Rod, if you're thinking silicone, you might change your ideas when you find what they charge for silicone hose.
I recently bought a small piece of 57mm diameter silicone hose, 150mm long, for a coupling between an air intake and aircleaner on a forklift, because the original special hose is NLA.
The 150mm length cost me over $36! The 57mm diameter silicone hose is $245 a metre!! :'( :'( :'(
If you go to a good auto parts supplier, they will have a catalogue of straight, corrugated, spring reinforced hoses, that can be twisted into fancy shapes without kinking.
I had to do this with the bottom radiator hose on the fork, because the original radiator hose was also NLA.
The new corrugated hose cost about $35, it's about 40mm diameter and about 450mm long. The old hose had a couple of fancy bends in it .. the new hose fits around the obstructions with no problems.
Cheers - Ron.
