phone. I didn't look up your bike but there are more than likely two part numbers. One for the outer boots and one for the inner boots. They are different, at least they are on my bike. The inner ones are slightly shorter. The boots are also stamped "L" and "R". They must be installed correctly or you'll chase your tail trying to get the carbs to align properly.

[devauxr]

Well the bike shop didn't have them and they were going to be a little while to get them so I used the blow dryer method and it worked quite well. I will be getting the new boots before I take that box off again though. At the moment I'm simply on a time constraint to get my lady running since I'm moving to Durham NC very soon (couple of weeks) and I won't have a place to work on it right away (apartment). Thanks for all the help, as always you guys rock.

[mike-s]

Something i discovered in one of my recent bouts of trying to take carbs off & on my bike. Wheel Tyre levers work a treat. I use one to hold the crossbar the carbs ar mounted to down, and the other to push the carbs in against the spine crossbar loop in front of the tank mounting. works just as well to remove them too!

[GS750GUY]

Carb boot solution.

I had exactly the same situation happen with the 78 GS750 that I restored two years ago. My bike had only 11,000 original miles on it but the airbox boots were stiff as a board and I had a devil of a time getting the bank of carbs on and off.
I researched and found that replacement airbox to carb boots were going to be horribly expensive. So being the "alternative engineer" (cheap) that I tend to be, I started doing some experimenting with rubber radiator hose and found that the transition from the air box to the carbs was going to require very short sections of two sizes or radiator hose so one hose would fit perfectly inside the other to make the size transition from the carbs to the airbox.
I cut the two pieces of hose so that the smallest would fit over the carb tubes held in place with new stainless screw clamps and the opposite end of the smaller hose would fit perfectly inside the larger hose sealing the two together with black silicone sealer. The larger air box end of the larger hose was cut approximately 1" longer so it would protrude slightly inside the airbox by about an inch. The larger hose is actually too large to fit the air box holes so by using a miniture rotary dremel saw blade I cut a shallow kerf approximately half way though the hose, and all the way around the hose and approximately 1" from the end of the hose. This kerf allowed me to force this larger hose into the airbox holes and then the inside rim of the metal airbox hole would just pop right into the shallow kerf creating a tight seal between hose and airbox. I replaced all four boots with this same set up.
This new soft radiator hose rubber made installation and removal of the carbs and boots extremely easy, at a fraction of the cost of new boots, they look sharp, the bike performes beautifully. And I have had a lot of comments on how sharp they look on the bike.
GS750GUY

[devauxr]

That's a nifty idea. Do you have a picture? I'd be pretty interested to see how they look.

[uudfourty]

I just performed a similar experiment. Partly out of curiosity, partly out of lack of cash.

I didn't cut a kerf or seal with silicone. I'd reccomend doing this if you're up to it, but I'm not. It makes sense to do it, but for the sake of science, (experiment, remember ) I decided against it.

83 miles later, I'm not showing any signs of an air leak.

This is on an 81550L-- very little space between the carbs and the airbox, so everything's a pretty tight squeeze. You'll definately need to manufacutre some kind of "push stick" to get everything started on.

The way I see it, the resistance the radator hose has against the holes in the airbox provides at least a greater seal than the old crap that was on there.

It's still no fun to mess with these crappy things, but if your airbox is warped like mine is, it's worth it to give it a try.

You're only out the cost of 8" of 2"ID radiator hose and some hose clamps.

Feel free to seal everything up to your heart's content after that.
I haven't found it necessary, but maybe I'm just lucky.

If I develop some leaks and some kind of goo doesn't take care of the problem, I'll just bite the bullet and order some new ones. In the meantime, this works a hell of a lot better than the old crap I had on there.

Thanks go GS750guy for the inspiration.