XS650 Carb Install, NEED HELP

Iv hit a bit of a roadblock on the final assembly of my bike, a 78 xs650. I had the engine out of the bike, replaced some things and painted it all. Now I have the engine back in, but the damn carbs will not fit into the manifold boots. They were on before i took the engine out, and ran perfect. I have read every technique and tried everything i can think of. Iv tried heating the boots up, greasing them with wd40, spent hours trying to slowly wiggle them in, enlisted the help of a friend and tried brute force, but they will not budge. It almost seems like they dont align properly with the manifold boots, and even if i can get them in, they won't go in any more than an inch. This is the last thing I need to do now before the bikes ready for the road, so I really would like to get this done. Anybody have any suggestions, or maybe experienced something like this??

*manifold boots are in perfect shape by the way, not hard or cracked.

They go in an inch? That should be enough.

there is a raised section on the carbs, that i can feel matches to a groove in the boots. and that is about three inches in. I put them in about an inch, as far as they would go and then when i kicked the bike over it had a backfire and the carbs flew right off, so they have to go in farther im assuming

Can you take a couple pics?

heres a pic of whats going on, i can only get them in to about as far as where the black paint starts

Your definition of an inch and mine are wildly different.


You're right that more of the carb should go in the boot. Figure out what's preventing it from doing so.

Those clamps are still tight. Loosen them up until the screws are about to fall out and try again

ya sorry, im canadian so forgive my idea of an "inch"
I had the clamps totally loose when i was putting them in, and I can feel inside the boot there is a raise section that I asssume aligns with the grooves in the carbs. But I cannot get them to push past that raised part. Hopefully this makes sense, kind of hard to explain. But I really need to get these in.

Did you paint the carbs since they were removed? If so, maybe paint build-up making them tight. The manifolds are angled and right and left side. Did they come off since then?

And no , I'm not joking . KY Jelly

~kop

Yes, I did paint them once they were off, and they have not been in since. I can tell that the manifolds are angled, and it almost seems like the carbs dont quite match the angle of the boots.

Are the boots on the right intakes?? I'm not familiar with the Honda carbs yet, but on my carbs.(Yamaha) they barely go in before they seat in the intakes, at over an inch, are you sure you're not over shooting the groove? Are the intakes new, maybe you were sent the wrong ones (diameter)?

Here's my scenario, it probably doesn't apply to you, but maybe there is something you can use. I bought a bike, the sellar gave me all kinds of b.s. on the systems he rebuilt. Anyway, the bike didn't run well and I started with the carbs. The intakes were shot, as I replaced them, I realized the carbs were wrong, so pretty much everything didn't align and the floats were all wrong. Anyway, the carbs. didn't match up with the intakes, luckily turning two upside down lined up the carbs. I'm just saying, sometimes a fraction can make a ton of difference. The carbs don't need to go deep in the intakes, just far enough to seal properly... Obviously your bike isn't the same as mine, just throwing ideas out there... By the way Kop is right, I use a gel used for swimming pool parts...

Mine is a yamaha, an xs650. The bike was runnning perfectly before the carbs came off, and i didn't replace or even remove the boots. So they should fit right back into place, i would think anyway.

Yeah I'm thinking youve got an inch and a millimeter confused

Anyway, the way I do it is smear some oil (or KY ) around the inside of the manifold, and then insert one edge of the carb, and while applying a lot of pressure turn the carb. This will usually pop it in there.