Intake rubber snorkle delamination

[Snakeoil]

I discovered something while installing my carbs today that I though was worth sharing here. My bike is a '67 CL77 with the long rubber snorkles or hoses between the air filters and the carbs. As I was sprucing up my snorkles, I happened to peer inside one of them and noticed that the rubber was delaminating. I guess I never realized that these snorkles have a steel tube molded inside the rubber to keep them straight. It turns out that the rubber was peeling away from the steel insert inside one of them.

I cleaned it up and repaired it with contact cement. I'm going to keep an eye on it to see how it holds up.

Not sure if this is a known or common problem, but felt it worth mentionings. Better to repeat common knowledge than to refrain from sharing something that might be new info.

It obviously screwed up the air flow in that carb. I'm sure that with time it would have swallowed a piece of that rubber.

I'm not sure what the CA or CB bike have for intake snorkles, but if they have similar designs, it's worth a look to see how the inside of those snorkles look. I do not know if mine are original, NOS or aftermarket replacements. If anyone can tell me how to ID a the real Honda parts, I'll follow up with what I have. The only markings on mine are R and L.

regards,
Rob

[mike horvath]

Rob,
Interesting post. When I purchased my 66 CL two years ago, the PO had had it as a second owner. The LH tube was cracked, and they were stiff as can be, but otherwise they were intact inside and out. I doubt they were replacements as the OD read under 6K. Ya sure it wasn't radiator hose ya had there? Hey Ed...ever heard of this type of casting failure?
Oh by the way...no markings on mine either.

[Dana01]

Rob,

I just ordered a pair of these beasts known as "air inlet" tubes for my CB77. Dunno why they're L/R because they look symmetrical ... but w/e.

Ohio Cycles has them for $30/ea. new ... less if he has any refurbished.

If I was feeling adventuresome (and I wasn't this week), I would play around with fabricating my own. I can't possibly see why they were made laminated other than to hold their "S" shape to facilitate air flow and prevent kinking. Not sure if they are the same shape on the CL.

[davomoto]

Sounds like you have the factory intake tubes, as they have the steel inside. None of the repros that I have seen have that.

Davo

[Snakeoil]

Thanks Davo. I thought they might be original or at least NOS. I suspected NOS because they both have indentations where the springs were placed in the middle of the tube, over the steel area. My guess is this was where the factory put them on spare parts so they would not distort the ends of the tubes. I'm sure the steel was put in the tubes to keep them from collasping under full throttle conditions. I did not know there was steel in there until today. Just thought the rubber was hard from age.

I guess if I bought a set of aftermarket tubes, I'd want to sleeve them with thinwall metal tubing.

regards,
Rob

[LOUD MOUSE]

Just use them as there will never enough vacuum to collapse them!. ......::-)). ....lm

Thanks Davo. I thought they might be original or at least NOS. I suspected NOS because they both have indentations where the springs were placed in the middle of the tube, over the steel area. My guess is this was where the factory put them on spare parts so they would not distort the ends of the tubes. I'm sure the steel was put in the tubes to keep them from collasping under full throttle conditions. I did not know there was steel in there until today. Just thought the rubber was hard from age.

I guess if I bought a set of aftermarket tubes, I'd want to sleeve them with thinwall metal tubing.

regards,
Rob