Carb boots

[DEmily]

Hey all,

Well The BIGDOG has been on the road again! I think I need a doctor though. I hammered it in second gear and I think my arms came out of socket!!!

Anyway, to get to the real point. After about 40 miles of awesome crusing the BIGDOG start popping and spitting. I got her home and checked everthing out. All seemed well. It sounded like too much air in the mix so I focused on the carbs. After checking it all over I gave up for a bit. About three hours later I came out and she ran great again. It seemed the longer it ran the worst she began to run. To make a long story short, I sprayed the boots with carb cleaner and the engine died! I put the little red tube on the can of carb cleaner so I could find specifically where it was sucking air and found that at the head / manifold connection she was suckin BIG. So... I know I need new boots now. Damn by the time I get done the entire bike will be new!! This is killing my wallet!! I have seen several sources for boots. Anyone have any inside info as to the best source for quality and price? After the K&L circus I went through I sure don't want to buy any more crappy parts.





inside
oinfo

[TopCatGr58]

Hey there Dan,

If you're boots aren't badly cracked all around, then take them off, you'll probably find the rubber flaking off from on top of the metal flange, just scrape off what will come off easily, then take a bunch of the High Temp Copper gasket "replacement" RTV type sealant and put a bunch of it on there, then bolt them back on, apply more around the edge if desired, then let it cure for 24 hours, and then put the carbs back on. That should seal it nicely, and be much cheaper than the $90-$100 or so it would cost for new replacements, at least until you can afford/budget for them. The sealant is only $3.00 to $4.00 bucks!!

T.C.

[crunchbird]

The allen head machine screws holding my number 3 were coming loose. There was some munge on the mating surface of the boot but I cleaned everything up and it has been good. You shouldn't need new ones, I think.

[DEmily]

TC,

The boots have no rubber on the surface that comes in contact with the head. All four are leaking. I will try the permatex cooper. If that doesn't work I'll start shopping. I have seen a seton ebay for 88.00. Has anyone used these?

[crunchbird]

OK, I was going to say that Geezer says there should be a gasket there (but he's wrong just this once) however Geezer is gasket-adverse and he recommended some goop, probably yamabond 2. I stuck with my own experience because disagreeing with Geezer is not good karma.

[steelcat]

I went w/ a set off ebay ( aftermarket, can't remember the brand). They came w/ o-ring seals vs. the stock boots w/o gaskets or seals. They seem to work fine, but have not taken any long rides w/ them yet. Just a couple 20 to 30 mi. test rides. Still have a few "bugs" to work out, but the engine is running good.
I had to change the boots on my old Kaw '73 Z1, I seem to remember that those had gaskets w/ them. I think that it was a bitch to get the old gaskets off. This was back when our bikes were new so my memory is a bit blurred.
Good luck Dan, I know you have been at it hard. Hope that this is the about the last that you have to do for a while.

[tommystinson]

I used ultra high temp black RTV until I can afford to replace them. I cleaned off the outside with fine sandpaper to remove the shiny "glaze" that had formed on the outside, then hit them with carb cleaner. When I did it, I would bend the boot to open the cracks, then fill them with the RTV before coating the whole outside. I doesn't look half bad. If there was some kind of thinner for RTV, it might actually turn out nice. The brush marks/finger painting marks don't level out like paint would.

[tab1324]

Gasket materials

I used a sheet of high temp gasket material I got from Fleet farm and made my own gaskets. Total cost about $4.00 and 1 hour. Seem to work ok but haven't had it on the road for long periods.

Tom B.

[Geezer]

Originally posted by crunchbird
OK, I was going to say that Geezer says there should be a gasket there (but he's wrong just this once) however Geezer is gasket-adverse and he recommended some goop, probably yamabond 2. I stuck with my own experience because disagreeing with Geezer is not good karma.

I've taken to many of them off and seen and replaced the gaskets. Some other bikes had O-rings in between, XS11's had gaskets. Check the parts microfiche.

It's Yamabond 4 that is best to use when you are eliminating a gasket.

Geezer

[crunchbird]

I'm checking, not finding! Karma bad, yamabond 4 good, but a part number would be the best.

[skids]

Geezer is one experienced dude, BUT I bought a set that did come with gaskets (zanotti). When it comes to things upstream from the valves, I choose to either use gaskets or nothing at all. I have had BAD experiences with "gasket sealer" products that get into the intake valves and ruin engines.

Originally posted by crunchbird
OK, I was going to say that Geezer says there should be a gasket there (but he's wrong just this once) however Geezer is gasket-adverse and he recommended some goop, probably yamabond 2. I stuck with my own experience because disagreeing with Geezer is not good karma.

[John]

Geezer, I hate to contradict you, but I have a set of boots that I purchased from the Yama dealer about 10 years ago, and they are of the O ring style. They were OEM boots also. I just pulled them off my old motor yesterday, to clean them up for installation on the Big Bore project.

[Geezer]

Originally posted by John
Geezer, I hate to contradict you, but I have a set of boots that I purchased from the Yama dealer about 10 years ago, and they are of the O ring style. They were OEM boots also. I just pulled them off my old motor yesterday, to clean them up for installation on the Big Bore project.

I wouldn't be surprized if Yamaha made them both ways. But it's going to have either an O-ring or a gasket. Yamabond 4 will do if you don't have a gasket and the nice thing about Yamabond 4 is that it doesn't squeze out like silacon sealer does.

Geezer

[DEmily]

I didn't find a set of gaskets on these but there is a center ring that appears to crush up against the intake. Well, here my plan.
I am going to cut some gaskets for the boots and use some copper spay gasket adhesive. It's used for ehaust manifold and such. Suppose to hold at temps of 650 plus and resistant to oils and gas. If that don't seal them, I'll be buy some new ones. Might get a chance to try it these weekend. My oldest Son is graduating high schoo; and the wife has a big party planned so you all know what that means for me!! Honey Do the length of a coal train I've been painting and fixing for the past three days and it ;ooks to be a long haul!!!

[crunchbird]

So we've got one of these Yamaha Parts evolution deals. My SG has no gaskets, and my SG microfiche doesn't show any. Neither does Bikebandit. Rockjock's CD shows no gaskets for any XS.

However, the XJ microfiche shows gaskets #10M-13556-00-00 with the notation that they are a new part listed March 1981. They are paired with joints (boots) that have the same part numbers for the XJ, H, LG, and SF models: 2H7-13586-00 and 2H7-13596-00. The SH joints (boots) have an inexplicably different number: 2H7-14454-00 and 2H7-14434-00.

Win-win for me, I can believe Geezer, and my own lying eyes. For me, it's not worth a special install, but I'll get me some gaskets and use them the next time the carbs are off.

Good luck, Dan!