2 stroke guys....V-force or Rad valve?

AH387
Posts
1337
Joined
8/29/2019
Location
Bridgeville, PA US
10/17/2019 12:10pm
I have had good luck in the past with both. If I get something for my new 125, I'll probably go with the Rad Valve this time.
10/18/2019 6:14am Edited Date/Time 10/18/2019 6:15am
A mate of mine had a KTM 250SX with the stock V-Force 3 reed valve. We don’t know why but that thing used to EAT reed...
A mate of mine had a KTM 250SX with the stock V-Force 3 reed valve. We don’t know why but that thing used to EAT reed petals! We used to joke that he was running it at 32:1 (32 reed petals to 1 litre of fuel!)

Anyway, he decided to buy a Boyesen rad valve & honesty he never touched the reed petals again & had no more problems. The bike ran better also.

On a different note, anyone have an idea why the bike would break so many reed petals with the v-force?
cb477 wrote:
I had the Vforce 4R in my 17 KTM 250SX and didn’t have any issues with it breaking petals. I just know the stock reed cages...
I had the Vforce 4R in my 17 KTM 250SX and didn’t have any issues with it breaking petals. I just know the stock reed cages have known issues with having gaps between the cage and the reed petals right out of the box. I just inspected mine and they have big gaps. I ran a Rad Valve on my YZ250’s last year and liked them. Just haven’t ran them on KTM or Husky.
jeffro503 wrote:
Mine had large gaps as well ( on my 125 and 250 ) , but I also feel the stock reeds are just extremely fragile and...
Mine had large gaps as well ( on my 125 and 250 ) , but I also feel the stock reeds are just extremely fragile and chip easy. Been quite a few guys that didn't get 5 - 10 hours on the stock set , only to have a corner be chipped off. It was just " piece of mind " for myself.
Gaps are fine. Under starting conditions the returning pulse will close the Reeds. Under operating conditions, air velocity is constant, the reeds are never closing completely anyway, it’s not like the inertia of air through the Carb and reeds suddenly stops, or reverses, and a ton of pressure builds in the reed cage... similar to how overlap on a camshaft works when both valves are open at the same time and you get that scavenging effect. Have you seen reeds on a slow motion camera? They never shut fully and seal once RPM is achieved

When reeds get REAL bad (broken or chipped) is when starting becomes a problem
jeffro503
Posts
27442
Joined
7/22/2007
Location
St Helens, OR US
10/18/2019 11:12am
cb477 wrote:
I had the Vforce 4R in my 17 KTM 250SX and didn’t have any issues with it breaking petals. I just know the stock reed cages...
I had the Vforce 4R in my 17 KTM 250SX and didn’t have any issues with it breaking petals. I just know the stock reed cages have known issues with having gaps between the cage and the reed petals right out of the box. I just inspected mine and they have big gaps. I ran a Rad Valve on my YZ250’s last year and liked them. Just haven’t ran them on KTM or Husky.
jeffro503 wrote:
Mine had large gaps as well ( on my 125 and 250 ) , but I also feel the stock reeds are just extremely fragile and...
Mine had large gaps as well ( on my 125 and 250 ) , but I also feel the stock reeds are just extremely fragile and chip easy. Been quite a few guys that didn't get 5 - 10 hours on the stock set , only to have a corner be chipped off. It was just " piece of mind " for myself.
Gaps are fine. Under starting conditions the returning pulse will close the Reeds. Under operating conditions, air velocity is constant, the reeds are never closing completely...
Gaps are fine. Under starting conditions the returning pulse will close the Reeds. Under operating conditions, air velocity is constant, the reeds are never closing completely anyway, it’s not like the inertia of air through the Carb and reeds suddenly stops, or reverses, and a ton of pressure builds in the reed cage... similar to how overlap on a camshaft works when both valves are open at the same time and you get that scavenging effect. Have you seen reeds on a slow motion camera? They never shut fully and seal once RPM is achieved

When reeds get REAL bad (broken or chipped) is when starting becomes a problem
Partially of what you say is true ( about closing up while running ) but when you have faulty reeds that break easily , what's the point of running them? The quality of the pedals and cage on the rad valve are superior to the stock set , in every way. There are a ton of guy's who had jetting issues with the stock reed cage running the Mikuni , and then replaced the cage and the bike was a lot easier to tune. I myself swapped the carbs on both bikes as well with PWK's , because I know those carbs well , and matched with a Rad valve or V-force......it wasn't even in the same universe as the stock setup. There is a high failure rate with that stock cage , and there are probably hundred's of dudes on message boards who have reported the same thing. Some may be ok , but a lot aren't , as with what I had.

