Long story short, had some tuning issues down low with my 125. Took it apart again to find that 2 of the petals on the reed cage were chipped on the corners "hoping this is my hesitation issue".
Anyways, I've always had great success with mototassanari/Vforce3 reeds, so i thought no question about purchasing a new full assembly.
They arrived today thank God, going riding tomorrow evening and everything else is down right now.
This is what i received.
Fresh out of the box
I contacted mototassanari incase i was missing something, because i have never personally considered any reeds that i could see through to be good.
They promptly replied with only a link to the customer service bulletin on their website.
Should I run these? Are they okay? Anyone else have similar experience, or maybe an opinion to add?
Both my KTMs had gaps way worse than that (Pretty sure they contract Mototassanari for the OEM reed blocks) and they ran fine for the 20-30 hours I rode them. Upon replacement I couldn’t feel a change in power.
I appreciate the prompt response. I have never had a set look like this personally, so I was genuinely concerned. I feel like i can see less light through the ones i took off that have chips on the corner.
When i pulled the airbox this time, I had spit back in the carb.
I suppose I will put this thing together tonight and hope it's right!
I know it may seem alarming at first, but those look totally fine. Run em.
Just remember to change those things out with a fresh set of reeds every 20-30 hours. A lot of people don't think to change them. You'd be amazed how much more crisp a bike feels when you keep your reeds fresh, especially on 125's and smaller
Currently I have them in my YZ125 and YZ250 and I have the Boyesen Rad Valve in my KX500.
The Rad valve is a higher quality product made from cast aluminum, but I think the V-Force has a great performance gain on some bikes like the Yamahas.
The truth is, the pressure inside the crank-case on each down-stroke of the piston will force those pedals closed and the tiny air gap we see doesn't really matter.
I still go in there with a razor blade and scrape off the sharp edges and burrs on my VF cages before I install them.
Something about being a machinist makes me want to eliminate burrs, sharp edges and mismatched surfaces from inside my engines.
Also, sometimes you can flip the reed pedals to get them to sit flat against the cage.
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Machinist/Millwright myself. I have a bad habit over speccing , and over analyzing everything. I can so relate!
I would be more concerned with that chip out of the insert, like someone prying on it with a screwdriver?
Edit: OP is a reasonable person and changed the thread title, all is well 👌
I was a Precision Sheet Metal Mechanic for many years before I got into software development. I'm the same way. I can't stand sharp edges on anything. It's also hard to overlook shoddy workmanship.
Most people have no idea what a Precision Sheet Metal Mechanic is, so I usually just tell them it's like being a machinist but working with sheet metal and different machines. I really enjoyed it.
I do indeed know about the precision sheetmetal industry.
Untill I dove into the industrial maitenance sector specifically chemical refinery/purification . I spent some time working for a stamping and die mfg, fabricating dies and jigs for their equipment.
Paid like shit , just like most cool jobs do.
Learned a ton
Wonder when they will fix sPell check , this is aids.
Agreed 100% i infact have changed the title. Aappreciate it .
I hope you didn’t buy those on eBay.
I did buy them on ebay from chapparal's ebay store. have ordered from them 100s of times via ebay . Anything i should be concerned about?
he is prolly talking about the $cheap knockoffs
Hey i saw that to after you pointed it out. I took a look at it again it's not chipped just the difference colors in the plastic.
Yeah, it didn't pay that well. Machinists weren't paid that well either. It's a very underappreciated, very technical, underpaid skill. The shop I worked at did a lot of prototypes for the military, aerospace and electronics industries. I programmed a CNC punch press for a few years. Really fun stuff. Then I moved on to write software.
I'm now building up a small garage shop in order to prototype ideas. So far I have a milling machine that I'm converting to CNC, a 12x28 lathe, and a TIG welder.
The software is so much better than it was in the 80's. I did all of my CNC programming with G codes.
I went through a similar route...
Pushed a broom, ran a Bridgeport and eventually some CNC machines.
I started buying equipment of my own at age 29 and went to school for mechanical engineering in my late 30s.
Now I run a manufacturing and design shop and I have a lot of freedom as a result.
I still do a lot of plain old 2D G-Code with some software tools I've written and I'm glad I learned those skills back in the 1990s as a teenager.
Nice!
My shop is just for prototyping, so when I need something made that's beyond my equipment, or for production, I'll ping you!
I agree on the underpaid part 100%, I now am working a job mostly doing break in repairs making 4 to 5x the salary of most jobshop,mfg machinists in my area. Not to boast by any means, I'm very thankful for my position and my job for sure. It takes a lifetime to be what I call an "amazing machinist", and you are hardly compensated for constantly thinking outside of the box, and solving problems that most couldent comprehend.
