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Here's my old reed cage:

Anybody have a clue what would've caused that damage? The reeds were in excellent shape by the way.

My guess would be ethanol fuel. It loves to eat fuel hose and other rubber parts.

Is there any way you could find out what type of rubber your reed cage seats are made from? If I knew that, I could probably tell you what fuel and oil additives are compatible. That would be a good start to avoiding this problem in the future.

pumpguy wrote:Is there any way you could find out what type of rubber your reed cage seats are made from? If I knew that, I could probably tell you what fuel and oil additives are compatible. That would be a good start to avoiding this problem in the future.

I assumed it Viton or whatever they coat the float valve needle with.

Hmm... How is the float needle tip holding up? If it's the same material as your reed cage seat, it should be in the same condition.

According to my Parker O ring FLUID COMPATIBILITY TABLES for Ethanol, Viton is rated a 3, which means doubtful, sometimes OK for a static seal. Now Nitirle (Buna N) is rated 1, which means satisfactory. Other elastomers rated 1 for Ethanol include EPR, Neoprene, Butyl, SBR, Isoprene, and Natural rubber.

The elastomer also needs to hold up in the presence of petroleum products, and EPR, Neoprene, Butyl, SBR, Isoprene, and Natural rubber are listed as 4, unsatisfactory. So, I guess that leaves us with Nitrile.

What about temperature? Nitrile is not recommended for use above 250 degrees F.

Now to find out for sure what type of rubber was used for your reed cage seats.

My float tip is fine, which kind of puzzles me as well. Honestly, it's untelling what this old bikes been through. I had the clutch cover off and noticed a giant gouge on the back of my clutch hub but none of the gears were hurt and no parts were missing. I'm assuming the bikes has had some issues in the past lol. Anyway, I slapped in a new reed cage a few weeks ago and it runs fine; I was just looking at the old cage and was curious. As to tables and manuals: I took physics classes when I was getting my electronics tech certification, and I used to drive my wife crazy telling her coefficients of friction for various surfaces lol. I'd see someone pulling a pine board across a concrete drive and I'd say " that guy is experiencing a coefficient of ___%" lol. I don't do that anymore lol, but I love charts, tables, and textbooks/manuals.

I'm in the pump business, and it's important to know what's going through the pump to know what type of seals and O rings to use. But actually, I'm just a tech type guy with a reference book. All's I know is what the book says.

starting fluid or ether as it's sometimes referred to.Just guessing if the needle tip is good it was either replaced or whatever caused that damage didnt flow through the float bowl.Could it have been an overheating condition?Possibly old age,nothing lasts forever.

That looks like heat damage. Probably really worn piston rings letting some of the fire back up the intake tract.
A guy a few years back on here had a melted reed cage.

Don't know what the cause is ,but I would suggest trying a V-force cage/reeds set-up. I just put one in my bike and love it. My throttle has never been crisper and my bike has never idled so smooth.

It looks more like a heat issue to me too.

Is it dry and chalky?

rbates9 wrote:It looks more like a heat issue to me too.

Is it dry and chalky?

Nope. It's still rubbery. It's not flaking off either. It's like it's been hit with a weed eater string. Ill check my new cage in a few months and see where I'm at. Next year is rebuild time anyway.