Coil modification

[James England]

I've been reading the posts about ignition coil replacement on the XS1100 and wondered if anyone could give me some input please. I just read MikesXS High Output Ignition Coil Upgrade on the site and it sounds really good. However, I'd like to be sure that it will suit my bike.

Mine is a 2H7 XS1100E from 1979. European version of the bike with square everything (including me). It has the 2H7 black box, original ignition coils and ballast resistor. The sparks at the plugs are not exactly powerful although the bike starts immediately and runs fine. "Leave well alone", I perhaps hear everyone say? I'm not sure what to do. I'd like more powerful sparks and am not sure about relying on 30 year old coils.

The modification mentioned in the MikesXS tip sounds good. If I fit these coils, do I need to disconnect the ballast resistor completely by unplugging it or do I have to join the wires together? I'm assuming the latter....

Would the above have any possible detrimental effect on the black box at all?

Any input would be greatly appreciated.......

[DGXSER]

Hi James,

The Mikes coils are a great upgrade. More than a few folks have found the black ones are not very long lived, but the higher performance, and $, green ones are.

You will need to bypass the ballast resistor when you upgrade the coils. There is no long term effect to the TCI as it is still doing the exact same thing as it always has been, your just not losing half of it to a heat sink. Yes you want to jumper the connector or cut the wires and join them together.

[b.walker5]

If your a bit short of ready cash and have a good bone yard close by here's an option the Poms have come across http://www.benefiscal.co.uk/forum/in...p?topic=3320.0

and alternatives to the VF ones are here http://www.benefiscal.co.uk/forum/in...20754#msg20754

I just fitted CB900 coils to mine and they seem to work great.

[DGXSER]

Perhaps I did not read deep enough, but, do those Honda coils have the increased performance of the Mikes XS coils?

[Elevener]

You dont need to cut or jump the wires, just unplug and plug into each other.

[James England]

Thanks for that everyone. Unfortunately, MikesXS won't ship to me here in the United Kingdom. I emailed and asked but he just said he will only ship to the US.

[natemoen]

When you go to mikesxs homepage there is a list of 4 other partner sites around the world. One in Canada, Netherlands, Germany, and Japan. I bet at least one of them ships to the UK

[James England]

When you go to mikesxs homepage there is a list of 4 other partner sites around the world. One in Canada, Netherlands, Germany, and Japan. I bet at least one of them ships to the UK

Thanks for that. Yes, the German site ships to the UK and I've found the coils there....like everything else in Europe, the coils cost significantly more than in the US....

[FJ111200]

Hey James,

have you viewed or registered on the UK site?

www.benefiscal.co.uk/forum

[James England]

Hey James,

have you viewed or registered on the UK site?

www.benefiscal.co.uk/forum

I've tried at least half a dozen times to register and receive a message saying I'll receive an e-mail to complete registration etc. I never do. I gave up in the end.....

[James England]

Dyna coils

Am I right in thinking that the green Dyna coils... 3 Ohm... which have the HT lead outlets both on one side, sloping back... would be Ok to use on a 1979 XS1100 with the ballast resistor bypassed? The bike has the 2H7 black box.

Are the benefits of changing the OEM coils to Dyna coils worth doing then? My coils work fine and start the bike immediately. I also have a spare pair of OEM coils.

By the way, both sets of coils I have show a LT ohm reading of 2.2 ..... is this too high? (can it be too. I'm using a small digital multimeter which I tested the pickups with and got a perfect reading, also same on the ballast resistor. Any ideas anyone?

[Elevener]

If you read the posts, did you see one where somebody said they couldnt tell the difference and its not worth doing?

You just think it starts good now, I thought mine did too.

[yamahansolo]

I have been using the black ones on my 79 for 2 years no problems... I have heard if you pull a plug wire off to see if it sparks it will wear out faster

[James England]

If you read the posts, did you see one where somebody said they couldnt tell the difference and its not worth doing?

You just think it starts good now, I thought mine did too.

Yes, I saw that one. But there are several posts on the UK XS1100 website where people say they fitted the Dyna coils and it was better. I do wonder though... I mean my bike performs much better when I've cleaned and polished it.....

Do you personally find any difference with the green meanies fitted then? Or is it just the same?

[natemoen]

I put new wires into my stock coils and saw some improvement in it. I then earlier this year put the green coils on and saw a significant increase in my bikes pep and response. I would call it a great swap to do but absolutely not necessary if you have good coils. If you just want to see the best out of your bike, then its worth doing, I think.