Bonneville America Forums Forums Technical Forums Performance Mods Simple Performance Measures

Hi all, I am yet to fit some Nology Hot Wires that I bought off Eddy.

I am up to 50,000 klm's now so thought it might be a good idea to replace the oem spark plug wires with some newies as well as some new iridium plugs.

My first question is, has anyone noticed any difference with supposed improved power using them cos I'm skeptical on that one.

Not that I wouldn't have bought them anyway cos they are all quality which I like but I am curious what others had found.

Along the same lines, these wires are required to be earthed using the extra wire that is attached and I was wondering where other blokes had attached theirs. The destructions say preferably on the head somewhere but I'd just as much prefer to ask what others had done thereby taking any guess work out of it.

My other question is regarding Procom Programmable Hi-Performance CDI: PE-C-MTBS-A .

I know there's reams of info on it but being a tad lazy, I just wanted a simple answer to a question. If my CDI is working fine, would replacing it be worth it for any possible extra performance reasons?

Thanks to anyone who doesn't mind answering these questions as I've been wondering about the answers for some time now.

cheers
stacka

Well stacka, one main reason I'd like to get one is the blasted rev limiter. With the Procom, you can raise your limiter so it doesn't cut out as soon . Nothing like pulling hard and then cutting out right as your making a switch up through the gears.

Stacka,
I connected the Nology earthing (grounding) wires up to where the old AI was mounted. I also have the Nology coils. I'm no performance expert but I think I have noticed a bit more "oomph" in my TBA plus she almost "crackles" when running (in a good way). It's hard to explain. I don't know what colour wires you're getting. I have the red and I like how they just peek out from under the gas tank, sort of like a lady's garter belt.

I think I'm going to wait a year or two on the Procom, try and get some more miles on her first. I'm like you, not sure why I want to change something that's working fine. I'm no speed demon and don't recall ever having a situation where my rev limiter came into play.

In my opinion nology wires are waste if money mine were causing only problems after some time.... was back to stock wires and now got NGK racing wires

Nobody has done before and after dyno runs with the Nology stuff to prove or disprove whether or not they add any power. I have had mine on for years with no problems. I do think they make it idle a bit more smoothly, and also help on the top end cruising. And I ground mine to the old AI bracket like suggested above.

my 04 and Wendy's 04 both still have all the stock stuff, wires, plugs, coils, etc... I don't fix what aint broke. If my plugs needed to be changed they would be, just to be clear, it isn't neglect, I do check them.

I think on bikes like ours (light wieght cruisers.)You can go a little apey. Unless you plan to drag race it. I agree with Ian.

Just once I would like to see someone who has replaced the OEM coils with Nology/PVL coils actually TEST the take-off OEM coils to see if they were already failing or still in spec.

Anyone?

mine worked when I replaced them

Were they tested?

no, but someone on here needed a set and off they went and I've never heard anything about them since

My butt dyno says no difference with the nology wires and coils...My wires seem to be very long...I have had the wire loop up near the CDI and the bike will miss fire...I move the wire away from the CDI and no problems

Thanks for all your replies with comments and suggestions. Goes to show there are a number of varying views which I see as a good thing. Helps me to weigh up the info and make decisions on the back of others experiences.

Regarding the procom spark plug wires, I too bought the red ones as I have the red tank and thought a bit of colour under the tank instead of black made a nice touch (or some may call it bling ha ha).

Also thanks for letting me know about where many were attaching the earth wire ie the A1 bracket, cos rather than trying to reinvent the wheel, I can't see why I wouldn't do the same.

As for the comment how it appears to idle and cruise more smoothly, to me that makes a lot odf sense actually but of course I'll have to determine that one myself. Maybe I can equate this one to info about when blokes were taking off their tps wires and thought their bike ran better.
Well I couldn't actually say with all certainty mine ran better but I can definitely say my bike has been running really well ever since. Most probably all a load of you know what but if nothing else it really tidied that area up. I just reckon there can't be any negatives to a better spark in each pot.

As far as the Pro com goes, I've only ever reached the rev limiter once. It was pretty odd at the time and whilst I don't mind giving Ferdie a handful, for the majority of time I don't rev over over the limit.

It sounds like what I've got then will do me for a while and maybe in the future when the rebuild K's are getting closer, amongst whatever other changes I do maybe the procom can be an option then. We'll see.

Thanks for all your comments, you've helped answer the questions I wasn't sure of and in fact other than the earth wire point, was what I was thinking anyway.

thanks again
stacka

That's great Benny, glad to hear it!

