82 xj750j idle drop

I'm new to the forum and hoping this get posted in the right place.

I have a 1982 XJ750J. I have idle drop out issues which seem to be leaking intake boots on the engine side. When I spray carb cleaner in there the idle goes up, plus I can see the cracks. (Had this bike for 23 years with almost no maintenance needed.)
I see replacement costs from $20.00 to $90.00 on eBay. Wondering if the cheaper versions from China are just as good as the OEM ones? Some come with gaskets but most don't. I'm thinking a little RTV Black might work unless I really need the gaskets? Any specific supplier names and any thoughts appreciated.

 

everybody here will recommend going with XJ4ever (top right corner of this page)

but only do that if you want the best

 

clean the boots with carb cleaner then coat and work into the cracks with black rtv its a good fix.
some have luck with the cheap sets some do not. recent thread about the nipples not being tightly held into boots just pressed in ,
the good ones are costly the cheep ones are cheep and a crap shoot

 

Gaskets are required to get a good seal. Just using RTV there might work, but often does not. Use a gasket dressing on the gaskets to help them seal.

 

I have heard of folks doing all the above and then slipping a bicycle tube over them. Seems like the heat would work on the rubber. You might also find some large shirnk wrap that would work, or self amalgamating tape. I have used that on other applications and done correctly it works very well.

 

Thanks Raskal. I'll check them out. Figured the cheap one have inferior rubber but wondered if anyone had used them and what they thought.

Thanks k-moe, I have some copper gasket sealer spray that should work unless you have a better choice.

Thanks tabaka45, Sounds like others have tried the cheaper fix and learned the hard way.
The tape and bicycle tube are interesting just wonder how it looks.

Since I haven't put a lot of money in this bike. I just might go for the OEM fix.
Appreciate all the help.
XJ owners rock!

 

Thanks XJ550H, Didn't see your post earlier. Sorry I missed it? Or is that how they show up?
Good idea with the RTV Black. All four boots are bad. Not sure if I could get to the center ones to good wo taking carbs out anyway but maybe do a little.
If I remember right, taking out the carbs on my old 76 900 Kawi LTD was a bit of a pain. (Only reason I sold that bike was cause it got a high speed wobble and threw me off at 125mph on I-15 coming out of Cajon Pass in Cali back in 78. The guy at the local shop didn't put the new front tire on quite right. I let him know I wasn't happy about it. Believe it or not I didn't have a scratch. The bike had a lot of scrapes and I eventually got it running again.)

I guess you could get the cheap boots and add some epoxy to the nipples but the cheapos don't seem to come with gaskets. Maybe use form-a-gasket but if it doesn't work then you end up spending money one the cheapos and then the good ones and the gasket sealer and epoxy.
Saw some OEM ones on eBay for 75.oo w/gaskets. I probably need to clean carbs as well anyway. I don't think the prior owner ever did so its been 37 years of crap building up. Linkage seems a bit sluggish but not too bad.
When the snow starts flyin' I might just dig into it.