Intake boots

[Robyle3]

Looking for ANYWHERE I might find intake boots for 1983 550L. The bsw30ss carbs seem to be fairly unique and as such I can’t seem to find anything like OEM boots anywhere. I have an air leak somewhere and I’m thinking the 40 year old intakes are a good place to start looking. Thanks for any help in advance!

[Suzukian]

I would star with some starter fluid with the red straw installed and try and pinpoint the leak. Finding the area where the leak is coming from is the first step. IMHO.
There are tons of the carb to engine ones on EBAY. You will have to determine the exact ones. Also, do you mean from carb to engine, or from air box to carb?

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p4432023.m570.l1313&_nkw= Suzulo+191983+550L+carb+intake+manifolds&_sacat=0

[Grimly]

Are these the oddball twin-choked carbs?
If so, the question has been asked before and, as far as I recall, carb boots for that model are hard to find.
Fwiw, if it were mine, I'd look seriously at getting a set of carbs from the model immediately preceding or following, as carb boots for those are easily available from cruzinimage.
For example...

https://www.cruzinimage.net/category/item/itemgenre/motorcycle/suzuki/carb-insulators-suzuki/page/5/

[bitzz]

Carb boots are typically made by Mikuni and have a Mikuni part number printed on them. They are available at Winner's Circle in Markham.
or http://www.jbmindustries.com/index.html

[Robyle3]

Thanks for the links and help everyone! This is for the engine side of the carbs. This fall I plan on doing a full carb clean and dressing the boots on both sides but just want to build a catalogue in case I need everything haha.

[KiwiAlfa156]

Are these the oddball twin-choked carbs?
If so, the question has been asked before and, as far as I recall, carb boots for that model are hard to find.
Fwiw, if it were mine, I'd look seriously at getting a set of carbs from the model immediately preceding or following, as carb boots for those are easily available from cruzinimage.
For example...
https://www.cruzinimage.net/category...suzuki/page/5/

Might be easier said than done... The mounting bolt pattern looks pretty unique too

[Grimly]

Might be easier said than done... The mounting bolt patter looks pretty unique too

Ah well, that scuppers that idea.
Nothing's impossible though.
I'd make up adapter plates.

[93Bandit]

I would star with some starter fluid with the red straw installed and try and pinpoint the leak. Finding the area where the leak is coming from is the first step. IMHO.
There are tons of the carb to engine ones on EBAY. You will have to determine the exact ones. Also, do you mean from carb to engine, or from air box to carb?

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p4432023.m570.l1313&_nkw= Suzulo+191983+550L+carb+intake+manifolds&_sacat=0

The ebay boots are 100% junk. I was given a free set so I installed them to see how long they'd last. They didn't. OEM is the way to go.

[KiwiAlfa156]

Ah well, that scuppers that idea.
Nothing's impossible though.
I'd make up adapter plates.

I probably would too.

[Big T]

I'd try renewing the old ones with peppermint oil

[Suzukian]

These are O.E.M. boots, with the weird 3 bolt mount pattern, left and right side. The link I previously posted suffered from my fat fingers and not proof reading, sorry. You could make a mounting plate go across the intakes, and make individual mounts and use conventional boots, or just about anything, depending on how you do it, and if you have the machinery (milling machine) or access to one.



Right side:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/195865165903?_trkparms=amclksrc%3DITM%26aid%3D1110006%26algo%3DHOMESPLICE.SIM%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D251751%26meid%3Df5672f5552f64dd7b9fc1c431e11332b%26pid%3D101224%26rk%3D2%26rkt%3D5%26sd%3D195865165891%26itm%3D195865165903%26pmt%3D0%26noa%3D1%26pg%3D2047675%26algv%3DDefaultOrganicWebV9BertRefreshRanker%26brand%3DSuzuki&_trksid=p2047675.c101224.m-1

Left Side:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/19586516589...Bk9SR7Lcs7q3Yg

[1978GS750E]

I'd try renewing the old ones with peppermint oil

Don't you mean "wintergreen" oil? I've used a 30/70 mix of wintergreen oil and xylene on soft rubber parts before, but never peppermint oil??? Although, peppermint would be better smelling!

