I am looking to find out what reeds do for a 2-stroke engine. I am unfamiliar with 2-stroke engines and I would like to begin to understand them more. I have read that the reed will help with cleaner and more crisp throttle response, but I don't understand what it physically does. Can anyone help?

 

Reeds are like a screen on the intake side of the head. The air/fuel mixture is pulled through the reed by engine vacuum, when the throttle is opened up the engine pulls enough vacuum to pull the reed open allowing more of the air/fuel mixture through. When the reeds open that is when you get that extra power.

 

Its a little piece of square plastic that controls how much gas goes into the cylinder, not much to it, once you see one you'll understand. Definetly get aftermarket reeds, I got some for my old blaster and it made a huge diffrence, just felt smoother to ride.

 

Reeds are actually a valve. To understand how they work. Visualize a 2 stroke engine as an airpump. When the piston moves up it creates vacuum under the piston when it clears the intake port the vacuum opens the reed valve drawing in fuel air mixture. When the piston starts to come down it starts to build pressure in the bottom end. Your Reed valve slams shut to keep the fuel in the bottom end. When the piston goes down far enough the fuel air mixture flows through the transfer ports into the cylinder at the same time the exhuast port is open and the exhaust flows out. The pipe on a 2 stroke is tuned to resonate at a certain frequency which correlates to a specific RPM this sonic wave keeps the fresh fuel air mixture from flowing out the exhuast. It all works pretty well, but isnt' perfect that is why 2 strokes pollute alot more than a 4 stroke (not to mention the burning oil). It also explains why you can get a torque (low end) and rev (high end) pipe. The pipe is just tuned to resonate at a specific RPM. As far as aftermarket reeds, the same is partially true. Some take more force than others to open and close some, such as boysen are dual stage. at low RPM only the small portion of the reed opens and at higher RPM the entire reed opens and closes to allow for a better mixture. Hope this helps.

 

Thank you all for the advise. It really helps to understand what all of the components do on a 2 stroke engine when trying to diagnose a problem. I am wanting to get a better throttle response in the low end, and it sounds like some new aftermarket reeds may do the trick. Any suggestions on what brand is better for a banshee?