Stick Coils

[Lonerider62]

This has been a great discussion of the ignition system and I'm sure anyone with a good understanding of either type could improve the stock system if they wanted to. A feature I can appreciate of the stock igniton on my 80 SG is it's simplicity. In comparison to my "08" FZ1 which is completely computer driven and has so many sensors that help the fuel/igniton systems determine how much fuel to inject, then exactly when to fire the spark, the XS system seems like child's play. On the converse, when the FZ is running fine, it's amazingly efficient, but when a problem occurs, it can be a real problem trying to figure out exactly which element within the system is malfunctioning. Even the liquid crystal display that gives error codes isn't much more than 50% correct when trouble shooting. My triumph even had a OBDII connector for troublshooting. That's also a real treat, do you believe the scanner or not? I flip a coin and the very best is still to have a like vehicle you can swap parts with because with electrical parts, you can rarely return them when they are not the problem. And that gets expensive, fast!

[daveyg]

Most Harleys use two types of coils~~one type with three primary connects~~another type with two primary connects;~~which type did you switch over to the XS650? Curious, if you took an ohm reading of the Harley coil, and if it was similar to ohm reading of what the XS650 coil reading was supposed to have been?

I used one with two studs and nuts, just took the old messed up coil and cut the leads off, crimped on two eye connections and nut'd them on, that way i was still able to use the factory quick disconnect plug. The bike was a 1981 CDI bike, so I was told from the xs650 forum guys that it would work, several of them run the same setup, and claim great results. The H-D coil was even a lightly used one I sourced from eBay...