Topic: Why is the stock air box so hard to take off and put on?

[redips]

I have had my bike for over a year and have ran cheapo pods for a while. I decided to put the original air box on with a k&n filter but its rater difficult
to back on, why? Anyone know a secret? The hardest part is getting the rubbers on the carb to hold on right. Thinking of just sticking with pods
for the sake fo simplicity.

[Jonesy]

What kind of bike?

How flexible are your airbox boots? If they are hardened up from age it will be a real pain. New ones are still available from Honda and will make installation a snap.

[jdigga]

I struggled with mine quite a bit.  I made life easier by doing it in this manner:

1) installed the rubber boots individually first onto the carb bodies.  This enabled me to make sure they were seated properly and tight.

2) installed the top half of the airbox.  The rubber boots are malleable enough to squish into the holes

3) installed the bottom half of the airbox

The previous owners of my bike never really installed the airbox properly so the middle two boots didn't want to seat right.  So I resorted to doing everything piece by piece.

[.RJ]

Heat gun for a few seconds on the boots will soften them up a little to get them more pliable... makes a huge difference.

[mlinder]

I boiled mine, and fit them while they were still hot. worked well.

[eldar]

I must be lucky and dont have hard boots. But you should split the airbox and put on the top half first and then the bottom.

[Short Round]

yeah I boiled mine as well, seemed to work fine

[BobbyR]

You want to know why it is so hard to put the airbox on. Payback for Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

[nickjtc]

You want to know why it is so hard to put the airbox on. Payback for Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

I thought it was because the factory personnel have 8" fingers, quadrupal jointed, and can therefore do all of the fiddle faffing jobs that us mere mortals cannot.

[736cc]

 Consider yourself lucky you're not attempting this wonderful event with an irreplaceable, original EXTREMELY BRITTLE PLASTIC sandcast/K0 painted airbox with GLUED-IN HARD AS ROCK RUBBERS. I mean, you can grunt the crap out of a black airbox with no worries. Anyway, soak top half in bucket of hot water and grease or WD40 the carb mouths. #$%* and moan the whole time and use liberal amounts of foul language. Keep a big-ass regular screwdriver handy for persuasive prying, and a phillips for tightening clamps. Have beer before, during and after installation to keep you partially happy. Don't forget to place clamps on loosely BEFORE you install  and tighten each clamp as the boots assume the position, or you'll do all over again. Which ain't too bad, 'cause you'll hafta drink another beer. If you're lucky, it'll take at least  6 attempts.

[TwoTired]

You want to know why it is so hard to put the airbox on. Payback for Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

What if my ancestors were German?

[BobbyR]

You want to know why it is so hard to put the airbox on. Payback for Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

What if my ancestors were German?

Mine are German also, but even an Allie must be sacrificed for the cause. I actually work for a Japanese company. Back in Nippon they actually assign jobs by size. I watched a guy who was about 5' 2" reach into a AC unit and using both hands and a ratchet  remove a sensor held in by 4 bolts. None of the Americans could put one hand in there. The guys who are 5' 10" or better and there are many! Do jobs where reach and strength are important. They do have a way of engineering very compactly.

[ofreen]

Jonesy has the answer.  If the boots are so hard that airbox installation is difficult, new boots are called for.  Even if you finagle the old boots on there, the odds are good they won't seal well.

[jtb]

Consider yourself lucky you're not attempting this wonderful event with an irreplaceable, original EXTREMELY BRITTLE PLASTIC sandcast/K0 painted airbox with GLUED-IN HARD AS ROCK RUBBERS. I mean, you can grunt the crap out of a black airbox with no worries. Anyway, soak top half in bucket of hot water and grease or WD40 the carb mouths. #$%* and moan the whole time and use liberal amounts of foul language. Keep a big-ass regular screwdriver handy for persuasive prying, and a phillips for tightening clamps. Have beer before, during and after installation to keep you partially happy. Don't forget to place clamps on loosely BEFORE you install  and tighten each clamp as the boots assume the position, or you'll do all over again. Which ain't too bad, 'cause you'll hafta drink another beer. If you're lucky, it'll take at least  6 attempts.

