Bonneville America Forums Forums Technical Forums General Tech 2nd CDI TO FAIL

On the failure of my 2nd CDI Unit(1st failure at approx 22000kms 2nd failure at 3000kms later!!!) - so could anyone direct me to a site or do you know of an after market CDI unit for my TBA.

Currently, there doesn't seem to be one.
Procom http://www.procomengineering.com Has been 4-6 months away from having one for about a year.
Somebody in Canada had some on ebay, but wouldn't answer pointed questions about them actually working on BA/SM.
The problem is apparently the 270 degree (vs. 360) interval.
BTW: I'm on my third Triumph (Gill) igniter too.
The 2nd one lasted about 500 mi.

I just got my CDI replaced on warranty and was hoping my problems were over for good. I didn't realize there were so many failures. For people with multiple failures, could there be some underlying problem elsewhere in the electrical system causing failures?

Here's what I think I know about that (from unpleasant experience):
"Upstream", if you will, is DC power & pickup coil.
That stuff can produce various symptoms, but not outright failure of the CDI.
"Downstream" would be primary wiring, HT coils, plug wires, & plugs.
There's some thought that problems here could induce failure, but other sympoms would show up first, or at least in connection with the failure.
There are usually common sense tests that can be made to isolate where the problem is and isn't.
The factory knows there is a problem here and has been pretty good about extending goodwill replacements, although they require something beyond shade tree diagnostics.
The igniters come in those packages that say "must be installed by trained service personell".

My first replacement came under warranty, and was installed by a "trained tech".
The unit is supposed to be secured by two sets of two piece ribbed shank rivets.
You squeeze 'em together to snug 'em up.
The trained thechnician who did the work used one rivet & didn't tighten it.
In lieu of the second rivet, he used a bolt & acorn nut that kinda fit.
I always wondered if that contributed to premature failure of the 2nd unit.
This is the same guy who insisted I bring the bike back to him for his diagnostics when it failed the 2nd time.
That didn't happen.

I did notice that the CDI mount is secured with 2 rivets. Mine was not tight to the frame but slightly loose at the rivets. Because the CDI screws to this mount my new one is probably loose as well. I had assumed that that was the way they were supposed to be. It does seem that it could vibrate unnecessarily being loose.

Actually the bracket bolts solid to the frame and the CDI attaches to the bracket with the rivets.
& yeah, when the rivets bottom out, the CDI is nearly snug, but not tight.
Don't know for sure if that's by design, but would guess so.
Don't know why it's done that way.
When the dealer put mine on, they had one end of the CDI snugged up tight & the other end real loose.

Great, an extended warrany might be necessary to cover an impending CDI failure at $525 a pop. I guess Lucas wasn't really that bad after all.

Lucas componants were great the wire harness sucked.

Dog, I like to agree with you most the time but I grew up on Triumph. There was nothing good about the prince, ever.

Naturally the CDI will fail again, its the same flawed part. It was never re-designed or recalled. If re-designed it should be recalled but you know they won't be doing that lol.

the magnitos in the 50s those things lasted 50 years or more wiuth nothing but points adjustment and the alternator in the 60s also lasted forever they had no contact points just a big magnet spinning inside a coil only way they failed was if someone didn't tighten the crank nut tight enough or forgot the lock tab.The generator in the 50s was OK not great but it worked. The ignition worked in the 60s bikes too. The Zenor diode wasn't the best idea to be sure but the retifier worked fine. The Typanium unit solved the Zenor problem and is even available now in a heat sink now so you can mount it in place of the diode sink and it will look the same except 3 extra wires. I have never had a Lucas componant failure that had anything to do with design just from many many years of service. The wire harness was another story however...

I too have grown up with Triumphs and have 30 years riding and building them them.

Then there is the old joke..Why do the British drink warm beer?

Because Lucas made the refigerators!

rhnstn, send me one of your burned out ignitor. i have a company that's interested in making these for us....angelis

PM sent.

I have some contacts that may be interested in manufacturing CDI units for us as well. If there are any extra burned out CDI's I'd like to see one too. Also, has anyone ever seen any schematics for the unit? Or know who produces them for Triumph? Any insider info on the CDI unit will help with the "backwards engineering" process.

Thanks,
John M.
The Colony, TX

Haven't had a problem with mine (yet) but if I did I would be interested in something of better quality. I have been hearing too many of these failing from triumph. So far I have not heard anything about what the underliing cause may be.

the more company's to get involved the better

Frank

The problem is the soildering process. If I can get one sent to me I could also look into getting them repaired. BTW, there is someone overseas who is doing repairs on the units. I lost the link and will try to find it later.....Angelis

Lucas..the man who invented darkness..

They're made for OEM customers by Gill Instruments.
http://www.gill.co.uk/products/digital_ignition/Motorcycle_prod.htm
One of my replacements was under warranty and the other was on goodwill.
As a result, I don't have the old ones.