[Suzukian]

Robyle3 did you check out the boots link I posted? They look like they are in really good condition, and they are O.E.M. boots.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/195865165891?epid=1663409192&hash=item2d9a794043:g:UOsAAOSwI~Nj4-1H&amdata=enc%3AAQAIAAABID6L6xiGBOpUu%2FZovtMTsJO8Klr6iOsc6D9EUxJ5JD5eFb1u5TTVO2Nshde8rsR3YbclV%2Bkdxuord4KST0aeAkFPkp0yxOapshYUP3sB9QZOlU4Ff3D9OSLJ4IdOe%2ByDsvS%2BkYECtbsrNAQk43kbNAhhteAx4WHPRi0gvV0Ca9bEKpPWAJJ0FRsyaEsadNDYf5OYgXfxmFbbis5E47jx5k6pCGNmbHaLHLiDxEKaq2BKM5bu3UkXTuJZR63HkQbvbubfRPtRbmr9pXjK7EB6idvRNzMMjKmFEBrKshlvYylo2gCQRoQs3%2BviYSNfQTFqsMVG7wEY%2Fb99FVb4Qp%2B%2FwbEiKS2Ef5v%2Fpg%2Bx0JjbSLTo25Ma4mgw%2Fv%2BPtqhxWU2XlA%3D%3D%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR7Lcs7q3Yg

https://www.ebay.com/itm/195865165903?_trkparms=amclksrc%3DITM%26aid%3D1110006%26algo%3DHOMESPLICE.SIM%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D251751%26meid%3Df5672f5552f64dd7b9fc1c431e11332b%26pid%3D101224%26rk%3D2%26rkt%3D5%26sd%3D195865165891%26itm%3D195865165903%26pmt%3D0%26noa%3D1%26pg%3D2047675%26algv%3DDefaultOrganicWebV9BertRefreshRanker%26brand%3DSuzuki&_trksid=p2047675.c101224.m-1

[bwringer]

FWIW, the o-rings always go before the boots. If the OP's boots are still relatively intact (not cracked, peeling off, shrunken, or missing chunks) perhaps replacing the o-rings would kick this can down the road a little longer.

But yeah, those fleaBay boots might be worth a try, although they're also 40 years old and expensive... they're certainly not spring fresh or anything.

The trick with wintergreen oil does work to re-invigorate dried and shrunken rubber boots, but ONLY if they are NOT cracked and still firmly attached to the metal bases. If they're cracked or peeling, then nothing besides replacing them will work.

Over on ADVrider.com, there are a few people experimenting with 3D printing various intake boots in flexible materials; these rubber bits are the last detail keeping a lot of nifty old bikes off the road or trail. It's a widespread problem, with few good solutions.

[Suzukian]

You're definitely right about checking the O-rings out first. If they are intact, and still pliable, soaking them in Brake Fluid will make them swell up a bit. I'm sure that's a standard size O-ring you could find somewhere, if not from Suzuki. I was surprised how much those EBAY ones were, but I have never seen those even listed before.

With tubing, a lathe and milling machine, and some radiator hose, you can make intakes for anything. It wouldn't take much milling either. Depending on the bike, like this 550 for instance, a flat plate of aluminum with the mounting homes drilled out, and aluminum, or steel tubes pressed in, hosing could be used to attach the carbs. I saw a guy use a Volkswagen Beetle carburetor on an old Honda GoldWing engine by doing such a set up. He made a box, welded spots to attach the tubes (made 4 holes and sleeves for each hole), and ran a hose to each intake, where he made male adapters to clamp the hoses onto. It worked really well. Where's there's a will there's a way.