I dont know much about Reeds and life expectancy. Is all i know is that i have been getting a really high attrition rate.

My current set have been on for 110 miles and coming to reassemble the engine tonight after winter storage i noticed a few of the pettels are not sitting flat on the cage.

The main offender always seems to be Bottom cylinder and of the bank of three either side, both middle ones now have a gap of about 0.25mm, of which the left hand bank has previously broken the middle reed twice before and currently has 'less strenght' than the right hand middle which also has a gap, infact all three LHS are weak and of the RHS bank, just the middle.

On the Top cylinder, once again the LHS bank of three has the middle not touching but the two either side ok and the RHS bank of 3, all are ok?

So what gives?

I am definately going to replace them as i have had two retirements from track days in the morning sessions for this problem and for the sake of a set of reeds its not worth not replacing them now.... but i really dont understand why they are failing so quickly?

What symptoms are you having when riding? The crankcase pressure should be sealing them when the bike is running. I have had HRC reeds after usage look like they are not completely flat on the reed block when I inspect them, but the bike has always run ok without issue.

I find the HRC reeds tend to end up with damaged tips on the ends very easily if i'm spending alot of time at the 13,000rpm range and high overrevs while shifting into lower gears. I experience the same with my rs125 as well. I have always supected the HRC reeds quality and when I use aftermarket carbon reeds, they last me longer and dont warp like the HRC ones do.

The bike rides fine Michael-r but I have had the lower cylinder eat the left hand bank middle reed twice since I have had the bike so I replaced all the reeds again last night just to be sure. It's not worth the risk for a few GBP.

Where do you get your carbon reeds from?

Make sure you're fitting them correctly. Don't fit them as per the previous set and assume they were right. Check with the manual as it is quite easy to fit them incorrectly. There's a chamfer on one corner. Also, check the condition of the reed cage. It's possible that the reeds don't seat correctly due to a problem with the cage.

Changed on mileage, I've never had a problem with standard reeds. In fact, I'd heard that carbon reeds can be problematic.

I try to stick to 12500rpm but off the line it's easy to exceed this and on occaisions, I've seen just short of 14000rpm. Down changes I keep well below 12500. Closed throttle, no fuel, high revs etc etc.
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If it ain't broke, fix it until it is.

simono wrote:The bike rides fine Michael-r but I have had the lower cylinder eat the left hand bank middle reed twice since I have had the bike so I replaced all the reeds again last night just to be sure. It's not worth the risk for a few GBP.

Where do you get your carbon reeds from?

http://www.redline-ci.com/Aftermarket/Reeds.htm

Thanks for your replies lads, I will see how I get on.