I dont know how they work but iff anyone can explain it would be greatly apreciated

The reed valves on my tr34 are in 2 parts per side a large piece that covers the whole of the wedge they are mounted to and a smaller piece that covers two smaller slots on the large piece should there be a small gap between the large piece and the small piece this is only about .5mm i have tried turning them over but the gap remains the same so what i really need to know is should there be a gap and iff not will it affect the performance of the bike or am i worrying about nothing

You're probably running boyesen reeds? Bending reeds or reed restrictors isnt a good idea. The reeds should seal, not stay open. You won't get a power increase bending out the restrictors, you will only get worse sealing, meaning that filling of the combustion chamber isn't as effective as the pressure drops. Hence, less power. This most likely also causes carburettion problems.