Stock reed block question

[JOEY11]

I put boyessen reeds in my 85 recently and it had the stock metal reeds and also had a plastic block in the inside of the cage and I put it back in and now I’m wondering if I should have left it out. I read the boyessen instructions just to see if they mentioned that block but there was nothing about it listed. Will hurt or help air flow in any way?

[jcs003]

i am assuming it is a reed spacer.  it has minimal impact on performance.  just watch for air leaks.

[JOEY11]

I thought it was some kind of air plenum or something to control air velocity. It sits inside the actual reed cage and the screws that hold the reeds down hold this thing inside the cage. I left that in so I guess it can’t hurt anything.

[Jerry Hall]

I put boyessen reeds in my 85 recently and it had the stock metal reeds and also had a plastic block in the inside of the cage and I put it back in and now I’m wondering if I should have left it out. I read the boyessen instructions just to see if they mentioned that block but there was nothing about it listed. Will hurt or help air flow in any way?

If you are referring to the  white piece of plastic inside of the reed valve, it is an air flow transition device.  This device helps the high speed air flow make a more gradual transition from the oval rubber intake manifold to the rectangular shape before the reed petals.  The rubber intake manifold starts the transition from the round exit of the carburetor and the white transition device is just the ending part of the transition from the carburetor to the reed petals.

Taking it our will hurt the air flow slightly, so I would leave it in. 

[JOEY11]

Thanks. That’s what I figured it was for and put it back in when I replaced the reeds. I didn’t put the spacer block back on. I got my new pipe sealed up with rtv and worked on the jetting and it rips. I couldn’t keep the front tire down in 4th before running out space. It’s been a few years since I owned an R trike and I’ll never sell it this time.