Does anyone happen to remember the oil of wintergreen mixture for rejuvenating rubber?   I have some oil of wintergreen and would like to try it.

I was told that Xylene works.  I bought some a couple of years ago but haven't tried it.

I believe it was Bear that told about this one and I have seen it a few other places.
Put the rubber in a small pot so you can cover with water add a teaspoon of wintergreen oil for each 10-12 ounces of water heat up to a low simmer for 2-4 minutes then let cool. Has worked pretty good for me. In general I use the Wurth’s rubber recovery putting the item in a plastic bag and spraying then sealing for a couple of days
Frank

This stuff is the business:

https://www.amazon.ca/MG-Chemicals-Rubber-Liquid-Bottle/dp/B008O9X3KS

I already have a couple of bottles of oil of wintergreen.  I texted Bear.  He’s going to take a look in his files and see if he can find his recipe.  Hopefully he’ll get back to me tomorrow.  Meanwhile I’ve begun dismantling and cleaning.

I don't know about rubber, but neoprene responds well to carb cleaner. Plumps it up in a couple of minutes. The fuel valve on the CB750 was dripping. I took the insert out and soaked it for a few minutes, then fished it out and let it dry. Put the valve back in and fueled it up. I lost track of how many years it still held.

RD, did you leave the same petcock in when you worked on the bike?

I see Xylene on the list of ingredients!

And methyl salicylate, which is the active ingredient of Wintergreen oil.
Frank

I have oil of wintergreen and xylene.  I’m wondering what mixture ratio I should use, how long to soak the rubber, etc.

For the Xylene I was told 15 minutes, and do it outdoors because of fumes.

I was just talking to Bear.  His recipe is:

Using appropriate PPE (respirator and gloves), in a covered glass container, use a 5:1 mixture (5 parts xylene to 1 part oil of wintergreen).  Immerse rubber parts and check every two hours. 

Smaller items like grommets can swell too much to fit back into the holes and carb boots can grow in length.  So care must be taken. 

By golly, it works.  Thanks for the info, Bear.

Wgere do you get xylene ?

Sorry, I’ve no idea.  I’ve had it for eight, nine years or more.  Seems to me I found it on a work site I was on.  Someone said it was a good degreaser.  Thankfully I never used it.  It’s really toxic cancerous stuff. 

I picked a can up at Home Depot.  I think it was the Kamloops Home Depot but it may have been Squamish. 

Some more info, gleaned from the Concours forum:

https://forum.concours.org/index.php?threads%2Fsoftening-hard-carb-boots.7648%2F&fbclid=IwAR3J4RNv1HwfkunW-eYg5K07OByxAn8ctiU_vWBRlabBab4GoDDyyDx3560#:~:text=Simmer%20the%20carb%20boots%20in,the%20bottom%20of%20the%20pan

I did the process a few days ago. 70% xylene-30% oil of wintergreen. 12hrs. Worked quite well.