authenticnovelty
XS650 Enthusiast
Hi All,
After carefully studying the wealth of knowledge on this site all summer, I decided to create an account and open a thread hoping someone can point me in the right direction on my problem below. Any input would be greatly appreciated.
This summer I picked up an early 1978 XS650E. The bike has dual vacuum petcocks in the tank, BS38 carburetors and carb boots with barbs to connect them.
I need to replace the carb boots. Mike's XS has barbed carb boots, but they don't fit my bike. The barbs are drilled differently and do not clear the valve covers or fit the boot clamps (ordered and returned). I managed to find a pair of solid 40 year old original boots from a 1978 XS650 on eBay in very good condition, with the exception of a small 3/16th" single crack in the right boot. I coated it with Seal-All to try my luck and it has lasted me for the past 3 months. The crack has recently opened into a gap and often creates a fairly consistent lean mix once the bike is hot.
Q1:
I am again looking for a set of barbed boots which are compatible with the BS38 carbs and clear the factory clamps/Valve covers. I have found the JBM barbless boots and other barbed boots for the BS34 carbs, but I've had very little luck with my specific BS38+Barb combo. Does anybody have any recommendations? I am trying to restore/keep the bike factory and would prefer not to change the petcocks or air filters/add spacers. I've seen a post referring to drilling barbs into new smooth boots. Is this the only method left?
Q2:
Alternatively, could yamabond, threebond or similar be good to use on the single crack in the boot? I'm assuming not great inside due to gasoline exposure.
Q3:
Another thought... In the end of the carb guide, I see mention of adding a threaded nipple to the side of each carb for syncing. Does anybody know if it would be sufficient to thread in a set of these additional nipples for the vacuum petcocks to go directly into the carbs and just buy standard non-barb carb boots?
Again, any input is greatly appreciated. Please also feel free to point to any existing posts, in case I have missed.
After carefully studying the wealth of knowledge on this site all summer, I decided to create an account and open a thread hoping someone can point me in the right direction on my problem below. Any input would be greatly appreciated.
This summer I picked up an early 1978 XS650E. The bike has dual vacuum petcocks in the tank, BS38 carburetors and carb boots with barbs to connect them.
I need to replace the carb boots. Mike's XS has barbed carb boots, but they don't fit my bike. The barbs are drilled differently and do not clear the valve covers or fit the boot clamps (ordered and returned). I managed to find a pair of solid 40 year old original boots from a 1978 XS650 on eBay in very good condition, with the exception of a small 3/16th" single crack in the right boot. I coated it with Seal-All to try my luck and it has lasted me for the past 3 months. The crack has recently opened into a gap and often creates a fairly consistent lean mix once the bike is hot.
Q1:
I am again looking for a set of barbed boots which are compatible with the BS38 carbs and clear the factory clamps/Valve covers. I have found the JBM barbless boots and other barbed boots for the BS34 carbs, but I've had very little luck with my specific BS38+Barb combo. Does anybody have any recommendations? I am trying to restore/keep the bike factory and would prefer not to change the petcocks or air filters/add spacers. I've seen a post referring to drilling barbs into new smooth boots. Is this the only method left?
Q2:
Alternatively, could yamabond, threebond or similar be good to use on the single crack in the boot? I'm assuming not great inside due to gasoline exposure.
Q3:
Another thought... In the end of the carb guide, I see mention of adding a threaded nipple to the side of each carb for syncing. Does anybody know if it would be sufficient to thread in a set of these additional nipples for the vacuum petcocks to go directly into the carbs and just buy standard non-barb carb boots?
Again, any input is greatly appreciated. Please also feel free to point to any existing posts, in case I have missed.
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