Nology wire and Profire coil installed

[TREADMARKS]

Did the install this weekend. I can't tell if it is making any more power, but it does sound different and starts much quicker.

While I had the plug out, I connected it to the stock coil and wire and got a thin orange tick tick tick when I ran the starter.

After the coil and wire install, I ran the starter over with the same plug and got a thick white/blue pop pop pop. I was impressed by the difference in the quality of the spark. I may have had a bad wire or worn coil as I was having problems with it in heavy rain. The profire coil is considerably larger than the stock unit and it was not a total bolt on but still gets bolted in about the same location. The wire comes with it's own heavy duty ground strap to be bolted to the cylinder head.

All in all I am pleased with the results so far and would recommend it to anyone who needs to replace their stock unit.

[xr_stamm]

Permit me to but in on the topic of hot coils and wires. Presuming you have a good mixture (yes, a big presumption sometimes), but once you light the mixture, a fatter spark doesn't light it better, or faster. Do you light fireworks with a single match or the whole pack? Does it make a bigger bang? That analogy seems to fit.

In general you only need to update your ignition system if it has been poorly maintained or you have increased the amount of charge it is trying to light. Updating the ignition system on a stock bike won't really give you any return.

[TREADMARKS]

Do you light fireworks with a single match or the whole pack? Does it make a bigger bang? That analogy seems to fit.

I think the difference in your analogy should be more like lighting fireworks with a red glowing cigg tip or a blue flame butane lighter. And yes, the bike starts easier. Much easier.

It would also seem that uncorking and installing a performance cam, carb and pipe would qualify as increasing the charge I am trying to light .

[XRsteve]

I agree with xr_stamm on this. Coils produce the amount of spark that is actually needed. Having a 60,000 volt coil is overkill if you're only using 20,000 volts. Most stock coils are fine for most mods. There may have been something wrong with the stock coil if the bike starts easier now. In that case, an aftermarket coil would probably be cheaper than an OEM. By the way, how much did this setup cost?

[Shawn_Mc]

I agree with xr_stamm on this. Coils produce the amount of spark that is actually needed. Having a 60,000 volt coil is overkill if you're only using 20,000 volts. Most stock coils are fine for most mods. There may have been something wrong with the stock coil if the bike starts easier now. In that case, an aftermarket coil would probably be cheaper than an OEM. By the way, how much did this setup cost?

The ignition is probably the most over looked performance item in high performance applications. Remember the combustion triangle: Fuel, Oxygen and Ignition.

The bigger and meaner the spark the better. The problem is the charge time. Or dwell time. And Honda coils arent known for thier longevity or thier robust spark. I doubt the plug wire had much do to with the improved spark as I'm pretty sure the stock wire is copper and it really doesnt get much better than that.

I've seen a 2 volt increase (from 13.5 -15.5) to a GM (Taylor) HEI gain 16 horsepower on a big block chevy on the dyno. All it does is hit the coil harder and create a meaner spark.

[XRsteve]

If you use an oscilloscope you will see that changing from a new OEM to an aftermarket performance coil has no effect on the amount of voltage used to ignite the mixture. I know this because we tested this while I was in tech school. (I've been an auto tech for over 12 years now) Most OEM coils have enough power for most mods. Modern cars easily produce enough spark to jump several inches. Motorcycles coils aren't quite as powerful of course, but they usually do the job just fine.

[TREADMARKS]

The ignition is probably the most over looked performance item in high performance applications. Remember the combustion triangle: Fuel, Oxygen and Ignition.

The bigger and meaner the spark the better.

Bigger is better.

[Shawn_Mc]

If you use an oscilloscope you will see that changing from a new OEM to an aftermarket performance coil has no effect on the amount of voltage used to ignite the mixture. I know this because we tested this while I was in tech school. (I've been an auto tech for over 12 years now) Most OEM coils have enough power for most mods. Modern cars easily produce enough spark to jump several inches. Motorcycles coils aren't quite as powerful of course, but they usually do the job just fine.

Its the way they charge and fire the coils thats the major difference between the auto and motorcycles or at least some motorcycles. Some charge the coil and a secondary stator and collapse the entire field at once and bang the coil with 300+ volts in a pulse and fire the plug that way. Its almost like a magneto. The more RPM the greater the firing charge to the coil.

It takes 30,000 volts to jump an inch. Most decent coils will bang a spark plug with 60K. So ya, 2 inches with out dense atmosphere is easy.

There's defintely an issue when youve got a tiny red spark trying to jump .028" and its hit or miss.

[XRsteve]

Remember the combustion triangle: Fuel, Oxygen and Ignition.

I believe the correct equation is fuel/air mitxture, compression, and ignition.