XJ550 Intake Boot Options

Howdy everyone.
New to the forum with a question on the intake boots/carb holders for my XJ550 Maxim. The boots are cracked and need repair/replacing. I'd rather not spend $100 or so on replacements, so that leaves me with two options as far as I can tell: replace with the $30 ebay boots, or find some black RTV and do the fix. I've heard the bolts for these boots are prone to breaking, which would make me want to try the RTV, but I've also heard that the 550's tend to be a bit better about it.
All that said, would y'all recommend the ebay boots or the RTV?

 

I used 'Shoe goo' to fill cracks and self amalgaming black tape over the top. The latter stuff is a must for any toolbox.

 

I have heard of ebay boots delaminating inside, which is not good. I would avoid them. I used RTV to cover my intake boots on my XJ550. If I recall, I thinned it a bit so it would flow into the cracks better, and after cleaning the boots, painted it on without removing them.

I like A100man's ideas.

 

Depends what you want. If budget is the top priority then try RTV, if not I'd suggest buying a decent quality set. EBay has both so I'd go for a brand name like K&L or genuine and you won't have an issue. If you buy a set for $30 then it probably won't last.

Unfortunately you only get what you pay for...

 

If you replace, I would go with OEM and buy them from Len. He goes out of his way to support XJ's and this community and his service is second to none. I bought some aftermarket intakes for my XJ650, bike ran good for one day and then it wouldn't idle. The new boots literally came apart in a few hours. Luckily I bought them from Len, he took them back without hesitation, stopped selling the aftermarket ones, and sold me a set of genuine new Yamaha boots. No issues.

I get the fact that they are expensive, if you don't want to spend the $$ then I would clean and seal the originals. I'd rather run those over some cheap intakes. Every cheap rubber fuel system part I bought on eBay or Amazon for my old golf carts has failed in short time. Did OEM after that and no issues.

 

Well, I tried the RTV idea, but now I’m not sure that’s what my problem was. Bike just doesn’t want to start and I thought maybe it was a vacuum leak. I appreciate the suggestions though, guys.