I only have experience with gcode, the shop i was "raised" in had 5 makino 3 axis g code machines, 4 proto trak bridgeports, and 3 or 4 manual lathes. I have not programmed g code in 7 or 8 years possibly. The last 5 years of my career have been specifically precision fab, and break in / job shop stuff in our maintenance shop. Although we do have some pretty impressive 1 off equipment. I am hardly challenging myself anymore, i dont like it.
Funny enough the shop i started in patented one of the first pallet system for quick changes on cnc machines. I made an ass load of them while i was there, my boss patented them sometime in the 1990's right here in the great state of Virginia. I do appriciate all that i learned while working there, even about life.
Currently i am working my maitenance job, building toyota 4x4s, and riding moto w/3 kids. Life is so much better than that old job shop, i sure do miss it though.
Pit Row
I work in quality so I know exactly what you guys mean lol. I always thoroughly inspect/over analyze every part on my bike. I guess it’s a good habit!
Old guy here and been a "machinist" for 39 years and counting. Started out in the '80's on CNC Warner Swasey lathes with hydraulic bar feeds. Went on to 3 & 4 axis Mori Seiki and Okuma, and various brands of CNC mills. Got into tool room machinist, started making fixtures, and anything else. Then special tools and learned heat treating various tool steels, and everything to complete special tooling. Finally I was running mostly SIP Jig Bore machines, and got into aerospace work. Now I machine extremely tight tolerance critical intersect points, and bores sizes on hardened liners all in gearboxes for helicopters. It's a journey for sure.
I used to program on Fanuc FAPT in 2D right on the Fanuc controls. Then in 3D on the same newer controls. As well as Mazatrol language on Mazak machinery all in 3D with solid graphics as well.
I will say, I'm paid pretty decent for punching in on a time clock.
My son works in Solidworks, CREO, and CATIA, doing design work currently and he goes to school for his bachelors in Mechanical Engineering
Yeah, if we don't change reeds at the same time as the piston (15-20 hours) they won't last thru the next piston. Tips fray and shatter. 2022 KTM 125sx ridden pretty hard.
Are you running the v-force 3 or 4?
The 4s on 2 KTMs. Both bikes do the same thing. Cages are smooth and clean. I think it's just a matter of 12,000 rpm and all the stress that entails. I think they have a new heavy duty reed design that are suupposed to last longer. But we are moving to 250s anyway so soon a thing of the past.
That’s insane. I change them when I notice my bikes aren’t as crisp down low, pretty much can tell by ear when they’re about gone along with going from 1 kick to 2-3. I’ve always heard about 20-30 hour intervals with reeds on a 125, but maybe technology has just gotten better since the height of two strokes because I’ve ran sets of pedals for up to 60 hours on my 125 before and could hardly tell a difference when new ones were installed. I’m definitely not a pro rider but I get around decent and the bike is worked hard in basically only sugar sand. I put a Vforce 4 block on my 150 and those things were junk and wore out really quick with no noticeable change in performance to the bike, but the stock KTM blocks (IIRC They’re unbranded V-Force 3s) hold together for a long time with stock pedals for me.
Actually I should probably pull them out and take a look, I can’t even remember the last time I put a set in.
The first time at about 45 hours I thought it was a fluke. Then it did it again 40 or so later on the same bike. The current set on the race bike is at 20 hours and looked decent when I did the top end last night, but I didn't pull them, just inspected from the crank side when the jug was off. I'm gonna rejet tonight (it's running a bit rich in this warmer weather) and I'll take a closer look. Funny thing is my boy didn't really notice any performance difference with the frayed tip. It was only one tip on one reed tho so might take more to really be noticeable. Washougal 125 Dream Race this weekend so need to make sure it's running well. 80 125s showed up last year.
https://www.125dreamrace.com/
Which classes are you planning to race?
I'll be running the "Freedom" class and the "500 Nightmare"... I might also bring the YZ125 and do 40+ this year.
My son will run 125 C and Open 2 Stroke Novice C. #500 on a KTM. We usually pit over near the starting line so stop by! Debating doing the Saturday practice - depends on how much rain we get tomorrow. We just raced there last weekend so practice isn't critical.
Same. I usually camp from Friday, but if it's raining, I'll show up Saturday afternoon.
I'll be #31 on a KX500 and on a YZ250.
Soooo, installed the reeds and did some other things last night at about 3 a.m. Took it to the track today, ran amazing and flawless.
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