Restoring old hard rubber motorcycle bits

[LC Cnd]

Lesson starts at 1:50. I believe most RD/RZ rubber parts are available (i.e. carb boots) but things are becoming scarce now a days. Basically it's a recipe to annealing rubber. Heard of soaking parts in silicone grease, for a week works, but have not tried it. Credit goes to Ichiban-moto for the instructions.


https://youtu.be/9eTF6tnYYdc

[olgreyhair]

where would you get the chemicals named in the video. Seems to do an amazing job.

[olgreyhair]

Also, Sumo Rubber in the UK. Specializes in reproduction Yamaha rubber bits. I have purchased from them. Very nice people. No issues.

[JonW]

If you can get new OEM, never buy aftermarket as it will never last.

[MK]

I've been successfully using wintergreen oil in the past.
That is commonly available on Amazon.

[ststrider]

+1 on wintergreen oil, i heard a few people using it with good results. not sure about the mixture ratio though.

[pdxjim]

I do 16:1 or 20:1 acetone and wintergreen oil.

Works great to restore hard rubber.

Look for the stuff used as horse liniment on Amazon. Waaaay cheaper than the stuff for human use.

[Bare]

Oil of wintergreen works 'Fine' right out of the bottle .
Paint it on ,wait a few days (needs time to be fully absorbed by the rubber) then repaint as deemed necessary.
Works well enough to allow PWKs to be fitted into Old LC inlet rubbers
Only downside being it's smelly.. for a while.

[LC Cnd]

Well just order 100mm of wintergreen. Not cheap but cheaper than OEM manifolds. They are petrified. Was wondering if annealing the the rubber, by boiling as in the 1st vid, is necessary. Apart from possibly cleansing each bit, I don't see the advantage. This other vid did not bother with annealing; however, used a vapor blaster for cleaning before a week of soaking to get results. He used a ratio of 3 parts rubbing alcohol to 1 part wintergreen. It's going to be interesting.

https://youtu.be/O4j7G9ry6uk

[Evans Ward]

Cleaning the rubber bits and then soaking them in a small container with 303 protectorant for a week or so isn’t a bad short term solution too.

[LC Cnd]

Waited a week. Placed the manifolds in a sealing $1.50 tupperware container with three 100ml pure wintergreen oil ($8 each) mixed with 989ml of isopropyl($1.50) vs. aftermarket 26mm ($50-70) replacements from to Amazon.ca. The manifolds turned from stone to almost being able to pinch the carb inlet openings together without splitting. Interestingly, I had difficulty putting the crossover tube wire clamps on; the rubber swelled almost to the diameter of the clamps even without the tube installed. Granted not as shiny as new parts but a functional fit. Since the wintergreen is re-useable, smart investment for other project bits.

[kpke]

Great results. Good to know.

[JonW]

Also, Sumo Rubber in the UK. Specializes in reproduction Yamaha rubber bits. I have purchased from them. Very nice people. No issues.

FYI, for completeness, Sumo have no closed up shop.