I dunno. New boots for the 550 are only like $15 each from Yamaha and I bet you-know-who has 'em for less. I'd still be worried about sucking some sort of FOD since there's no "mechanical lock" to the joint. Hope they work for you.

Palmer650 wrote:

I found these great rubber fittings (Home Depot $3.00/boot) to replace my old intake boots. They are heat-rated for only 140F.

At first I thought you were talking about the boots from the carb to the head And I was thinking 140F??? Is he nuts???

I think this option would be better than old hard stock rubbers - but if the OEM parts are cheap, I'd probably go original.

wizard wrote:

(might have been Joe the plumber)

Hey Nixon, you're way too up on what's going on in the states.

Isn't there anything interesting in your hemisphere?

MiCarl wrote:

wizard wrote: (might have been Joe the plumber) Hey Nixon, you're way too up on what's going on in the states. Isn't there anything interesting in your hemisphere?

Just Sun, Sea & Sand.

great find! my oe one's don't seal up properly anymore so this would be great

YES!!! finally, something i can jury-rig and feel safe about!! maybe these will miraculously fix my starting problem.

edit:: do these make it easier or harder to put the rack back on the bike?

when putting the rack on, do you put the "boots" in the box first then connect carbs, or vice cersa (Boots to carbs, put carbs in intake manifold boots, then stuff plumbing boots in box)?

To go into the airbox, the boots (Home Depot or Lowes ones) need to be shaved down to the diameter of where the hose clamps rest.

Shaving procedure:
I fixed a dremel into my vice cushioned with paint stirrers. Make sure it's level so it cuts evenly. Then I used a piece of glass which acted as a perfectly flat/level surface to roll the rubber coupling fitted on a PVC pipe. (See Photo for my setup using a small piece of PVC with two flared out ends to fix the rubber coupling on.) I fit the secured dremel with a wide sanding bit, to shave off the unwanted rubber. Shave it down all the way around to the diameter where the clamp rests. Then cut off the lip on one of the ends - about 3/8" is perfect. Then twist the suckers into the box, bring in carbs, attach them to the carb boots and twist out your newly fabbed intake boots to meet carbs. They fit nicely on mine! I'm sure there are better ways, but this was the cheapest for me.

I can't believe they work so well! I actually almost didn't do it, thinking it wouldn't work in a million years.

Here's an underneath shot. I still can't believe these worked!

wizard wrote:

MiCarl wrote: wizard wrote: (might have been Joe the plumber) Hey Nixon, you're way too up on what's going on in the states. Isn't there anything interesting in your hemisphere? Just Sun, Sea & Sand.

Yeah that and what like 6 or 8 years' worth of XJ900s that WE never got to see...

Palmer 650 wrote:

Here's an underneath shot. I still can't believe these worked!

Frankly, I am quite impressed as well, and hereby retract any less than positive comments I may have made earlier. They look like they're MORE THAN snug, which is great and will probably compensate for the probably still somewhat warped airbox. Good job!

Here is the posting for the Home Depot carb boots. Sorry I wasn't able to just post the link in the current thread. Oh well......

WOW
That is for sure the easiest and cheapest way to go. If my boots give me any more problems I'm going to go this route. Thanks guys for the great tips. Now that's the way to improvise! Keep them coming.
Mac

Instead of shaving the boots down with the dremel, why not just enlarge the 4 holes a little??

wizard wrote:

MiCarl wrote: wizard wrote: (might have been Joe the plumber) Hey Nixon, you're way too up on what's going on in the states. Isn't there anything interesting in your hemisphere? Just Sun, Sea & Sand.

Sure Wiz, rub it in man.