Airbox boots

Need some help, I ordered some new airbox boots (hoses) from Jeff at Z1 and they came as quick as a wink. How do I go about removing the old ones that are as hard as a rock, literally? Is there any easy sollution to this problem. I have an 81 CSR 1000 with a stock airbox. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

I had the carbs off on my 650s and I pressed them out from inside the airbox. The rubber is still soft inside the airbox.

Not sure if this applies to your 1000.

If you're wife/girlfriend has one of those electric carving knives, borrow it and just cut them in half in between the carbs and airbox to remove them.
It makes it a LOT easier doing this, especially if they're rock-hard like you said.
Just make sure you don't damage that knife, and by all means clean it up so she doesn't realise what you used it for/on! :whistle: :laugh:
A sawz-all, serated bread knife, or a loose hacksaw blade will also do the trick.

Thanks RetroRocket. I considered cutting them off with a saw but should I be concerned about crap falling in the carbs and causing a problem. I thought about hooking up a shop vac inside the airbox while I cut them off to suck any shavings out. What do you think? Any other suggestions? Thanks:blush:

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Hey AK I just did mine awhile back, I have the 1000 that is before yours in the gallery. Just get a pliers and squeeze them around the waste and pull out. Make sure you have those springs off too. To put on the new ones peel back the " to carbs side" of the air hoses and plug them in. When you peel them back it makes the hoses half as long and able to squeeze between the carb and airbox. Then when you get the hose in just unpeel the hose up onto the carb. Hope you understand what I am trying to say.

Thanks kzwolfsr. I'll try squeezng them around the middle with some pliers before I resort to taking a saw to them, even though they are rock hard. Thanks for the tip about peeling the new ones back then hooking them up to the carbs. Seems like I read about that somewhere in the archives on my searches for this topic. I appreciate the tips.

On My 1100 I had to saw them off. The boots were as hard as a brick and no amount of squeezing them helped. Z1 has the boots or in my case I just replaced them with Pods.

Tony T

Hi Stone_cold, when you cut yours of did you cut them in the middle or did you make two cuts and cut out the middle to make more room to remove them? How hard were they to get out of the airbox and did you take any precautions not to get crap in the carbs?: Thanks

Maybe heat from a hair dryer would soften them up enough to remove.

This method requires a little more work, but it worked for me. I took out the battery box which allowed me to pull the air box back about another inch. Just enough room to wiggle my "rock Hard" boots free. The new boots are very pliable so you can actually work them into place with the airbox in its proper position, although spraying the boots with Teflon spray "seems" to help the process. Just my 2 cents worth.

Thanks all for your helpful tips. Just got done with a wrestling match with my airbox boots. Ended up using a sawsall and a shop vac in the airbox, then made sure I cleaned out the shavings that were left in the in the carbs. The new boots (from Jeff at Z1) went on with a bit of a struggle. I think god cursed me with big hands,if he hadn't I think I could have been a dentist and retired my now:laugh. Thanks again for everybodys help.