Topic: Ok so whats the secret to carb install

[Reganator]

I still don't know about the heat method.  I mean, I'm sure it works, but I'd wonder if cycling them through that much heat all the time would leach out the plasticizers and polymers or whatever that keep the boots soft in the first place.  That's why I treated mine with wintergreen oil.  It was cheap, and now they are soft everytime I put them on and take them off.

[bailboy]

The boots are exposed to heat constantly anyway.   Maybe not as direct as from a heat gun but none the less they spend their entire life being heated and cooled.   

We soaked my original boots in wintergreen oil and it made them close to new.  Love the stuff.   

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[ncstatecamp]

I tried the ratchet strap thing yesterday. I already had 1 carb in but the other side wouldnt pop on. about a minute setting up the strap and 3 seconds ratching and pop they go in. They had been greased so that mightve helped.

[Reganator]

True, the heating thing might not noticeably accelerate the hardening process.  The one downside I see to brute force methods is possible damage to the carb bodies.  When I got my cb750 one of the airbox side ports was dented in around the edge.  I can only assume this happened because someone was trying really hard to get it on with the boots very hardened.  I doubt this would happen with a strap approach, but ya never know.