Reeds, Reeds and.......Reed spacers!!

needsgas

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Reeds are a topic many people talk about! Aftermarket Reeds for the SRX/VIPER are from what I see, not a great way to go for some much needed extra ponies, and they cost $$$. Though talk says the "boysen reed pettals" are the best bang for your buck. Also reliable due to there high tolerance with RPM. Yet the best you might get out of any aftermerket reed is 1-3hp. So I guess my question is why not reed spacers??? They give the same power increase in the mid's 1-3hp, a crisp throtle and there WAY cheeper!! I made my own set out of a 1/4 sheet of alluminum on the milling mechine!!!
Any thoughts??
 

Spacers are only helpful on twins & non-powervalve tripples because the reed cage sticks in the intake so far it covers up the transfer port right above it, the air/fuel has to go out beyond the tip of the reed pedal , change directions, & go up into the port. On powervalved engines, the reed cage doesn't stick in so far to cover the port, the a/f only has to go in & up. Hope this makes sense.
 
O MAN !!!!!! I can't wait to see the replys and valuable info in this post ! I've been thinking about a set of V Force cages for awihle but was told no sense in spending the money because theres no gain ????
 
Spacers were very popular on the red head 700 non valved motors. In fact I ran a set on my 2001. It did give it more pop in the mid range. I know this because we had another red head 700 in the shop at the time and I tested against it. I did get a slight hesitation though on take off. As for an SRX or Viper.....I would say don't waste your time. What you end up doing is going against a rule of thumb....making a longer pathway for your fuel to make it into your cylinders. Let's take a look back in history with Yamaha. Remember the Exciter L/C 569cc twin that came out in 1987? If anyone of you guys have been around the Yammies as long as I have you may recall how it took several years for Yamaha to make this engine right..........doing so finally in 1993 with the Exciter II SX. Both of these mentioned sleds I used to have. The original motor had long necked flanges where the carb boots were mounted creating a longer fuel flow into the cylinders. The 1993 SX motor flanges were very short and with the addition of flatside carbs that thing had instant throttle response. I had a buddy who used to cut the flanges and shorten them on the older motors to achieve this same effect. So adding spacers moves everything out by about a quarter inch and IMO will gain you nothing in stock form.
 
spacers work well on most 2 stroke motors. more flow more go...sorry.
 
journeyman said:
Spacers were very popular on the red head 700 non valved motors. In fact I ran a set on my 2001. It did give it more pop in the mid range. I know this because we had another red head 700 in the shop at the time and I tested against it. I did get a slight hesitation though on take off. As for an SRX or Viper.....I would say don't waste your time. What you end up doing is going against a rule of thumb....making a longer pathway for your fuel to make it into your cylinders. Let's take a look back in history with Yamaha. Remember the Exciter L/C 569cc twin that came out in 1987? If anyone of you guys have been around the Yammies as long as I have you may recall how it took several years for Yamaha to make this engine right..........doing so finally in 1993 with the Exciter II SX. Both of these mentioned sleds I used to have. The original motor had long necked flanges where the carb boots were mounted creating a longer fuel flow into the cylinders. The 1993 SX motor flanges were very short and with the addition of flatside carbs that thing had instant throttle response. I had a buddy who used to cut the flanges and shorten them on the older motors to achieve this same effect. So adding spacers moves everything out by about a quarter inch and IMO will gain you nothing in stock form.

Also add 77 SRX and SSR to the short is more list. They made the intake longer for 78 and up SRX. But the SRX, SSR and Exciter 570 all had piston port motors. Reeds, reed spacers, boost bottles.. you have to dyno your setup to see what works. Some like only one not the other, some like 2 of 3. Some like them all with stock carb and airbox, then none when you bore the carbs..or remove the airbox
 
You can easily make a set if you know a good machinist.........like I do. LOL. The sets I had years ago I had made in our machine shop at work.
 
i've tried reed spacers on a 600 xtc twin and had way better throttle response. the rear boost port wasn't being blocked by the upper reed stopper anymore. i also tried reed spacers on my banshee and it killed the upper midrange-top end on that thing. it did help the bottom end tho. now, i just notch the upper reed stopper, instead of installing reed spacers.
 
Mopar1rules, could you explain on how/where to notch the upper reed stopper plate to improve the air-fuel flow? Thanks!!
 
journeyman said:
You can easily make a set if you know a good machinist.........like I do. LOL. The sets I had years ago I had made in our machine shop at work.

I wish I had one available.
 


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