Should my reeds look like this?

[tommyd]

Although my bike runs pretty good I'm still sorting it out.

I checked out the reeds and noticed this:

And this


Any idea what causes this?

Is this affecting performance?

If I buy the V force 3s will it replace all of the damaged part?

[rbates9]

No it's not good and yes VFIII will replace all of that.

[Thrahl]

In the second picture, does it look/feel like melted plastic?
The cage that came on my KDX looked similar to that, except about 50 times worse with most of the cage all melty looking.
I just replaced it.

[tommyd]

In the second picture, does it look/feel like melted plastic?
The cage that came on my KDX looked similar to that, except about 50 times worse with most of the cage all melty looking.
I just replaced it.

It is melted in the first and second pic...

I was curious what caused this so it doesn't happen again when I replace it.

Has yours been good since?

[Thrahl]

In the second picture, does it look/feel like melted plastic?
The cage that came on my KDX looked similar to that, except about 50 times worse with most of the cage all melty looking.
I just replaced it.

It is melted in the first and second pic...

I was curious what caused this so it doesn't happen again when I replace it.

Has yours been good since?

I haven't check on it since rebuilding the engine.
I don't know what caused it because the bike wasn't running when I bought it.

The only things I could think of were either heat (which would have to be extremely high for the intake) or somehow it was chemically melted. I don't know.

With the very minor damage to yours you could probably just dremel off the melted bits and put it back together if you wanted to save some money.
Of course it does give you a good excuse to go VForce though

[tommyd]

I don't know what caused it because the bike wasn't running when I bought it.

mine wasn't either

Of course it does give you a good excuse to go VForce though

That IS what I was looking for... already ordered them!

[kdx633]

looks like a manufacturers defect.I had the unpleasant experience of working in injection molding industry for a short time.When the dies are not at full temp little abnormalities like this appear in the product.

[Dekon]

I know this sounds ridiculous, but what about a backfire. Maybe there was some air/fuel mix on the reed block and the motor had a backfire and started a small fire? Just thinking off of the top on my head. I remember seeing Thrahl's in his thread and that reed block was really melted looking.

[Thrahl]

I thought about backfires, and I thought about defects. I just don't know how either can explain this.

That is what mine looked like when I removed it.
I think it is melted plastic because it is the same color and feels the same as the surrounding plastic.

[scheckaet]

With the very minor damage to yours you could probably just dremel off the melted bits and put it back together if you wanted to save some money.

no offense to you but helllll no.
if that piece is melted, it is already weakened, cutting bits off it will only weaken it even more, brittle plastic bits in your intake = disaster waiting to happen.
They are a dime a dozen on ebay if you're broke. if you got bit a money VF3 is even better
my 0.02

[scheckaet]

looks like a manufacturers defect.I had the unpleasant experience of working in injection molding industry for a short time.When the dies are not at full temp little abnormalities like this appear in the product.

that's not little abnormality here, looks like the engine got really hot, besides on the 1st pic, looks like a big chunk is chipped off
Wonder where it could go...
you say bike wasn't running when you got it...

[fuzzy]

Holy crap!

[KarlP]

Holy crap!

Indeed!

Would really worn rings let a bit of fire back up the intake tract every stroke? Or did that come off a bike that burnt to the ground?

[tommyd]

looks like a big chunk is chipped off
Wonder where it could go...
you say bike wasn't running when you got it...

the part that is chipped off actually looks melted in person. Whether it chipped off and the edges melted or it melted like that I'll never know.

It kinda ran when I got it. It would putt around fine but that was it. Turned out to be a broken silencer blocking exhaust flow. It actually runs great with that Reed block in it!

I only noticed that because I was doing maintenance and being nosey.


New parts on the way!

Do the VF3 reeds affect jetting?

[rbates9]

I would say that when you put the VFIII in you should at least check the jetting. You might be fine.

[tommyd]

VF3 is in and it's running great!

I rode with two modern 450s and the only time I struggled to keep up was in the whoops and the tore up wash we went up after heavy rains last week. I decided to slow down and make them wait for me. Less than a minute later I came upon one of them laying on the ground covered in mud... he wasn't seriously hurt.

I also changed the float needle and checked float adjustment. No more peeing out the vent.

While I had it apart I checked what jets are in it.

150 or 160 main? I couldn't make out the middle #. It was stamped higher than the 1 and the 0 and unreadable.

45 slow jet.

My next step is to go through Inda's whole jetting procedure to see where I'm at.

[Thrahl]

it is probably a 150 main as i imagine a 160 main in nevada (or anywhere really) would be really rich.