The Shop

10/18/2019 11:43am
jeffro503 wrote:
Mine had large gaps as well ( on my 125 and 250 ) , but I also feel the stock reeds are just extremely fragile and...
Mine had large gaps as well ( on my 125 and 250 ) , but I also feel the stock reeds are just extremely fragile and chip easy. Been quite a few guys that didn't get 5 - 10 hours on the stock set , only to have a corner be chipped off. It was just " piece of mind " for myself.
Gaps are fine. Under starting conditions the returning pulse will close the Reeds. Under operating conditions, air velocity is constant, the reeds are never closing completely...
Gaps are fine. Under starting conditions the returning pulse will close the Reeds. Under operating conditions, air velocity is constant, the reeds are never closing completely anyway, it’s not like the inertia of air through the Carb and reeds suddenly stops, or reverses, and a ton of pressure builds in the reed cage... similar to how overlap on a camshaft works when both valves are open at the same time and you get that scavenging effect. Have you seen reeds on a slow motion camera? They never shut fully and seal once RPM is achieved

When reeds get REAL bad (broken or chipped) is when starting becomes a problem
jeffro503 wrote:
Partially of what you say is true ( about closing up while running ) but when you have faulty reeds that break easily , what's the...
Partially of what you say is true ( about closing up while running ) but when you have faulty reeds that break easily , what's the point of running them? The quality of the pedals and cage on the rad valve are superior to the stock set , in every way. There are a ton of guy's who had jetting issues with the stock reed cage running the Mikuni , and then replaced the cage and the bike was a lot easier to tune. I myself swapped the carbs on both bikes as well with PWK's , because I know those carbs well , and matched with a Rad valve or V-force......it wasn't even in the same universe as the stock setup. There is a high failure rate with that stock cage , and there are probably hundred's of dudes on message boards who have reported the same thing. Some may be ok , but a lot aren't , as with what I had.
I’ll buy that. I tried vforce 3 in my Honda’s forever. They chipped faster than the stock reeds and didn’t make any more power. For KTM I’m not sure yet... I’m willing to try anything.
Motor mods usually don’t equate to lap times... over siZe front rotor helped me more than any motor mod
1
jeffro503
Posts
27442
Joined
7/22/2007
Location
St Helens, OR US
10/18/2019 2:53pm
I’ll buy that. I tried vforce 3 in my Honda’s forever. They chipped faster than the stock reeds and didn’t make any more power. For KTM...
I’ll buy that. I tried vforce 3 in my Honda’s forever. They chipped faster than the stock reeds and didn’t make any more power. For KTM I’m not sure yet... I’m willing to try anything.
Motor mods usually don’t equate to lap times... over siZe front rotor helped me more than any motor mod
Oh for sure on modding other stuff. I do the same , and it's usually always suspension first , along with getting the motor running as tuned as I can get it. The reeds were more of a Piece of mind thing. Back in the day , I had a few issues over the years with sucking a reed and so forth , and it can be dangerous depending on when and where it happens. I just didn't trust those stock pedals.
12/6/2022 11:50am

I have suzuki rm 125 2008. I feel like it dosent have enought power. I have stock reeds what reeds should i get do they bring More Power to the bike. I cant wheelie with that rm i can do other bikes. 

4
beamer
Posts
783
Joined
8/16/2006
Location
Squaw River CA
12/6/2022 11:55am
I have suzuki rm 125 2008. I feel like it dosent have enought power. I have stock reeds what reeds should i get do they bring...

I have suzuki rm 125 2008. I feel like it dosent have enought power. I have stock reeds what reeds should i get do they bring More Power to the bike. I cant wheelie with that rm i can do other bikes. 

Install the blue powerband first, retest wheelie capability and go from there.

