Australian motocross star Chad Reed will miss at least three weeks of competition to have further surgery on the knee he damaged so badly last year.

The 31-year-old will go under the knife on Tuesday for a second time since he tore an anterior cruciate ligament in a horrific crash in the seventh round of the US AMA Supercross series in Dallas last February, ending his 2012 season.

The former world and AMA champion said he was excited about getting the knee fixed, after just missing out on a podium finish at Sunday’s Toronto round of the 2013 AMA championship.

“My knee surgery that I had last year unfortunately has not healed 100 per cent. I got to a level and it never progressed past that,” said Reed.

“I actually thought I could get through supercross and motocross and have it fixed in the off-season.

“Now I am favouring it and I am starting to tweak my back.”

Reed hopes to be back for round 14 of the US series in Minneapolis, which begins on April 13.

“I think it is best that I get it fixed as soon as possible and then get back on the bike ASAP as well,” he said.