I am part way through a restoration of a 1998 F3. I'm fitting a replacement second hand set of carbs and the rubber boots are very hard. I've tried a thin film of oil on the inner rim of the boots and the outer rim of the carbs but I just can't get the carbs to slot into position.

So I thought I'd try to buy a set of replacement boots but I then found out that the part number for the 1997/1998 F3 boot (16211MALA00) is different to the earlier models (16211MAL600).

There are lots of sets of boots on eBay but they all state that they're for the earlier model. A few them say they are for models up to 1996 but some of them say they fit later models - some say they go up to 1998, some go up to 2000.

My guess is that the sellers aren't aware of the change from 1997 and that they won't fit. However, I thought I'd check on here - does anyone know WITH CERTAINTY that the older model of carb boot will work on a 1998 model?

Thank you.

 

As long as there are no cracks or anything that would cause a vacuum leak, there are several posts on here where people used wintergreen oil to recondition the boots.

 

Yes - and that's definitely my plan B.

However, the new boots I can buy for the earlier version are cheaper than the wintergreen oil. So if they would fit then I'd rather do that.

Of course what I really want to avoid is to buy new boots, then find they don't fit and then still have to buy the wintergreen oil!

So that's why I was wondering whether anyone has any experience of the older boots on the later bikes. I know there were some changes made in 1997 but I understand that it's the same 36mm model of Keihin carb so it seems odd that the boot changed. But the part number is definitely different so something changed. The big question is whether that means the old one can't fit or whether there was some other change for the replacement part (e.g. simply a change of supplier).

Oh the joys of working on older bikes!

 

If my memory serves correctly,, the inside diameter of the older style is a little bit smaller. That is not from personal experience, just recollecting what other forum members have said when attempting to do what you are.

 

I have a 97 and I tried the ebay boots. They are too small. If I recall, it was the head that was bigger but it was a year ago so my memory is a little fuzzy. I wound up buying OEM from Partzilla. You could find them a little cheaper other places I'm sure, I just didn't shop around since I needed them and they had them in stock. Mine were cracked.

 

Partzilla sells the oem boots. it’s worth it.