Inspecting the stock reed cage I noticed the reeds were slightly open on one side. I flipped them over to see if they were warped but no the miniscule gap is still there.

Do the reeds have to be completely shut? I had no trouble starting the thing...

ISO - vf reeds in good condition, 2 or 3? Don't know which one is better?

I have vf3 and it seems to make it like a four stroke.It's real smooth into the power band and has nice low end torque and good throttle response