Whew, for a minute there, I was afraid you were going to leave out the BEER.

[BobbyR]

Consider yourself lucky you're not attempting this wonderful event with an irreplaceable, original EXTREMELY BRITTLE PLASTIC sandcast/K0 painted airbox with GLUED-IN HARD AS ROCK RUBBERS. I mean, you can grunt the crap out of a black airbox with no worries. Anyway, soak top half in bucket of hot water and grease or WD40 the carb mouths. #$%* and moan the whole time and use liberal amounts of foul language. Keep a big-ass regular screwdriver handy for persuasive prying, and a phillips for tightening clamps. Have beer before, during and after installation to keep you partially happy. Don't forget to place clamps on loosely BEFORE you install  and tighten each clamp as the boots assume the position, or you'll do all over again. Which ain't too bad, 'cause you'll hafta drink another beer. If you're lucky, it'll take at least  6 attempts.

I reallly do not think they expeected that these bikes would last this long. They were probably sure not many people would preserve them and keep riding them. How many mass produced vehicles from the 1960s- 70s  are in daily use? 

[merc2dogs]

Back in Nippon they actually assign jobs by size

 That makes tons of sense, but here in the US they'd be sued for discrimination, you'd have to raise the line for the stretched out 6'10 guys, and provide pull out platforms for the short guys.

ken.

[jtb]

It was probably a year or more before I realized how much easire it is to take the bottom of the air box off, then the top.

[Gordon]

It was probably a year or more before I realized how much easire it is to take the bottom of the air box off, then the top.

You're a brave soul for admitting that!

[andy750]

Having done this several times recently on 2 different CB750s I can say that new boots make it sooooooo easy - they slip on like butter. For the price of new ones (very cheap) its so worth it. I can now take my airbox and carbs off and on again in about 10 mins or less with minimal effort.

cheers
Andy

[merc2dogs]

I reallly do not think they expeected that these bikes would last this long. They were probably sure not many people would preserve them and keep riding them. How many mass produced vehicles from the 1960s- 70s  are in daily use? 

 That was also one of the arguements used by a few harley riders, 'in 20 years my harley will be worth more and still going down the road, that jap crap will be a boat anchor somewhere, nop one will ever restore them'

Ken.

[Raul CB750K1]

If memory serves me, the airbox-to carb rubbers all had the same part number -as opposed to the carb-to-engine, which had to different part numbers. This means the same intake rubber is used for each one of the four carburettors, but the distance between holes in the airbox is different than the distance between carb throats. Again, if memory serves me, the two center ones went straight to the airbox, while the two outer ones were ar an angle. For that reason, the intake rubber had two different lips so you had to install the center ones with one lip and the outer ones with the other lip so they would tilt out of the airbox. As this second lip is not perpendicular to the intake rubber center of symmetry, by rotating the rubber you also modify the position of the opening, thus aligning or mis-aligning the mouth.

In any case, new rubbers and a little wd-40 applied with the finger in the inside of the rubber and in the outside of the carb mouth do help a lot.



Raul

[andy750]

I followed Rauls advice and it worked very well for me (see my post). Thanks again Raul!

cheers
Andy

[Raul CB750K1]

I followed Rauls advice and it worked very well for me (see my post). Thanks again Raul!

cheers
Andy

Not at all Andy, I don't invented that WD40 trick. I recall to have read about it somewhere -probably this forum-. It's just fair to pass along whatever useful information you have been given in turn.

[jtb]

I use a light coat of bearing grease.

[dusterdude]

I reallly do not think they expeected that these bikes would last this long. They were probably sure not many people would preserve them and keep riding them. How many mass produced vehicles from the 1960s- 70s  are in daily use? 

 That was also one of the arguements used by a few harley riders, 'in 20 years my harley will be worth more and still going down the road, that jap crap will be a boat anchor somewhere, nop one will ever restore them'

Ken.

my 58 year old harley still is.