1982 Suzuki GS650 Carb Re-Attaching (probably applies to all four cylinder UJMs)

[Gareth Eames]

I'm about to lose it. I've disassembled, dipped and reassembled the carbs
for this thing. I got them mostly back on and got the engine running.
Poorly. I know it's because I didn't have the carbs seated all properly in
the airbox boots, one of them was leaking air.

My problem is, no matter how many times I try I just can't get the carbs in
the airbox boots and in the intake boots. The middle two carbs in
particular will not stay in the airbox boots.

All the rubber pieces seem reasonably pliable, but is this my problem?
Should I just hand over some cash for new boots? The airbox side are about
$10 each, I can live with that. But the other side are $25 each.

Or, is there a trick to this that I don't know?

--------------------------------------------------
Objects in the mirror may be your elbows

[Husabergchamp]

I own a number of 1980 era vintage Suzuki 4 cylinders and fitting the
carbs back into the intake box boots is a real issue. The boots shrink
in length and also become hard with age and shrink in diameter. Great
if you can find boots in good shape that are still pliable enough to
use. For older airbox intake boots you can soften them in very hot
water before mounting but even better is a hot air heat gun. But hard
to use because of the limited space available when the carbs are
mounted. You can make your own end to go over the heat gun outlet that
allows you to aim the hot air at the intake boot(s) causing trouble.

I had some luck fitting the air box and boots onto the carb when out
of the bike chassis. Use a heat gun to help fit them to the carbs,
install the clamps, and let the air box/carb assembly sit for a day
to allow the rubber boots to keep a permanent stretch in diameter. My
real problem has been when they shrink in length, then they are of no
use anymore.

Tossing the airbox and fitting K&N filters is a great solution unless
you are doing a restoration.

Try silicone spray when fitting the carbs into the rubber boots on the
cylinder itself.

Alex

[Andy Kraft]

I just went through a similar issue on some older cv carb diaphragms
which had shrunk and become stiff over time. I used a 3:1 mix of
xylene (paint stripper available at any hardware store for under $10)
and wintergreen oil (also known as Methyl salicylate and locally
available at health food places like Outpost Natural Foods for about
$12/oz. though can be found cheaper online if you don't mind being
patient). These are the same chemicals found in rubber restoring
products. 15 minutes submerged in the solution expanded the rubber
(almost too much) and made it very flexible. Thicker parts may take
longer. Research it a bit, but this is what I did and had success
with. Good luck.

On Aug 13, 4:31 pm, "Gareth Eames" <gar...@bluebasil.net> wrote:

[Gareth]

Cool, that sounds like an exciting chemistry experiment.

However, the two responses both point to the fact the I may have done
the right thing by springing $10 each for new carb/airbox intake
boots.

On Aug 16, 3:40 pm, Andy Kraft <andrew.kr...@harley-davidson.com>
wrote: