Inlet rubbers won't let carbie in...

[hondaman]

W:gob:hats happening here? Ive tried everything. The carbies just wont sit in the rubbers properly. Three will go in there, but the end one just doesn't make it. No matter how much pressure I put on to force them in. Ive tried to pull the rubbers off to clean them and the grooves that they fit into on the engine side. Ive only been able to pull one of them off. I can turn them around whichever way I want, and thats it. There are markings on the sides of each inlet rubber to show how they line up. Ive lined them up with a straight edge and tightened the engine side brackets. Still no joy. The rubbers themselves look normal. If I favour the pressure to one side, whilst pushing the carbies on, that group will go in their groove seating, but that leaves the one of the other end, short. It will go in half to three quarters of the distance required if I push hard enough. When I put the straight edge across the rubbers, using the markings as my guide, the rubbers are all even, except a small gap on one side of the end rubber. Its only a 1mm or two. No matter which way I turn that end rubber to bring the gap closer, it still stays the same. Ive tried pulling that one off to see if I can spot the problem. I cant get it off. Its frustrating cause I'm on the home stretch in completing this project.

[Animal]

Not a piss-take: Have you tried a smear of Vaseline, or K-Y?

[degrom]

The background in that picture indicates you are single,right?

LOL... Or are you just renting?!?

[hondaman]

I put a bit of lube around them. I should try a hairdryer or something. but I cant see it making a hell of a lot of difference.

[hondaman]

No this is our home LOL. Mum said I could use the room over the winter cause we got no garage. I did have stuff on the floor to protect it. But now the bike is just about finished, Ive just sat in there until another sunny day so I can wheel it outside. Its drained of oil so no potential accidents can happen.

[Crisis management]

Can you loosen the carb assembly so that there is a bit of play between carbs? That may let you get all four correctly seated before tightening them up again.
It may be worth another check of the alignment of the carb rubbers to make sure they are all perfectly aligned as any small variation will make it really hard to get the carbs in. Mind you they always are a real pain to fit..:angry:

[Wheeliemonsta]

Gidday Hondaman,
Have a look at the manifolds to see if they have a part # on there end face - where you would insert the carb...?

(If memory serves there is one # difference in the part # which will equate to which cylinder that manifold belongs too, they'll be numbered 1 ~ 4, #1 cyl is always on the furthest LH side of the engine)

The part #'s normally face down...

The other thing to check is whether or not they have a locating cut out for the carb itself to sit into - if this is the case at least now you'll know up from down, from there it should be a relatively easy to get the sequence right...

Cheers

:rockon:

[Animal]

How's it going? Have you managed to sort it out?

[hondaman]

the rubbers are numbered from 1 to 4. Number one is on the LH side of the engine as mentioned. Number 4 is at the other end. Two and three are in their sequential spots.

[hondaman]

Im worried that I may throw the linkages out of line of something. What do you think? Bit tricky for me.

[riffer]

I had a very similar problem when I was installing the new carbs in my RF900.

In the end this was my technique. Those with a more subtle mechanical inclination will pull my technique to pieces but meh - it worked for me.

I applied vaseline onto the carb rubbers - not too much mind you - you don't really want too much sucked into the motor when you start it.

Then I put the carbs against the rubbers, placed a big soft towel (don't tell the wife) against the carb ends on the opposite side to the inlet, and placed a block of 4x2 on top of that.

Then I gave it a jolly good whack with a rubber mallet.

No worries mate. They went straight in. :Punk:

[hondaman]

heres alook up the spouts

[hondaman]

I used a thin plank placed over the ends of the carbs and then straddled the bike and used my thighs to push them in. You get a lot of purchase and you can nuse your hands to wiggle them in. But not this time. lol

[riffer]

rubber mallet time mate... :yes:

[surfer]

I like the mallet idea from riffer.

I find it tricky to squeeze mine in as well.

I find getting in front and pulling the carbs into the seals works best rather than pushing.

[jonbuoy]

Do they still feel like rubber or are have they gone hard and plasticky? I heard boiling them in ATF for a few hours restores a bit of flex to them. I've got a set soaking in cold ATF for a week or so - they seem to be softening boiling opens the pores in the rubber apparantly.

[rogson]

Getting the rubbers in is routine.....
Its getting in without them thats risky.

[imdying]

I used a thin plank placed over the ends of the carbs and then straddled the bike and used my thighs to push them in.So the plan is to hump your bike? Nice.... :lol:

[xwhatsit]

Damn, this was a prick of a job to do with only a single carb, let alone four at once.

Jonbuoy is onto it -- this bike has been sitting around for ages, the rubbers are rock-hard, aren't they? So was my second-hand new manifold. After poking around on this site, I got some advice from a thread asking similar questions about carb diaphragms for CV carbs.

Soaking them in petrol on its own is a no-no, I think. However, soaking them in a `petroil' mix is apparently safe, so that's what I did. It made them more flexible, and the carb popped in by just pushing hard on the intake. Before even a rubber mallet wouldn't have done anything.

[Squiggles]

Just heat them up, had enough trouble getting hannes ones on, put a hairdryer to em, it softens them up so you can get them in easy alot easier

[hondaman]

And thats what I did. Heated them up and levered them off. At last, I was getting somewhere. I cleaned the rubbers up and the area where they sit. Placed a smear of grease around the male inlets and this made the rubbers easier to turn and line the carbies up. They all seated properly. Im glad that job is over. Thanks to all who replied.