1
soggy
Posts
4882
Joined
12/3/2018
Location
UT US
Fantasy
3846th
12/6/2022 12:55pm
I have suzuki rm 125 2008. I feel like it dosent have enought power. I have stock reeds what reeds should i get do they bring...

I have suzuki rm 125 2008. I feel like it dosent have enought power. I have stock reeds what reeds should i get do they bring More Power to the bike. I cant wheelie with that rm i can do other bikes. 

Your engine is tired or not tuned properly. 

1
12/6/2022 4:21pm

I had a VForce 3 in my ‘11 YZ 250 and honestly didn’t notice any change over stock. Put in a rad valve recently and really like it. Noticeable gains in mid/top. Bike feels crisp too 

1
1
12/6/2022 6:07pm
loftyair wrote:
Ive used both on several different 2-strokes. The rad valve adds mid and up, nicely. The vforce is more of a low-mid deal. So, if you...
Ive used both on several different 2-strokes. The rad valve adds mid and up, nicely. The vforce is more of a low-mid deal. So, if you go fast, want higher rpm scream, then its the rad valve! If you're just an old fart, that thinks shifting early is cool, or just out in the woods for a fun time, the vforce is good.

Not sure what bike you hv . And they all run different sometimes. But rad valve is for boosting low with more mid  and torque not a lot of top gain. Vforce doesn’t give much of an improvement but it flows better on top. It shows on a dyno also but you don’t feel a difference in torque like the rv.  All cr250 riders say rv to boost off idle low end snap  to improved mid.  On a RM I would run carbon tech Boyeseen sells them or bought them out. They come in 3 diff tensions. Team Suzuki ran Ct reeds . Yrs ago they had low to mid I noticed a improvement but the rm125 signed off to early. I ran mid to top they work great. I think there carbon boyeseen in my 04 it runs great. Other 04 s r valve fmf pipe it runs like a torquey 132 

MX558
Posts
1770
Joined
4/1/2008
Location
US
12/7/2022 5:09pm
I had a VForce 3 in my ‘11 YZ 250 and honestly didn’t notice any change over stock. Put in a rad valve recently and really...

I had a VForce 3 in my ‘11 YZ 250 and honestly didn’t notice any change over stock. Put in a rad valve recently and really like it. Noticeable gains in mid/top. Bike feels crisp too 

I used to run v Force on my 03 yz250 back in the day and never really noticed anything great by any means . Way overrated but never felt like taking it off . I would like to try the rad valve if I keep my 13 YZ250 

1
12/7/2022 5:16pm
I had a VForce 3 in my ‘11 YZ 250 and honestly didn’t notice any change over stock. Put in a rad valve recently and really...

I had a VForce 3 in my ‘11 YZ 250 and honestly didn’t notice any change over stock. Put in a rad valve recently and really like it. Noticeable gains in mid/top. Bike feels crisp too 

MX558 wrote:
I used to run v Force on my 03 yz250 back in the day and never really noticed anything great by any means . Way overrated...

I used to run v Force on my 03 yz250 back in the day and never really noticed anything great by any means . Way overrated but never felt like taking it off . I would like to try the rad valve if I keep my 13 YZ250 

I had the vforce in for a few years and was the same way. Ended up deciding to buy the rad valve and try it. After the first ride I sold the vforce unit lol. Very happy with the purchase 

1
1
soggy
Posts
4882
Joined
12/3/2018
Location
UT US
Fantasy
3846th
12/7/2022 6:53pm

V force is all marketing hype. The rad valve is far superior piece imo. Just looking at the two pieces side by side you can see how well crafted the rad valve is. 

2
2
chuck356
Posts
74
Joined
1/27/2019
Location
Danville, IL US
12/8/2022 10:14am

I prefer the stock setups as they don't require the extra gaskets that these sometimes use. 

1
skyrebel88
Posts
147
Joined
1/29/2015
Location
New Fairfield, CT US
12/8/2022 12:15pm

Stock cage w/ the boyesen dual stage reeds was a noticeable improvement over stock reeds alone for me. It only cost like $60 or something for just the reeds. The bottom end had much better throttle response and pull. I think that should say enough for boyesen engineering.  

1

Post a reply to: 2 stroke guys....V-force or Rad valve?

The Latest