Reed Cages by hoser..

A 1990 Pilot cage (4 petal) that has had casting flaws removed, the stock cage is a 
great setup but could stand for improvement, from the factory just like the cylinder there
are a lot of casting flaws and flow restrictions, using a small file you can remove most of
them and enlarge the openings for better flow.

You can make the dividers narrower for better flow but be sure to leave 1.5mm for the petal to 
seat on also keep in mind that when you reduce the the size of the sealing surface you not 
only open the cage for more flow but reduce the amount of surface area the petals rest on
a increase the danger of reed petal failure when or if the engine backfires because you have 
increased the unsupported area of the petal, I have not had any problems and reed petal 
life seems to be the same as a unmodified reed cage.

Looking close in this picture you can see I am almost finished enlarging the openings and 
reducing the width of the dividers, you will also notice that the dividers have been brought to 
a knife edge during the process the last step is to round the leading edge over so it is more
of a airfoil, leaving the edge sharp will let the air slow down and loose velocity  the airfoil 
like on the leading edge of a air plane will actually speed up the air as it passes over the 
divider.

A 1989 Pilot cage (6 petal) that has had casting flaws removed.




A 1989 Pilot cage (6 petal) that has not had casting flaws removed.

I like to use the Boyesen reeds they have always given me long life (one full season) at the end 
of each season I will flop them over and use them a second season on the flip side, I have never 
had a Boyesen fiberglass reed split or break, the reeds are not indestructible and can fail
most of the ones I have seen fail failed after a engine went through a series of backfires due 
to a spark plug that had fouled or a bad spark plug boot.

I see a lot of people jumping on the band wagon and buying fancy reed gages Ram valves and
even the V-Force Delta 2 reed cage, since carbon fiber is more brittle and wont last as long,
the material looses its tension much faster than fiberglass I rather just stick with the fiberglass 
until I feel comfortable that they have all the bugs out and found a material that will last as long 
and maintain its performance as long as fiberglass materials.

A Honda reeds cage from the 88 CR250R (part number 14100-KS7-831 Pictured below) is a excellent 
replacement and performance upgrade for the FL350 and 89-90 Pilot, if offers 4 petal design and 
has the updated stuffer design, until I see something better (2-3 hp gains over the 88 CR250 cage)
I will stick to one that I know will not leave me with premature failed reed petals like the V-Force
did to Rocketman (click here to see his cage)

Click here for part 2 and more pictures of the 88CR250 cage.