My 300$ Project Quickly Turning Into 1000$+ Project

All I can say is that I've bought dozens of MGB's and Spridgets that sat neglected in the desert for years and I should have known better than to think I could get the beast running quickly - much less road worthy. I'm goig to end up replacing almost everything on this bike . lol

The CDI apparently came from a junk yard. It had some yellow scribble on the back that reads '83 C<something>650' so I guess I have an 83 CDI in a 80 bike.

Being curious I poped the top on the thing as it was loose anyway. The bottom of the board is all that is visible but from the trace pattern it looks like a big honking power transistor, a bunch of resistors and capacitors, probably a few diodes to control current flow and an IC of some sort. I guess the IC is a hardcoded ignitio ntiming circuit. Got me wondering if I could reverse engineer it and make one with an in system programmable PIC that could be adjusted on the fly with a laptop or even a progra running on a smart phone... My thing is robotics not electronic ignitons but I think I may look into them...

But I'm getting ahead of myself. Right now I need to figure out if the 83 CDI module I have will work right in my 80 bike... probably ought to replace the wiring harness with a salvaged one, or make up a custom one, first.

I like projects but now I need a running bike to ride while I rebuild this one.

lol

 

The ('83) Module is likely to be a: "T-C-I" -- Transistor Controlled Ignition.

The Early-'80's ( 80-81-82 ) May require a different Ignition Module. "C-D-I"
Capacitive Discharge Ignition.

Go to the YAMAHA Site and Look-up what belongs in there from the Official Parts List.

http://www.yamaha-motor.com/sport/parts/home.aspx

 

Can't help you with the genuine article but I have already looked into something like what you are describing. The genuine Yamaha manuals list timing curves for each model, I have one for my XJ750R. No need to re-invent the wheel though, there are some good kit systems already available for cars which would be ideal with only a little modification ...

http://www.siliconchip.com.au/cms/A_108762/article.html

The full articles for this project are available at my local library if you are interested. I am planning to put one of these up where the tool bag goes behind the seat, there's not enough room in the tray over the airbox on my bike. Have a look and pm me if you want to pursue it, I think it would be a worthwhile addition to the knowledge base here if we could come up with a new and sensibly priced alternative to the "black box".

Cheers, Ian

 

Rick is correct, your 80 has a TCI, not CDI.

Not that it matters, but I suspect the chip is an analog device rather than digital.

You should be able to make the 83 TCI work. In 82 it picked up an extra connector to support the side stand safety circuit. If you leave that connector ungrounded it should work just fine. Not sure if the locations of the other connections moved though, you should have a look at the wiring diagrams.

 

@Rick: Thanks for the link.

@Ian: Thanks also for the link and, yes, once I have her running I would like to go down that road.

@MiCarl: You are correct. I can code a PIC (or any other microprocessor) to mimic a discrete component circuit.

The box says "Type TID14-15A ME5" and "301" in a box in the corner.

It has two connectors. A 4 pin and a 6 pin with only 4 actual pins in it.

The PO couldn't get it started so it sat for 5-6 years in the desert sun. I was probably off my rocker to buy it but I see a 'lump' in a yard and I see potential. I like wrenching just as much as driving or riding. With gas what it is even at 40+ mpg, if you do the math, even with the cost of parts for the time you get to spend doing it restoring is probably cheaper than riding dollar per hour wise ;-)

The wire loom connections are dirty as all hell and several have disintegrated from being exposed to the UV for so many years. Even if it was the right box and the carbs were perfect I doubt it would start. I'm contemplating stripping the blinkers and anything else I can out of the system and custom wiring just the head/tail light, horn and ignition to simplify things.Maybe just use one of those custom chopper wiring kits from J&P (http://www.jpcycles.com/wire-harness?Nao=50) or cut off the existing conectors and add new ones from http://www.vintageconnections.com/.

Of course now I want to strip it to the frame and just build it from the ground up. Was going through my gun safe last night looking for guns I could bear to part with to fund a full on restore.

I guess I can rationalize it as a mater of, due to the cost of ammo versus gas, a day of shooting costs more than a day of riding. lol

I can see I'll be living here on XKBikes for a wile now. I read a lot of the stickies and the XJForever price list actually has a ton of usefull info along with the parts. That is pretty cool. Probably cheaper to buy that $1200 NOS carb rack on eBay though by the time you tool up and buy all the new parts.

Probably cheaper to convert a turbocharger off a big truck into a jet engine and just turn it into a jet bike.... wonder if that is street legal? Of course you loose the fuel economy that way. My carbs *are* a fright though...

Kidding aside you uys are most helpfull. TYVM!