I put iridium plugs on my old Yamaha XJ750, and noticed a nice change from the plugs recommended from the company.

No more hesitation like I previously had with the OEM plugs. I was very happy with them.

I put the Nology coils and hot wires on my 2007 BA and was pleased with the results. Don't know that they make any more HP than stock, but they certainly didn't hurt the power and the bike sounds stronger and has a nice crackle to the exhaust note. No complaints here.

There's something about the Nology coils that really works. It's hard to say exactly what it is, but I swear my bike pulls harder, sounds nicer and just generally perform better than before.

I have never replaced one unless there was a problem with it. I am with Ian if it ain't broke don't fix it. It would be interesting to see a side by side comparison if you could measure the intensity of the spark produced at the spark plug. I just look for a nice dark blue spark and a loud snap. I don't know any other way of checking them. I know you don't want to be in the circuit even with a weak component.

Hi Chad, I'm just in the process now of replacing the spark plug leads with a pair of nology leads and in the process of removing the oem NGK leads, the left one broke off primarilly due to corrosion.

Now I'm not blaming anyone but myself as I should have checked them before now but I'm still learning what's what. It's ironic though as many of the electrical connections I've already smeared dialectric grease on. Of all I didn't though were probably one of the most important connections.

At least that's one bonus for me of buying the nology leads I suppose.

That is a good reason to change wires. I haven't bought any but if there is much of a price difference I would probably go stock again. Maybe even make my own from plug wire and ends.

How about wire coat hangers Ian. They'd work well wouldn't they? maybe a bit of dielectric grease on the ends too!!!

I think he already tried those.....had a slight problem with insulation breaking down

Was running stock coils wires and iridium plugs for years. Had a bad coil and swithced over to Nology coils wires and silver stone plugs the difference was obvious. I don't know which part made the difference but the engine has run much cleaner for the last four years. I first swithced the coils with cut back plug electrodes and things seemed about the same then I installed the wires and the plugs cleaned up right away. I then installed the silverstone plugs with stock gap and things got better yet. A person just has to try things and not just go by reference material. I read the articles you mentioned before i bought any of the Nology items but thought what the hell it's only money and IMHO it was money well spent.

I'm more inclined to go with these wires: TPUSA Plug Wires

In TPUSA I trust

Probably a good choice. Anything I have bought from TPUSA has been top notch and Carlos is a great guy to deal with. He even tried to help out as much as he could when Fast Freddy was MIA and stiffed me on my parts and money.

Ok, so we've talked about some of the cheaper options and as usual there's varying opinions both ways. The other area I'm interested in is the Billet intakes. When they first came out there was mostly good comments and then the subject sort of went off the radar a bit which makes me think perhaps they aren't that effective. Does anyone think theya are a good addition just by themselves for a bike like mine (see signature below) ???

IMO if you are talking using billet intakes with the OEM CV carbs then the only reason to replace the OEM intake manifolds is for bling. The chief tech where I dyno my bike personally tested billet intakes on his 904/270 & found no difference in power, all other things equal.

Well, from that info I think we can safely say don't waste my money. Personally I do believe before and after dyno comparisons with the same operator and machine are a reliable form of information, so thanks Ken. I can now forget that one and focus on other areas.

Of course I'm sitting here thinking how I'd love to pick up a cheap low Kilometre engine and make it a project for doing all the real performance stuff to it myself and in my own time without any rush. I'd also be able to learn heaps in the process and in the meatime still be able to ride.

I might have a talk to some of the insurance assessors and also the auction houses. They probably would want too much money as usual though

Still, I like the idea and you never know

Well, the set of billet intakes I have are not in production, they are Fast Fred's prototype. My stock carbs are bored out to 38mm. In the dyno below, the red line is my 904 run, the blue is with the bored carbs, and the black is bored carbs with the intakes. My rev limit went higher on one run for some reason.


here is the intake

I put the billet intakes on my 865 Speedmaster with stock carbs. I think it was worth the swap. Good performance gain by my seat of the pants. Here's the catch. The stock plastic ones were warped and leaking vacuum. So yes my billet intakes made a big difference.Besides they look good also.A little bling for a Speedy with a lot of miles.Ha,ha.

Quote:

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Well, the set of billet intakes I have are not in production

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Does anyone know if someone still makes them?

I-ould like a set myself

Roadworthy,
Did you bore out the stock carbs yourself or have them done? Do you have pics of the carbs internals?

Thanks

Well, hell yeah, if you are talking Fast Fred bored carbs & ported billet intakes to match, you're gonna make some power!

OK, yeah I remember your setup know. Also didn't Fast Freddie go out-of-business too?