another satisfied intake boot o-ring customer!

[Jon Burke]

Dug into the bike this evening to replace the intake boot o-rings. Not much room to hit the impact driver for the center boots. So after slotting the screws with the angle die grinder and using the flat blade in the impact driver, the boots were off. The o-rings were about as flexible as....uncooked spaghetti? Back together with new o-rings and stainless socket head screws. Idles better than ever and requires almost no choke to keep it running cold. I'm eager to check performance tomorrow. Thanks to for all of the good information on this site!

[GSmadness]

what kind of impact driver do you have? i was going to replace mine but couldn't get the dang thing on there straight to try to get a swing with the hammer though the frame.

[psyguy]

requires almost no choke to keep it running cold

hm, i'd check the pilot mixture screws settings
likely, the carbs were set on the rich side to compensate for the air leaks and now you're getting too much fuel

or... you do know the history of the carbs settings, and my comments are completely redundant

[Jon Burke]

I'll have to look and see what kind of impact driver i have. Nothing special. Use big hammer, but not too hard!

Was late last night when finishing up. Exhaust smelled a little rich. Ran as well as possible before the o-rings. I'm thinking too that it may be a little rich since some the the intake air before was leaking past the o-rings. Maybe close the screws down 1/8 to 1/4 turn? I don't have gauges. Bike was synched at a bike shop last year.

[robertbarr]

Bike was synched at a bike shop last year.

Carb adjustments (including sync) made with bad O-rings are meaningless, and any 'fine tuning' should be postponed until your valve clearances are set up.

Messing with the mixture is one of your your last steps, after intake sealing, valve clearance (if needed / unknown) and ignition work (if any); otherwise, it just adds needless wear and tear to the mixture screw threads (and your patience).

You're ahead of the game by actually changing your intake O-rings first. There's this endless stream of people who post here asking about carb settings, while the fundamentals are all over the page. It's not that it bothers me -- my bike runs just fine --- but I hate to see people chasing their tails when there's really only one sensible sequence of problem resolution.

[Jon Burke]

Valves will be the next project. You're right about the adjustments being meaningless. If you're drawing air of varying amounts from other places than through the carb, your mixture will be inconsistent. Suppose valves can have the same effect.

[Steve]

If you look in just about any service manual, the sequence for a tune-up (assuming stuff like the o-rings are in good shape) is 1) valve adjustment 2) ignition timing 3) fuel mixture adjustment. As mentioned, they assume that there are no leaks anywhere, so, if the o-rings or other gaskets are in question, rectify that situation first. Air filter should be new or clean, air box should be sealed, and all that other good stuff.

One good thing for those of us with '80-and-newer bikes, is that the ignition timing almost never needs to be checked.
If the engine has been apart or you have broken parts, you will have to check it once. After that, it should never be off.

.

[Jon Burke]

Well, have the intake o-rings taken care of. Air box sealed with new filter last fall. No ignition points and engine has not been apart. Leaves valves, then mixture screws. I think i'm gaining on it.

[KRISTI'SGS550]

jon,
I am pretty much at the same place you are as well, keep us posted.

Thanks

Cory