1984 200ES CDI Replacement, MythBusted..

[kb0nly]

Thats what i did to, i removed them from the round plug and plugged them into the new cdi, fired it up, revved it a few times, then made it permanent.

[GTO]

I just found out that my brother is flying to Houston on Monday for business and will be there for 3 weeks.
So maybe I can buy some of those cheap CDI units on eBay and ship them to his company's office in Houston.

[4x4van]

This is fantastic work, and much appreciated by many of us. Is it likely that those same CDI units would work on 2-strokes, as well, such as the 250R? How about a Yamaha BW200?

I ask, because I recently had to replace the CDI on my BW and it cost me over $250!!! A friend also replaced one on a TW recently; $285. I've long suspected that these damn little black boxes were way overpriced and that there had to be a cheaper and more easily accessible alternative. Based on your work, it seems that the basics of all of them are pretty much the same, with just a few "bells & whistles" on some, such as the reverse lock-out. Many, if not all, of those "Bells & whistles" can likely be discarded without affecting the actual engine running function of the CDI.

[kb0nly]

I have tried five different CDI units on my 200ES now, they all work fine and run great, so i am sure anything could be wired to a universal one without much trouble.

[oscarmayer]

shiat, we throw out those stocker black ones all the itme for my son's racing ATVs. i have liek 4-5 of them lying in boxes around the storage room that we yanked off harnessess and ATVs we build for racing and testing and such. they toss them at me liek candy everytime i walk in. "mike want another cdi" and toss liek 2 or 3at me. Here's the deal, i always order the racing CDIs for our bikes. if the ones you say work for the 200cc engines, then the same racing ones i run that have even much hotter spark and better running would also work. they also do not have rev limiters and some are ven adjsutable in timing now!! (we have someoen looking to use me as a test bed for testing the timings on these to see how wwell the run in real raicng enviroments (well my son's ATV)

[DasUberKraut]

So just out of curiosity. This would work on my 84 125m? I don't know for sure that I'm having electrical issues as I haven't tested anything. I do have poor response at mid range though. Most likely fuel related, but new electronics can't hurt. I also run an NGK Iridium plug.

[kb0nly]

No reason why it wouldn't... I would have to look at the schematic for the 125 but i believe it has the same type of CDI system. You would just have to swap the plug is all.

EDIT: Just went and looked at the 125M wiring diagram, five wire, yes these cheap CDI units will work just fine on it.

[DasUberKraut]

Thanks boss. :boss

[86T3]

My CDI just went in my 85 Big Red. That is a six wire CDI, i'm assuming this wouldn't work for it?

Edit: Is this the one i'd be looking for?
http://www.ebay.com/itm/GY6-CDI-Igni...b36d37&vxp=mtr

[kb0nly]

The 85 BR can use this cheap CDI also. You will just leave the neutral switch wire disconnected, actually i put it in the new plug but there is nothing there for it to connect to on the CDI but it keeps the wire out of the way. That will allow the Neutral indicator light to still work and the new CDI don't care.

The 84 is a 6 wire CDI also, but one wire is the reverse safety.

[86T3]

So the neutral light on the dash will work the way it always has but i'll be able to start the bike in gear? That will be pretty nice.

[kb0nly]

I just double checked the wiring diagram cause its been a while since i worked on a 250ES...

Let me clear it up a bit...

The Neutral switch turns on the light by switching its ground, as well as providing a ground to the starter relay, the start push button on the 85 provides 12v to the starter relay. The Neutral input to the CDI on the 85 looks to be a safety that works in conjunction with the kill switch. So you will still have to put it into neutral for the electric starter to function but you could potentially kick start it while in gear so be aware of that safety wise.

The reverse switch on the 85 is different than other years, the only purpose it serves it to turn on the reverse indicator light looking at the diagram.

On my 84 the reverse switch is part of the safety system, it runs the inhibitor relay as the 84 has a switched ground for the starter relay. Your's doesn't have this inhibitor relay so all you have to worry about is wiring up CDI right minus the neutral switch input. If you look at the DrATV page that i linked to earlier he has a diagram that you can follow along with a picture, it shows how he just put the unused gray wire in the empty terminal position. On your 85 it would be the Green/Red wire that would be unused.

Here is the wiring diagram.

http://www.3wheelerworld.com/attachm...0&d=1261803431

All the other wire colors at the CDI on the 85 look to cross over color wise.

[sinsayers]

Thanks KB, great stuff as usual

[86T3]

Thanks a lot for the info. I got some bad news tonight though, i took my CDI to my buddies and put it on his 85 BR. Ran like a champ. I think i'm chasing a broken wire or something like that, my ignition coil, exciter coil and pulse generator all read fine. O well, 2 CDI s and 2 connector kits only cost me $20, i'll just shelf them.

[kb0nly]

I wouldn't write it off as a working CDI just yet... On my 84 it wouldn't always work, but sometimes tossing it on the sidewalk a few times or plugging it into something else then back to the 84 and it would work again. It could still be a bad CDI that just cooperated when you plugged it into his BR but never know!

I would go over every connection on it, and try disconnecting the kill wire and the neutral wire from the CDI, which bypasses all the safety's to the CDI, then see if you get spark. And like i described earlier in this thread, don't just ohm out the exciter, check it for actual voltage output when cranking, then check that the output is being pulsed at the CDI from the pulse generator, and check for voltage at the coil when cranking also, and also try removing the plug wire from the coil and spark plug boot to check both ends. They just screw onto the cable with what looks like a screw in the center of them. If the wire is corroded badly you can just get a chunk of plug wire from any auto parts store and cut it to length to replace it.