More homemade carb boots

[betteron2wheels]

Hi All,

I recently picked up a 380 that had been sitting outside for years. It was parked running and has less than 7k miles, but it's in need of TLC. I'll look for a pic before I started cleaning and post if I can find one. The first thing to do was clean the carbs, after removing them I found that the slider dust boots/billows had turned to tar. I stripped the carbs and tried a few different ways to clean the tar and settled on acetone and a wire brush. After some research, I found that the boots billows are over $20 each and prone to reverting to their tar-like form. I'm sure many here have been through this. Had I found this site sooner I might have use rubber gloves as another member here did, but I didn't so I looked to other means. I racked my brain (and the web) for a solution and settled on RC card dust boots. None were quite right but I found 2 that combined to work and seem to have a decent seal. The first pass needs adjustment, the throttle pull is way t0o hard. Here they are in closed and WOT

[betteron2wheels]

I used HPI Racing 104968 dust boots (big), combined with Traxxas 1577 boots (small). The small ones fit the top of the rod and the big ones fit over the base of the carb plate and they fit into each other. This pic shows how I trimmed the small ones and what I used to spread them to make it easier:

[betteron2wheels]

This show how I trimmed the big one, uncut it was being forced to retract into itself causing a distinct resistance upon open and closing of the throttle (of the bike, I didn't try it mounted) so I trimmed a portion of the bottom of the big one. As I mentioned earlier, on the bike, the throttle is way to hard to roll back. I have another set of the small (Traxxas 1577) on the way and my plan is to leave more of the billows on them and trim the bottom of the big one to dial it in .
The small ones - Traxxas 1577 are about $5 for 4
The big ones -HPI 104968 are about $14 for 4

Disclaimer - Not sure how they will hold up, these have not been subjected to heat or hydrocarbons and probably won’t see much use since the bike is nowhere near ready to ride and might take months to get there

[Suzsmokeyallan]

This is a brilliant idea to source out and locate a part that may work. The stock boots are a horror in relation to then turning to a gooey tar like substance.
Regarding your boots travel from idle to fully open, you may also have to shorten the boots in their natural rest position, then extend them to fit on in idle position, this is so the pleats will overlap less on full throttle.
Claus studios in CA will make parts in rubber or various forms of other rubber-like materials, I'm surprised someone has not given him a new boot to make copies of in a better material.

[betteron2wheels]

Regarding your boots travel from idle to fully open, you may also have to shorten the boots in their natural rest position, then extend them to fit on in idle position, this is so the pleats will overlap less on full throttle.

In the rest position shown in the last pic, the boots aren't allowing the slide to close fully. This probably isn't a problem as the idle adjust screw is all the way in. The big boots were not intended to billow in and out, they are driveshaft boots to allow the shafts to pivot; the smaller boots are tie rod boots and intended to allow the kind of movement need for this application. When I get the now small ones I will cut a bigger portion off the bottom of the big boots and leave as many of the pleats on the upper portion of the small boots. I think they should allow more linear travel without bunching or over stretching the big boots material.

Now that the carbs are on the bike I have to track down a no-spark issue. I have power to the lights and cleaned the points but need to clean all of the connectors and spend some time with a wiring diagram to understand where to go next.

[Suzsmokeyallan]

Ok that makes sense on the boots, once you have the final solution post some more photos. Regarding the electrical issues Im sure a couple of the members will chime in on what to check as you find issues.

[yeadon_m]

Picked up this link to aftermarket 'boots' from this board again recently though found I had it in my files. They look low cost, provided you are in the EU.

http://schreiber-zweiradshop.de/Bowdenz ... zuege.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Allan, I hear Claus does superb work, but we cannot expect the boots from him to be much cheaper if at all to the Suzuki boots and while these continue to be available, folk may swallow hard and buy them, or try to re-use something made for a different application.

The one I'd buy is the master cylinder boot as the large, originals have been NLA for many years. Mine are just OK but obviously not as good as other parts on my bikes.

Cheers,
Mike

[markush]

Picked up this link to aftermarket 'boots' from this board again recently though found I had it in my files. They look low cost, provided you are in the EU.

http://schreiber-zweiradshop.de/Bowdenz ... zuege.html

and here they are:

Vergaser_Faltenbalg_02.jpg

Vergaser_Faltenbalg_03.jpg

[Alan H]

Looks like a wino's been messing with your tickover settings!!!

[pearljam724]

Before, I clicked on this thread. I read the title and was thinking you were referring to the intake carb boots. I thought to myself, " Oh boy, this outta be good. " Lol ! In reference to the slide linkage boots.

[Allan k]

Picked up this link to aftermarket 'boots' from this board again recently though found I had it in my files. They look low cost, provided you are in the EU.

http://schreiber-zweiradshop.de/Bowdenz ... zuege.html

and here they are:

Vergaser_Faltenbalg_02.jpg

Vergaser_Faltenbalg_03.jpg

Thanks you very much for this info.. Just ordered 3 today!