Sick of these Vforce 3 reeds!
 

I have a 2012 EC 300 Race model. I have 3 reed cages, 5 seperate complete sets of pedals. Every single set will not close a tight seal in the cages. I contacted Vforce directly about it. They sent me a cage already pre assembled. And guess what? The pedals are not closed/sealed tight! Hold it up to the light to only see gaps. People say they should ?close under vacuum?, but I don?t agree. Think of how one little chip will affect performance on any other machine.

So, sorry about the rant. Now, can anyone confirm if the older boyeson reed setup will fit and work in the 2012 model?

I would argue that it's really not a problem.

A reed valve is just a check valve. With a pressure differential in the one direction, the petals open. With a pressure differential in the opposite direction, the petals close.

When your piston is rising in the cylinder, the pressure differential between the pressure in the cylinder and the atmosphere pushes the petals closed.

The "small gap" keeps the reed off the cage when the pressure differential is insufficient to close the petals. The longer the petal doesn't contact the cage, the longer the petal is going to last (less movement between petal and the cage).

Do you see any wear on the reed where it contacts the cage? if so, then it's sealing.

I have a Boysen set on my 2002. I'd be happy to change for your V-force rig - the V-force is a much nicer piect. You'd be very unhappy with that trade.

Reeds never really close all the way.

The vacuum required to open the reeds is a lot less than the pressure required to close them.
In other words, the reeds will seal just fine on the piston down stroke.

Can anyone confirm if the older model boyeson setup will fit the 2012 models?...

is your bike running well with the new set you got sent?
indeed the petals will close once pressure is build up on the downstroke of the piston. don't worry, just go ride.

Does the bike run bad? If not, run it!

I have some frustrations with getting it to idle. I played with numerous jets, needles and settings. I figure it?s time to try a different angle, like different reeds. The bike is tight and has no air leaks.

did you set squish? if not, do it or you'll keep messing and getting frustrated and sell a perfectly good bike...
i myself managed to just put a thinner base gasket, so cost is practically nothing...

How long do you want it to idle for? It's a competition 2 stroke. I mean it would be nice if it sat there idling all day like an XR250 while I opened a gate. On the rare occasion I need to open a gate. But I'm super glad it's not an XR250 all the rest of the time.

And I wouldn't trade the throttle response of a properly jetted bike to do something mundane. That said, putting a better needle in mine helps it idle. For a while.

With a proper squish mine idles all day long and never loads up. Get that sorted first, as above I too have seen new reed blocks not seal perfect out of the box but in use it is not an issue.