Bonneville America Forums Forums Technical Forums Performance Mods Procom CDI Users

So, if you open the software and open(double click) say,,,, download #5.

The first screen i see is TPS & RPM(in blue), I see a graph.

I click on RPM & Timing(in red). I see another graph.

If I download(or Upload)to the CDI.

Which "graph" will the CDI use?

TPS or RPM?

Thanks

it will automatically download both, since it uses both at the same time

When does one overide the other?

if you have your TPS disconnected it won't use that setting

I put a pro com on my speedmaster this weekend. I am running the #10 tune. I am impressed so far. It really pepped up the top end.
did the ton quicker than I recall with the stock CDI.

My stock and ProCom CDI, misadventures.

I’ve owned two of our Colonial Cruisers. A 2003 America, purchased new and a 2004 Speedy purchased in 2010.
In the summer of 2011 while on a journey to and from the west coast with some friends, EnglishYank, Chy and Moe the cdi on my 03 laid down in the heat of a Amarillo, TX truck stop, the bike had no fire from either cylinder. Chy with clear and calm head quickly diagnosed the problem in about two minutes. What now, 2500 miles from home on a Sunday if I recall. No problem say’s Chy I have a spare CDI in my tool bag, say what, yep I brought an extra one just in case. Well I'll be darned, talk about being prepared. I guess that made up for the spare coil I loaned him. So we made the swap and are back on the road in no time putting Amarillo and the west in our rear views. The unit got me home with no more issues.

Back home I ordered a ProCom from our good friend Eddy. Installed the booger on the 03 and could never dial it in correctly. The 03 just would not accept the ProCom. Assuming it was faulty I returned it for a replacement, in the mean time I robbed the stock unit of the 04 Speedy. Plug her in the 03 and boom, life is good, she’s happy, I’m happy. When the replacement Procom came in the speedy was still undressed so I just installed the new unit on the Speedmaster, after a few days I settled on setting 7 and the bike ran great other than a longer than normal warm up which apparently seems normal with the Procom.

Over the next couple of years the Speedmaster ran great but I started having little nagging issues with the 03 America running the Speedy stock CDI. Idling issues, harder to start, lots of popping. I’m rejetting, cleaning carbs, checking vacuum leaks, charging issues you name it. The bike has 62000 on her clock so I begin to assume she is getting tired of my ass riding her everywhere. Then it happened the CDI went belly up, the one from the 04 Speedmaster. 2002/2003/2004 where not good years for the stock cdi units.
With a bit of hesitation I ordered a ProCom from Eddy for the 03 America. Knowing her reaction from 2011 I was ready for fight but by god she would just have to accept an aftermarket unit or find herself sitting in the corner with the spider webs.
I checked the settings on the unit for the America and set it on recommended #4, pull out the choke ( Yes I know it’s not a choke), hit the button, vroom, fires right up. Sweet, button her back up and away we go, very cold natured and had to leave her choked for about 3 miles or more but she ran great and pulled strong in all gears. After a few trial and errors we’ve settled on the #6 setting, runs great, still takes a bit longer that I like to warm up but much improved over the other settings.

I’ve found over the last few weeks is I’ve gone back to the normal settings on Idle speed, pilot jets, etc. no more popping on decal just the slight gurgle we enjoy. Starts right up and runs better and stronger than it has in years.
Basically in my observation I’ve found the stock unit CDI's slowly weaken over a period of time ever so slightly it’s not really noticeable causing other issues until they crap out.

Additionally there has been lots of conversation as to why the units fail, other than not being a quality part I think ( as many have suggested) it is simply heat related and not an issue of getting wet. It’s just a bad location that could be easily corrected in production with a different wiring harness.
I’ve ended up with three of the stock units and decided to cut into one of them to see what ticks. I took my dremel tool to one of the units and what I found is the black outside is a plastic cover that is completely sealed. After spending a lot of time cutting into the unit to find another completely sealed box inside which looks to be a pored formed unit made of what looks to be a bakelite material. You old heads will recognize bakelite from radios back in the day.
In my opinion the only way water could effect this unit would be at the plug connection and not internally. A good slathering of die electric grease will address that issue.

