Topic: Carb boots all the same from different sites?

[Nstillwell]

So I'm fairly certain Common-motor, David silver's Spares, 4into1, vintagecb750 and all the other sites have the same carb boots for the carbs that go between the airbox and the carbs. Has anyone had good or bad luck with any of these sites and the generic parts like this one offered? Just trying to find the best boots for my CB550. I really don't want them to rip when I reinstall the carbs like my old boots did. And yes I know the new ones will be much more pliable, but man, they are a tight fit... I noticed Davids silver spares seems to have better shipping prices and they also seem to be the only ones that sell the airbox filter spring that I need  which leads me to wonder if all of them have the same suppliers or not.

[Dunk]

I've used both aftermarket and original carb boots. I tried original the next time I needed them and they fit better. As long as I can get them from Honda I'll continue to use those. no idea on how many aftermarket companies make them and I don't recall where I got the aftermarket ones.

[ekpent]

You mention airbox filter spring. Are we talking 550 parts or 750 rubber manifolds and 550 spring ? As for 750's there are some differences depending on which year your looking for.

[WideAWAKE]

I’ve found 4into1 to be quite useless both in the quality of their parts and their customer service.

DSS has a good rep for good parts. I’ve only received good parts from them.

I ordered quite a few ransoms bits (rubber, bolts, cables, electrical, etc..) from vintagecb750.com and they were all of good quality. I had a problem with 1 item and I didn’t know about it until my build was done, 6 months after buying it. I emailed to let them know it failed, didn’t ask for a refund or another, just let them know it failed. They shipped a replacement and I had it in 2 days. Says a lot about them in my mind.

I bought some cheap boots off eBay for my K0 cause that’s all I could find. They were made backwards. Go figure.

750 boots are not all the same. Can’t speak to any other models.

[Nstillwell]

I've used both aftermarket and original carb boots. I tried original the next time I needed them and they fit better. As long as I can get them from Honda I'll continue to use those. no idea on how many aftermarket companies make them and I don't recall where I got the aftermarket ones.

Are the originals still available from Honda!? I would love to get the OEM's. But I haven't seen them listed online by Honda....

You mention airbox filter spring. Are we talking 550 parts or 750 rubber manifolds and 550 spring ? As for 750's there are some differences depending on which year your looking for.

I'm talking about a CB550. I need a 550 filter spring to hold my air filter in place and I'm also looking for the rubber boots that go between the air box and the carbs. There doesn't seem to be a part number because on the Honda parts list the boots are listed as part of the airbox - CHAMBER, AIR CLEANER *NH1* (BLACK) 17310-323-010B

[Nstillwell]

I’ve found 4into1 to be quite useless both in the quality of their parts and their customer service.

DSS has a good rep for good parts. I’ve only received good parts from them.

I ordered quite a few ransoms bits (rubber, bolts, cables, electrical, etc..) from vintagecb750.com and they were all of good quality. I had a problem with 1 item and I didn’t know about it until my build was done, 6 months after buying it. I emailed to let them know it failed, didn’t ask for a refund or another, just let them know it failed. They shipped a replacement and I had it in 2 days. Says a lot about them in my mind.

I bought some cheap boots off eBay for my K0 cause that’s all I could find. They were made backwards. Go figure.

750 boots are not all the same. Can’t speak to any other models.

Really appreciate the response! Yeah I wouldn't trust anything off eBay. I've had some really bad experiences. I agree that most people seem to have really good opinions of DSS. Good to know how you faired with vintage750 too! Thanks so much for the feedback!!

[beerme351]

As far as boots, I believe they are.  I have a k7 CB750 and was in desperate need of some new boots, but all the listed online stores were out of stock.  Of course Honda boots are nowhere to be found, except grossly overpriced on eBay. 

My go to store, has been partsnmore.com good quality and customer service (recommended by hondaman), they were also out of stock.  In the last month all stores got boots back in stock so I ordered a set from partsnmore.

The boots looked good but did have some "extra" rubber from the molding process on the inside.  Trimmed the excess rubber instead the "flute" as smooth as I could, just got them on this weekend and so far all things are good.

[Scott S]

 What year CB550? The '77-78 K models used different boots.

[Nstillwell]

What year CB550? The '77-78 K models used different boots.

Its a 76 F air box that I'm using. It sounds like the 74-76 K and the F all use the same airbox, carb, engine setup for the most part.

[Kevnz]

See what you mean about the parts manual not showing as separate parts, but I have bought the boots as separate items from DSS in the past. They were good, but I don't see them listed at present; perhaps you could contact them. For a 500, but they might be the same.

[bryanj]

500 from 71 through to 550 in 76 are all the same and Honda only sold the complete airbox plenum with boots so if seperate are aftermarket.
77 and 78 550 K3 are different as they have the god awful pd carbs fitted and the only supplier is a member on here who makes them to order somehow