Where can I find carb/air box boots?

I recently picked up an 83 KZ550. Everything is complete except for those boots. The bike previously had pods on it years ago. It ran great that way too. But the air box is back on. So I do want to keep it simple and run the air box. I'll check the needle sizes to make sure they're stock.

But I spent time with no success looking for them boots.

Any thoughts, advice, or opinions are welcome.

Thanks,
LL

First post btw!

This is my bike, by the way.

z1enterprises.com/

I think most everyone here orders from Z1, the owner is a member.
Great prices, quick shipping, friendly advice.

Welcome to the forum. If Z1 doesn't have them, someone on here appears to be a 550 guru he should be able to point you in the right direction.

Which model 1983 KZ550 do you have? In 1983 Kawasaki made 5 different KZ550 models: KZ550-A4; KZ550-C4(LTD); KZ550-F1(Spectre); KZ550-H2(GPz); KZ550-M1 (LTD Shaft) and they don't all take the same air ducts. Some of the ducts are still available from Kawasaki and some are not. Ed

I believe it's the M1. It's shaft driven. I'll double check when the sun is out in a few hours. Z1 didn't have the boots.

I was talking to friends of mine who say I can temporarily use radiator hose for the boots until I can find a set. I'm willing to try that since they do work on and own high end race cars and bikes. Haha, does that make sense?

If all else fails, I'll throw some pods on it and rejet as necessary.

Anyone out there ever make a set of boots for a temporary fix?

Thanks,
Lucas

IMHO pods would be a really poor choice. There have been tons of folks that have found it impossible to tune the KZ550 CV carbs so that pods work well throughout the rpm range. If you do a search on this site for pods you will see the problems.

Now the good news - if your bike is indeed a KZ550-M1 (which it probably is; I think that's the only 1983 KZ550 shaft drive model) the air ducts are still an "ACTIVE" Kawasaki part so any dealer can order them. Ronayers.com lists them at $9.01 each - that's a huge bargain compared to dealing with pods. Ed

Thank you Ed. I shall see the local dealer today. I do prefer the air box over pods myself.

Thanks again!

LL

Z1Enterprises.com has maintenance & other stuff for the bike, and they sell oem parts that are still available, such as the ducts. Z1Ent doesn't list everything that they can get, so ask.

Has anyone ordered from partzilla.com? I found the ducts for under $9 a piece. $41 shipped. I'll pull the trigger tomorrow.

Excited to get back on a bike soon.

LL

I've been using the diagrams at Partzilla (formerly PowerSportsPlus) for quite a while now but haven't purchased anything from them. It appears to be a legitimate site, but when ordering, I guess one thing you can do is make sure the web address is prefixed by "https" - the "s" means it is secure.