Carb Intake Flange Boots

[Forge]

The flange boots on my 99 Interstate are rock hard and after removing and replacing the runners onto the carbs after my carb rebuild has me wanting to change them to avoid a potential vacuum leak. They are hard, so I don’t care how much you snug them up, they will never seal like soft rubber. Does anyone have opinions on K&L vs OEM on these? Pricing is similar. I bought my Valk in February, so I have no idea how long it took the OEM boots to harden.

[Chrisj CMA]

OEM

[3W-lonerider]

after 200,000 miles I replaced mine this past winter for the same problem, mine were so hard I had to cut them off the intakes. I put the boot in a vice and tried pulling the intakes out of the boot and couldn't get them off. I went with oem.

[Roidfingers]

https://www.amazon.com/Methyl-Salicylate-1000ml-Purity-Wintergreen/dp/B00MR72E3U/ref=sr_1_3_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1528214876&sr=8-3&keywords=methyl+salicylate

Have not tried this myself but I intend to next time I have the bike apart. Here is a video too.

https://video.search.yahoo.com/search/video?fr=opensearch&p=how+to+soften+rubber#id=5&vid=d5924705e7d11cde8e22efa96608520d&action=click

[Valkpilot]

https://www.amazon.com/Methyl-Salicylate-1000ml-Purity-Wintergreen/dp/B00MR72E3U/ref=sr_1_3_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1528214876&sr=8-3&keywords=methyl+salicylate

Have not tried this myself but I intend to next time I have the bike apart. Here is a video too.

https://video.search.yahoo.com/search/video?fr=opensearch&p=how+to+soften+rubber#id=5&vid=d5924705e7d11cde8e22efa96608520d&action=click

Video appears to show impressive results.

I haven't done it on the intake boots, but for the u-joint boot I spray it with silicone lubricant and marinate it in a plastic bag.  The silicone lube softens and rejuvenates.

I noticed one video advocated using brake fluid.  It will work to soften the rubber -- all the way to breaking it down.  I would not use that method.