Thanks for shedding light, and offering your take on the CDI failure issue. I ride an '03 with around 60,000 miles using the original CDI... however, I do have a Procomm sitting in reserve just in case. It seems to be a bit hit and miss with these bloody units. A couple of years back I was riding in the rain when my bike began to sputter and cough. Later on I hit ALL connections with dielectric grease and haven't had a problem since but can't say it was the CDI getting wet causing the issue. I did notice hairline cracks in the 'bakelite' resin on the CDI but based on the autopsy your performed, that may not have contributed to any problems.

Well guys I'm moving over here to update you on my Procom experience thus far. I now have ridden over 300 miles since I put it on last Thursday. I am happy to say that the old chap is running great! I have not had my left cylander cut out like it was before. The first time I had a cylander cut out was at the end of August. It would cut out and usually kick back in within a few miles. I would be out riding for a bit then just like that I would lose the left cylander. It would happen pretty much daily. I did all the checks and from lurking on here for as long as I have I was certain it was the CDI. Well like I said, over 300 miles and no problems. I set my Procom on setting 7 which matched my unit number,1292060. It runs much better and I don't seem to have issues at idle or with it taking any longer to warm up than it did before. So far my experience has been positve. I am looking forward to downloading some of the maps after I do some mods this winter.

Hey all,
Wanted to relay my apparent CDI issue and see if there is any more consensus or advice / solutions to the cold start issue that seems to happen with the procom unit.
It appears that my stock CDI is toast, but I haven't been 100% sure of that (or that it is the only issue) because I tried a procom unit and it has the startup issues. Basicaly, it won't start with choke on, it will with choke off, but won't take throttle for a few minutes until warmed up. To me, this is not an acceptable fix. Like others, before I started having issues, my bike would start with full choke and I could ride away on choke until warmed up. I read all the way through this thread (and other threads) and it seems that some others have the same problem with the procom but what I can't tell is if trying the various downloadable maps has fixed the cold-start issue??

I'm really frustrated with this because both my stock CDI and the procom have the same start up problem - they won't take the choke and I have to wait MUCH longer to ride away than before. The difference is, the bike seems to be warming up and responding better with the procom. If one of the downloadable maps takes care of the start problem I will be happy. Any thoughts??

A few notes: I have an '05 TBA AI removed, stock Airbox and filter, 122.5 mains, 42 pilots, stock exhaust. Bike has the CA vapor canister. I disconnected that and plugged all vacuum ports to see if it matters; didn't seem to. Procom setting is supposed to be 4, but I talked to Procom and my model year could be setting 4, 5, or 6. 6 seems to run the best so far.

Thanks!

I am curious about the fact that both units act the same on start up, how does the bike run when it is warmed up? Starts easy? these are cold blooded bikes. I never run my bike with the choke on. First run of the day i know it will take a good 5 minutes to warm up enough to run without the choke. Have you messed with the air/fuel ratio at all?

Thanks for the reply. Don't have much experience with the procom unit at this point. It was a test at the shop. With my stock CDI in, the bike used to always start with choke (enricher) on and idle at 2K - would take throttle - I could ride pretty quickly even at 40 deg F ambient. Then one day, literally overnight, it would not take the choke, but with moderate ambient temps (50+) she would start w/o choke, would not take throttle well, but I could let it idle for 5 mins or more, then ride off. Mostly would ride well except it would cut out at lower RPM sometimes cruising along. Then starting became a chore and 1 cyl would not fire. Took it to shop. Shop determined it was CDI, tried the procom. It would not start with choke, but would w/o choke, does not take throttle for a few minutes, then seems fine. Trying to fix cold start, the shop also upjetted, cleaned some carbon out of one carb (presumably from the poor starting/ running) and re-set the idle mixture.
I was worried that CDI may not be bad after all, so I tried swapping units back and forth. One telling difference; holding RPM at 3K (not riding), the bike would hold steady with the procom, but would rise to 3500 -4K and then drop and repeat with my stock CDI. Also - with both units during that test, for some reason it just backfired and died. Maybe that was due to fouling when it was running crappy on the stock CDI?

So, I'm pretty sure the CDI is bad but I would have thought the Procom would fix it 100%. Normally, I'd be assuming that the CDI is not the whole problem, but I've read here that others have had cold start issues with the procom.

