How to secure the carbs so they don't fall on the road?

I was riding and they came loose, and gas went everywhere. Thought I had em' in solid. Does the little grooved line on the motor-end of the carbs have to be completley hidden in the rubber ends, or just flush up to it, or before it?

I found if I pushed them in too far, I couldn't get the air filter side to stretch over..

Any tips? I thought I was pushing f&&*in hard on the carbs, but couldn't get that grooved line to get flush with the motor side...

Hopefully that made sense, as I don't know the actual part names!

 

I totally know the answer to this is going to be "Keep Trying", isn't it? <grin>

 

yes ,,,,,,,they go all the way in,,,,,loosen the air box up it should slide forward,,,,,,I do not know the specific bike but I believe they all do,,,,don't tighten it up till you get all the rubber parts snugged up...works for most bikes...

 

Use a Hammer Handle (wood ~ no scratches) to pry the Carbs into the Manifolds.

If you lightly oil both the Insides of the Manifolds and the Necks of the Carbs ... they will Pop-in nice. You have to pry them in there until the grooves on the necks of the Carbs get seated in the rings if the Manifolds.

If you are having trouble getting the Rubber Boots on. Do the two inside ones first and then the two outboard ones after.

Take-out the Air Cleaner and Push the Boots out until the seating channel is surrounded by the airbox.
Then, rotate the Boots until their locating tabs are at 12 O'Clock.

 

Yeah push the carbs as far as they will go on the motor side first, then push a little more. Before you start, make sure your clamps are completely loose to where they are floating (dont take the screw out of the clamps but almost out) so that those boots are open up all the way, The carbs should slide right in with not much force. And yeah the grooved line in the carbs should be burried in those boots. Then once they are seated correctly on that side, tighten the clamps, then do the airbox side. I found it easier to completely remove the airbox boots and place them on one at a time, Inside ones first. Then clamp the clamps on those boots real good. Try to wiggle the carbs back and forth to see if they move and they should stay put. all the boots hold them in place pretty solid.

 

Another tip: After I've seated the carbs to the manifold boots, I slide a long tapered piece of wood between the float bowls and the alternator housing. This pushes the carbs up and gets them in line with the manifold boots and air box boots. Otherwise, the carbs tend to sag and that makes it harder to get the boots properly seated. I push the wedge in from right to left.

 

Where'd you get a 1984 XJ650?

Another tip on the air box boots. The clutch cable makes #3 tough to get to from the right side of the bike. I do #3 first from the left side. Then I do #2, then #2. Lastly I move to the other side and do #4.

 

It had to be a left-over 1983 ... huh?

I looked-up '84 to see what Tensioner was on that Bike and they didn't make an '84.

I just hope we bring him in to the World of the Exquisitely Tweaked!

 

Heading to the garage.. I just wish i didn't live in Canada where it was -1deg Celcius (30F) right now! Stupid Canada.

Stay tuned!

Oh, it's a 1982 Canadian model. 1984 was on the bill of sale and the year the PO told me it was. I'll have to go change my sig

 

Sounds like some great advice for you Eden5900, a bit of grunt factor involved but not too much.
I'm going to suggest you use either silicone grease (dielectric grease) or a shot of WD-40 to ease things along. You don't want to use motor oil for this as the oil tends to degrade the rubber over time. Olive oil will work fine without adverse effects.
I have gotten used to wrapping my arms around the front of the frame, just in front of the exhaust downpipes, and "hugging" the carb bank into place. Best wear a garage shirt when doing this, it tends to get a mite dirty.

 

Yep those clamps have to be floating pretty loose and I use a couple (2) of 28" long pieces of shovel handle to work the carbs into the boots.

I also have the 2 inside aircleaner boots shoved into the air cleaner box, once the carbs are in the manifolds I have a special tool that I use to slip those 2 inside boots on 1st then I do the outside boots/

Good Luck

 

Marvel Mystery Oil is safe for that. So is waterproof grease. You don't need much of either. Just a smear to make the surfaces slide and not be dry and bind.

 

Alright - all the tips and the oil trick worked great, although I did use motor oil (had already done it when I saw your post about Olive Oil Robert), but I can clean it up in a couple weeks when I take it all apart to do more work over winter - I just wanted to get it running before the snow falls!

I had a mixture of 2x4's cut with 45 degree angles, and just pushed pushed pushed. I managed to get one in fully, but it kept popping out when I tried to push the other side in. Eventually I pushed the one side in, clamped it tight so it didn't pop out again and worked on the other.

As for the air intake boots, I realized i had jammed them into the airbox when I took the Carbs out last month! I had totally forgotten I did that as per Rick's cleaning post, and so when I put the carbs back on the bike the first time (that they fell out), I couldn't figure out how they would reach the carbs if i buried them into the manifold.

I can't believe I did that.
I can't believe I posted an admission of that.

I'm an idiot. At least I got to do some motorbicycling today. I've been practicing my biker wave on stray cats just in case I pass a bike. <jk>

 

Eden:

We absolve you of any and all F-up's. Let's take it one step at a time and get you so happy with that Yamaha ... you'll want to run out and get a Yamaha Tattoo.

I got to admit. You are the ONLY guy I know who ever got a Bike running on-the-road, with Carbs not fully seated.

I thought your Post was pokin' fun at us ... at first.
Now, that I can see you are the Real Deal ... you deserve the best attention we can give you for being so determined to get the bike you got out in traffic.

Let's Rock!
What's the next thing you want to do?
If you are uncomfortable asking in the Forum ... PM me!

I got your back.
Let's get your Yammie running great!

Your fan,

Rick Massey

 

Ha - thanks buddy. Off to Costa Rica for 2 weeks so Bike will be on a hiatus, will work on it more when I get back!