air box boots GS850GT

[suzukizone]

RE: '81 GS850GT Air Box Boots. These are the 4 that secure to the rear end of carbs & fit into the airbox..

2 are marked "L" & 2 marked "R".

I put the 2 "R" boots on the 2 RH carbs (#s 3 & 4) & the 2 "L" boots on the 2 LH carbs (#s 1 & 2) All glued in nice & snug with black weatherstrip adhesive BUT now I can only get either the #1 OR #4 carb booted on & other 3 seem not to want to slip on properly (They fit on easily & completely in past but this time carbs & air box pulled & dismantled for total cleaning. I may have swapped the positions of these boots so went with the "logical" asumption as to what "L" & "R" meant. I did line up the little "bumps" in the boots & the air box body.

Perhaps "R" & "L" refer to RH & LH within a pair?????? Such as #1="L", #2="R" in that pair????

Before I tear it apart perhaps one of you has visited this arena already? No info in either Suzuki shop book or Haynes.

Thanks, I await your wisdom: :?

[earlfor]

You were correct in assuming "left"s fit cylinders 1 and 2 and "right"s fit 3 and 4. They have an angle cast into the rubbers. You need to rotate each boot until you have all four in a position that will simultaneously line up with all four carb intakes. At that point, you can glue them in position if you wish.

E.

RE: '81 GS850GT Air Box Boots. These are the 4 that secure to the rear end of carbs & fit into the airbox..

2 are marked "L" & 2 marked "R".

I put the 2 "R" boots on the 2 RH carbs (#s 3 & 4) & the 2 "L" boots on the 2 LH carbs (#s 1 & 2) All glued in nice & snug with black weatherstrip adhesive BUT now I can only get either the #1 OR #4 carb booted on & other 3 seem not to want to slip on properly (They fit on easily & completely in past but this time carbs & air box pulled & dismantled for total cleaning. I may have swapped the positions of these boots so went with the "logical" asumption as to what "L" & "R" meant. I did line up the little "bumps" in the boots & the air box body.

Perhaps "R" & "L" refer to RH & LH within a pair?????? Such as #1="L", #2="R" in that pair????

Before I tear it apart perhaps one of you has visited this arena already? No info in either Suzuki shop book or Haynes.

Thanks, I await your wisdom: :?

[suzukizone]

air box boots GS850GT

Well good news & bad news. I found these wee little bumps cast into the rubber boots that looked like they should mate up to the very similar bumps in the metal air box right where the boots go. Wonder why they bothered to put such clear alignment indicators there?????????

Well will have to pull box, unglue boots & reconfigure it all.

Thanks for the second time today!

DH

[bwringer]

Why are you using glue?

[suzukizone]

air box boots GS850GT

Black weather strip adhesive actually, not glue. Boots are old, & getting stiff & seal did not look too secure, Using it on surface where boots mate to airbox, NOT where boots clamp to carbs.

Will be checking into cost & availability of new ones but have seen many bikes set up like this to get a better seal.

DH

[Dave8338]

Why are you using glue?

Same thought. They can't move or go anywhere once installed.

[suzukizone]

air box boots GS850GT

???????
Wouldn't want them to go anywhere except where I'm going.

Not sure if you meant this was good or bad idea.

Since I guess I had them wrong (tho honestly misled) it's not a good idea at the moment but I'm heading out to rectify while the adhesive is still soft enough to deal with.

DH

[suzukizone]

air box boots GS850GT final solution

s it stands, I played with the boots, keeping L boots on LH & R boots on RH, I did swap the boots around and rotate them. Ended up with 1, 2 & 4 boot still set with alignment bumps & 3 boot rotated 90 deg from there. Two are dead perfect & other two are on well enough to tighten the clamps pretty well.

I suspect a previous tinkerer had them set up a bit off & over the years they shape shifted a bit. I bet a fresh set would line up with the marks perfectly. Will look into that cost & availability.

Thanks again for your input

DH

[Nightmare]

I think the replacement boots are about 10$ each... which isn't nearly as bad as the 40+ $ each for the intake manifold boots (carb to head)... Trust me, spend the 40$ for all of the boots its WAY nicer working with maluable rubber.

[suzukizone]

air box boots GS850GT

Yes, I see that, I am already parsing out some of the rent money to do this!

DH

[bwringer]

Dang, where are you paying $40 for intake boots? You got worked, unless you're talking Canada or Oz dollars.

At Flat Out, the cylinder head/carb intake boots are less than $18 each, and the carb/airbox boots are $7.45 each.

http://flatoutmotorcycles.com/fiche_section_detail.asp?category=Motorcycles&make=Suzuki&year=1981&fveh=2142

BikeBandit's probably a bit faster, but even there the prices are only about 20% - 25% higher.

http://www.bikebandit.com

Anyway, the standard way that alignment marks like R and L work is that the mark always goes on top or to the front of the vehicle. So on intake boots (both kinds) the R and the L go on top.

However, as mentioned previously, it's hard to tell how they may have been warped by some previous mechanic and the hand of time, so you do the best you can when you're using the old parts.

Make sure the side covers on the airbox are also sealed with weatherstripping foam, as well as the top of the air filter. Also, I've found it very, very easy to put too much oil on the foam -- just the very lightest dusting of air filter oil is all you need. If you used motor oil on the foam filter element, wash it out in the sink with lots of warm water and dish soap and let it dry thoroughly -- at least overnight. The slight oily residue left after that is about right.