DIY Intake Boot repair options

I have read a few threads looking for a good fix for the Intake Boots – Has any one tried Silicone Sealing Tape? From doing some digging it seems like it would be a great fix without all of the mess of trying to put the proper amount of RTV silicone or Plasdip.

I plan to purchase a new set, but I want to make sure I don’t need to dump my money elsewhere on the bike first.

Let me know what you guys think!

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My 600 had a mess of Black RTV spread over them and I feared the worst but they were actually not bad. I used 4 hoops cut from a mountain bike innertube, slipped over the boots and secured with a film of RTV between the boot and hoop.

It did a neat job.

 

I did this as well.

Beware bike inner tube started to crack after about 3 years though. I would see if i could find a tube made from more weather resistant material.

 

I was thinking of trying possibly the silicone tape, with a cut and sealed piece of Inner-tube around that.
Cutting the piece to overlap just a little, then using an Inner-tube repair kit to clean up and seal it.

I will be trying this later today after work, im just trying to get my idea's straight before i begin.

 

I would try it. I can't see a reason not to. It would be easy to apply.

 

I think the inner tube would be beter if it were streched around it (putting the sillicone tape first). You won't see it anyway.

 

I just noticed yesterday that mine have dry rot. I'm not willing to pull them off yet... but this stuff looks good. I'm actually thinking of brushing on some black RTV first, and then wrapping with the tape to clean it up.

 

I'll let you know how this goes, I'll take pics when i get started.

I plan on taking the bike on trips over a few hundred miles every other weekend or so. I am just trying to be extra cautious about everything, I don't want to be 100miles+ away from home and have something happen to leave me sitting there!

 

Well last night was a no go.. Logged into the HomeDeopt website - put in my zip code, and the item showed that it was at my local store, I went in and looked for the item myself for a few, then i asked an associate for a little assistance, i told her that i had a Picture of the item, the item number and their stock number.. before saying anything else she asked me "where did you get that information?" I let her know that i was on their website and i was able to get the information from there as well as being able to see that the item was in stock... She then blew me off, she told me that the website is not affiliated with the stores individually, and that there was no way that the website could know what they have in stock in their store.. the lady turned and walked away without helping me further. Needless to say i'll never be visiting HomeDepot again.

I went to Lowes and they didn't have the item, the associate walked around with me looking for it for a good 20minutes until I told her that it was ok that i would look for something else.

I may just settle for the bike innertube idea.

back to the drawing board!

 

What about a very large diameter heat shrink tubing?

I just checked McMaster-Carr and they have some with a starting inside diameter of 3.5 and its also adhesive lined so it makes a tight seal.

 

I just got off the phone with the Manager of HomeDepot, come to find out they do have the product, she gave me the amount she had in stock <21 of them>, what aisle number it is located in and where to find it on that aisle. Imagine that… Im going to give it another shot, I’ll be stopping by after work to pick some up.

 

i hope it works would be 1 less thing to worry about for a temp fix especially if your trying to get a bike running before sinking alout of money into it

 

I used a layer of black electrical tape. That has seems to be working fine.

 

I was finally able to give this Silicone Tape a try, I cleaned the boots really good, then applied the tape evenly to all of them. It appears to have worked wonders, and it looks clean! The tape sticks to itself and doesn’t come apart, so where you put it is where its going to stay. I’ll post pics later today of the result if your interested.

 

I think I'll give it a try. Did you pull your carbs to put the tape on? I've been lucky enough to not need to take carbs off, not looking forward to having to do it for a simple repair.

 

I already had the boots off, I was doing a good carb cleaning and I decided to try this after taking the carbs off and seeing cracks in the boots themselves,

I broke a bolt off of one of the boots inside of the intake, when trying to take them off, I had to use an easy out, luckily it was "easy" to get the bolt out of there, I have heard some horror stories, I wasn’t even turning the bolt hard and it went limp in my hand, I was like CRAP! All is well though for the time being.


Here is my other post about the bike I’m working on-
http://xjbikes.com/Forums/viewtopic/t=26038.html


I'll try to get pics up soon - My sister went on vacation and she took my digital camera along for the ride, I have one on my cell phone but the pictures disgust me.

 

If you've got all the bolts out, swap them for a set of nice stainless ones.. At least that way you won't have more bolts snapping on you as you put them back in or at a later date.

 

For sure, I was planning on that for most all of the bolts, I have taken out that look rough! Beautiful idea!

 

So far so good with the Silicone tape, I was able to get my bike together today, and its all working beautifully. purr's like a kitten, un-tuned kitten but its purring none the less.