Burnt Reeds?

[Afriblast]

I decided yesterday that it was time for me to open the reedvalve cage and check their condition and to clean it as well while I'm at it. OK, so the first thing I noticed was that there was some sand sucked into the engine because of one of the gaskets which was not installed, the second thing I noticed was that there's a small nick at the tip of one of the reeds that appear as if it was burned out(approx 2mm longx 1mm deep) but the valve still appear to be closing. What could be the cause of this, imo it could be that the piston, rings or sleeves could be worn and that hot engine gasses pass into the reed chamber? So I will be ordering some booyesen reeds today, what's your opinion on them?

 

[djack12]

if you could get pictures, that would help us fix your problem.

 

[Afriblast]

I did take a pic but can't get any pics to upload anywhere, probably some setting on firefox or something!

 

[Afriblast]

Here is the photo sorry for the poor quality, but my HTC Diamond have not got the best camera!

 

[hickskateboarder]

kinda just looks chipped, if it's still closing the whole way and sealing around the chip it's fine to ride on, but i'd order a new set of reeds so when those one's crack, which i'm sure they're about to, you'll have another set to throw in. i got boysen 2 stage carbon fiber reeds for like $40 on ebay and am happy with them, if you don't mind spending $130, then everyone says v-force 3's are the way to go.

 

[flyers42091]

Order new reeds now before those brake up and cause alot more damage by getting sucked in and screwing things up.V-force 3 or boyson, both are good, but V-force is alot better.

 

[quam]

i love my vforce reed cage. ten times better throttle response.
if you keep riding on that reed and it breaks up and shoots into the crank, then you could potentially damage your rod bearing and crank bearings....