It's alive, well sorta

I got my starter to work again, I think it was shorting out on the inside. I pulled it apart for the last time right after I tried to start it and there was a little smoke and it smelled a little burned. Put it back together, and it worked just like normal. Now I have a major issue. Just found out that the #4 boot that mates the carb to the engine is broken off. Never noticed it before. Tried every way I know to get it out; vice grips, blow torch, PB Blaster. Still It won't budge. How much would be a reasonable price to get it out?

 

The intake boot can be repaired without removing it. Very often one of the bolts will break off in the head which is a bad thing. So many avoid this and patch the intake with high temp RTV. A piece of a bicycle inner tube can be wrapped around a large crack and then sealed with RTV.

 

I missprinted. The bolt that holds the boot to the engine is what is broken. Sorry about that.

 

If you have some part of the bolt protruding from the head, then you are lucky and will have a decent shot at getting it out. What you need are some vice grips, preferably the kind with flat jaws. First of all, get some penetrating oil in where the threads meet the head. The best is a product called S-OK. PB Blaster is not nearly as good. if possible, let that sit for a day or two. You can even tap the end of the bolt with a small hammer (gentle taps) to help vibrate the oil along the threads.

When it has soaked for a while, clamp the vice grips on - very snug. Try rocking the bolt back and forth and (if possible) tapping on the end of it. If it moves a little, just apply more penetrating oil and just keep rocking. When it starts to move, you want to keep it in motion.

If that method won't work, then you need to gently heat the head around the bolt, use the vice grips and rock it. I assume the carb stack is off - and you may want to remove adjacent rubber parts. Get the fuel away from the bike and have a fire extinguisher very close by! Don't use an acetylene torch; use a propane torch and be gentle with the heat! If you heat a bit and get no motion, add more oil and wait a bit before trying again.
Patience is the key.

If it is broken flush with or below the face of the head, the procedure is very different...

 

I've tried all that and also went and got an extraction bit kit today. Used the heat, have been soaking it in oil for a couple of days, and tapped it. I got the hole drilled to insert the extraction bit and the damn thing broke off in it before hardly any pressure got on it!. Now I have that in there and have fouled out 2 more bits trying to get another hole. I am about to give up and sell this piece of sh** for parts. This thing has been one set back after another.

 

Your BEST course of action is to remove the Head and bring the Head to a Facility that has: "Electrical Discharge Machining".
EDM.
An EDM Machine will remove everything you have stacked-up in that hole right now.

Electrical Discharge Machining.
"Electrical discharge machining (EDM), sometimes referred to as spark machining, is a nontraditional method of removing metal by a series of rapidly recurring electrical discharges between an electrode (the cutting tool) and the workpiece in the presence of a dielectric field. The ensuing minute metal chips are removed by melting and vaporization, and are washed away by the continuously flushing dielectric fluid. EDM can cut materials regardless of their hardness or toughness, but is limited to the machining of electrically conductive workpiece materials.

The EDM process is most widely used by the mold-making tool and die industries, but is increasingly applied to make prototype and production parts, especially in the aerospace and electronics industries in which production requirements are relatively low. EDM is particularly well suited for parts which are made from materials that are difficult to machine and/or contain small or odd-shaped angles, intricate cavities or intricate contours.

There are two major types of EDM, Wire EDM and Sinker EDM (sometimes called Ram or Conventional EDM). The main difference between the two is the type of electrode used. Wire EDM, as its name suggests, uses wire as the electrode. Certain parts can only be produced using sinker EDM, which, unlike wire EDM, does not cut all the way through the part. As its name implies, Sinker EDM literally "sinks" a required shape into the workpiece."

Remove the Head.
Remove the Manifolds from the Head even if you have to break all the Cap Screws to do so.
Present the Head to a Machine Shop ...

OR <----- (See this? Or. Don't fail to use any resource)

Bring the Head to a Regional Technical High School and present the problem to the Machine Shop's Lead Instructor.
Be nice and bring the Head and your checkbook to make a MODEST donation to "Shop Expendables"

Have all the Cap Screws EDM'-ed out of the Head.
Any Exhaust Studs; too.

Run a Tap into the Holes EDM'd clean.
Use all new Stainless Fasteners with AntiSeize Lubricant!

 

C'mon, now. March is quite a ways off, don't give up now. Once this bike is done it will have been worth all the headaches, trust me. Rick's idea is solid; and while you have the head off you can do a few other minor things to get the bike even BETTER for that cross-country ride. I challenge you to find a more comfortable and reliable bike (once it's finished) for less than 3 times what you'll have into it, regardless of how much that turns out to be.

 

Take your time and pull that head and get it to the shop to get those broken studs removed. I just bought a whole engine gasket set (was cheaper than buying seperate gaskets from Yamaha)and did mine last year. It was not that bad. I got that bike running real good and no leaks. It was worth it. Hope you find yours will be worth it too. Good Luck.