Maybe I was just really lucky that I never had to wait very long to ride off (with choke on. The bikes do run lean from the factory, and prior to this I had stock jets, so maybe the choke fattened things up to a better mixture whereas now it's fat with the new jets? I just think it's wierd that the bike now STILL won't start with the choke on. Before this problem arose, I would literally have to use the choke EVERY TIME if the bike was shut off for even a few minutes. Maybe she was just very lean before??

Thanks for listening!

My theory is that low voltage causes the start up problems for both the stock CDI and the Procom.
So far the rectifier mod (found elsewhere on this forum) seems to be the best fix.

Thought I'd post an update. mag10 thanks for your thoughts on the r/r. I will do the mod soon and see what happens.

After checking for spark with both CDI's, I was getting no spark on one cyl with old CDI and spark on both with procom, so I bought the procom at the Dealership where I had taken it to be fixed. She starts w/o choke and will run now when I try pulling the choke out, but not smooth. She idles much better with no choke, but will not take throttle unless she warms up a bit. Once warmed up she ran quite well going home from the dealership. I rode to work this AM and she ran worse than before I took to the shop! A lot of misfires and hesitation on steady (especially low) RPM. Twist the throttle and she hesitates at first, then responds well. Seems like a lean mixture issue in the pilot circuit, but I'm wondering if the r/r is in fact the issue??

Mike(FLYFISH) since the issue with your bike not wanting to start with the the choke out is present with both cdis I suspect that the cdi is not the problem. You should check to make sure that your gas tank vent tube is not pinched, make sure that your petcock is not gummed up with junk, and check the hidden fuel filter in the T fitting between the carbs. The "chokes" on our bikes are not actually chokes but fuel enrichers. When you pull it out it pulls more fuel into the carb, if you have a clog or obstruction pulling the "choke" or enricher out may be creating a vaccum effect and actually cutting fuel off to the carb instead of pulling more into it.

Also make sure that the hose that fits onto the t fitting between the carbs is not pinched, that will cause problems with the choke as well.

There are two T fittings on our carbs. The second,lower one is a vent. If the vent hose is pinched or obstructed it can cause the carb to flood, especially if the choke is out. I accidently pinched that hose on mine when I removed the airbox and my bike would not run with the choke out but would with it in. When I went over my work I noticed the pinched hose and rerouted it so that it was not pinched and my bike ran fine. It sounded a lot like the symptoms that you describe. Some have even removed the hose all together and allow the carb to vent at the "T" fitting. What you describe sounds like the carb is flooding when the choke is pulled out. As your issue was present with both CDIs the problem is almost certainly with the carb.

Just got my cdi how do I know what map is on it and what the rev limiter is set at?


I have a 865 with TBS needles, k&n pods, and a pretty open pipe. So I'm thinking the #6 map will be best. Does that sound right.

yours has a custom map and the limit is set at 9500 I think. maybe 9000
I can email you a few more custom maps or you can use the ones on the disk

I couldn't get the CD to work but I got the program and driver to download. I also download map 6. I Think I ended up putting map 6 on it. I don't really have that much done to the bike for a custom map yet.

Ok quick question My battery never last through the first start of the year. I have used a jumper pack on the bike before should I be concerned using one with the procom?

should be fine

Thanks I might go try it tomorrow it was inup to 45° today. It will be so nice to hear it run on 2 cylinders again.

Well I put Map 6 on and when out and tried it to day. No spark put the old CDI back on and I have spark. SO I went in and put the default map on the Procom and it fired and ran. I am thinking it was to much for it so I will try something a little more mild when it gets a warmer that way its not fighting to start in 40 degree temps

Had a idle issue and dying when stopped. Idle was set at 1200.
Replaced a Procom I've been running four years with an OEM unit. Solved the problem

2005 America operated @3500 ft above the coast. AI and snorkel removed, a few holes drilled into the last two baffles of the stock slash-cut pipes, 125 Mains, NBZT (Thruxton ?) needles, 1-1/2 turns out, idle @950rpm, ProCom set on #5. No complaints. A/F @ 13/1 - 13.5/1 cruising up to 3500rpm, WOT@7000rpm: A/F 11/1. I have not experimented at other ProCom settings, however the bike was on #4 before I tuned the jetting w/wideband O2 sensor installed. Could not tell any difference w/seat of the pants dyno.