kz550 carb removal strugles, please help

i am new to this forum and motorcycles in general, and could really use some help. i was given an 82 kz550 from a relative and it needs some work. from my understanding it needs to have the carbs cleaned but i am having some serious problems removing them. i loosened the air box but i still did not have enough room to pull them out. two of the boots that connect to the air box are rock solid and the other two are kinda soft. do i need to cut the boots off or something? i am hesitant to mess with the boots too much because i dont know how hard they are to find and then replace. thanks for your time.

You should be able to get boots form Z1Enterprises.com

New boots are soft pliable and give a a good seal . They also make carb removal a lot easier. Being soft and pliable you can fold each boot back on itself and pull the carb rack back and wiggle the whole lot out. A heat gun or hair dryer might help soften your old boots and you might have to cut them but wait any see if you get better suggestions here before breaking out the knives.

Remove the bolts that hold the air box on so it can fully move.

Make sure the spring clamps are out of their grooves on the airbox boots.

Loosen the intake manifold clamps much more than it seems necessary. The inside of the manifolds have a large o-ring cast into them, and the carb outlets have a very deep groove cast in to accept the o-ring shapes. This means the clamps must be super loose to let the carbs out.

Sit on the bike using the center stand, with tank off, and put your feet on the two humps that stickout of each side of the motor. Then pull backward on the carbs until the carb outlets just clear, then tip the carbs up and out of the manifolds.

If your bike is a 1982 KZ550 you should have no trouble getting new carb to airbox air inlet pipes (boots). They are still an "Active" Kawasaki part so any dealer or online parts house can get them for you. The full set will cost around $40 -$45. Given that, I wouldn't hesitate to cut the hard ones off, and I would replace all 4 of them. New ones are soft and will make re-installing the carbs much easier than struggling with old ones. Ed

Thanks Ed, I may have to stock up on those.

I wouldn't cut them off until I had all four new ones in hand, though. :ohmy:

But even though my boots are old and hard, with a little muscle, and doing it a few times, it's a relatively painless task on a warm day. On a cold day, you will want a hair dryer handy (not a heat gun, that will melt them) .

thanks for the help, after an hour or so of wrestling i was able to get them out without destroying the boots. i opened them up and the insides where impressively clean. we will see if it makes any difference.

mine are a pain too i popped them into the air box when i pulled mine out then u can boil them to soften them up for the reinstall

oil

getting em out sucks.
i had more trouble getting em back in and getting the boots over each carb.
if i had the extra money at the time i would have invested in the replacement boots

i just dropped a hair dryer in the intake box and that sofened up all the boots pretty well.

you can use a little wd-40 or something in that nature like stated above OIL this will help getting them back on even with the new ones i dont think it would do much to get them off.

LIGHTITUP
Boiling them wont melt them i know there rubber but isnt there plastic in them as well. maybe just seems like there is when they are so hard. Thats a good trick ive never herd or thought about it i will have to boil them next time i get one in thanks

I just removed my carbs this weekend. The venturi pipes (lack of correct term) are available at Z1 enterprise as well as the gasket/boots for between the carburetor and the head. (they only have right hand) but you just flip the left side upside down. MAKE SURE THEY HAVE YOUR SPECIFIC YEAR AND MODEL!!!! You may also want to invest in a set of JIS screwdrivers (Japanese Industrial Standard). Best of Luck!

serpentine belt dressing would be my next best bet.