Question for those with MikesXS Monster Green coils!

[TopCatGr58]

Hey there folks,

Okay, recent info from James/Tinman905 has revealed that the MikesXS Green Monster coils that were suggested and recommended (AFTER the MikesXS Black hi output coils were found to be bad)... have now been reported to be failing similar to the black ones. X-man 78's bike, was Manitouland's 81LH also had the Green Monster coils installed, and now it's having failing symptoms when the bike gets hot....more likely it's the coils getting hot and internally failing and loosing spark.

SO...just wanted to inquire for the general benefit of the other members that installed the Green Monsters from Mikes, how many miles do you have on them? The black ones fried after ~10k miles. I don't know how many miles X-man 78's has on the green ones, nor Tinman905's, but I just saw Nate's signature and noted the Green Monsters in it, just wanted to bring this NEW INFO into the open so that those with Green Monsters will want to be on the look out for similar symptoms....and possibly take a pair of their old OEMs with them on any LONG DISTANCE trips so that they can swap them out if/when the green ones fail, so they won't be stranded 100's/1000's of miles from home!

T.C.

PS, after my Black ones died, I got the BRAND DYNA's installed. But I have to preface this in that I don't put but a few k's a year on mine, took me 4 years to reach the 10k failure point that most others reached in about 1 year!

[Rooster]

2000 kilometers no issues yet but the rubber boots on the end of the high voltage plug wires are absolutely cracked to bits and that didn't even take 6 months. Obviously the NGK plug ends are fine as well nobody seems to have problems with them.

[tinman905]

I have about 9300 miles/15000km on my green coils and the are bad well the #2/#3 coil has crapped out on me.

[natemoen]

I am just over 5k on the mikes green coils.

If they crap out then I am getting dyna since they are CHEAPER than the Chinese crap Mike sells.

[James England]

With all the negative comments re Mike's XS coils, I'm surprised anyone buys them. I really do think you get what you pay for. Dyna coils are the best and you in the USA get them far cheaper than we do here in the UK. I bought mine from a seller in the USA and, even with shipping, it was less expensive than they sell for here.

Personally, I would not buy ignition coils from anyone with such a record of negative comments. 10k miles from coils??? Ludicrous.

[TopCatGr58]

Another one bites the dust

Just wanting to add to this thread, DGXser just reported a set of faulty mikes green coils on a bike he was working on for a fellow xsive. He replaced them with honda VF1000 and the bike ran flawlessly. The green coils tested within specs but did not perform properly. They only had ~5,400 miles on them, no where near the 10K+ that even the Black ones were reported to last!

T.C.

[STEPPENWOLF]

Just wanting to add to this thread, DGXser just reported a set of faulty mikes green coils on a bike he was working on for a fellow xsive. He replaced them with honda VF1000 and the bike ran flawlessly. The green coils tested within specs but did not perform properly. They only had ~5,400 miles on them, no where near the 10K+ that even the Black ones were reported to last!

T.C.

Ok that was my bike..after about 4000 miles it started to have a low end miss and slowly started getting worse.Then it became a real problem to ride under 3000 rpm,ran great after that....but as the low rpm missing became worse I always wondered if I would make it thru the next traffic light without stalling and possible backfire and drop the bike.
DGXER did all the normal things,colortune,sync,found a bad wire on the pickup coil,carbs gone thru,but still this nasty miss...so as it turns out the coils were bad. Put on at 79400 and replaced today at 85100 ...really disappointed as they worked great once I got going...

[DGXSER]

I think two things were going on, the rpms hid the miss to some extent. Also the higher voltage from the regulator at higher rpms gave the coils an increased output enough to decrease the effect of the weakened coils.

[BA80]

Still running the stock 32 year old coils without a problem. You think I should modify?

[DGXSER]

That old adage about not fixing what ain't broke comes to mind. Personally, I am a cheapazz so I would not change. But then, I might keep a spare set in my travel bag.

[TopCatGr58]

Still running the stock 32 year old coils without a problem. You think I should modify?

Hey there Greg,

I had the newer 81 series on mine that get the full 12 volts all the time, and they seemed to work just fine. After I put the first MikesXS ones on, I was surprised at how much easier and quicker it started. It seemed like it ROARED to life, not just started! I get the same feeling now with the Dyna coils as well. You've got the older ones that use the ballast resistor, and so they aren't getting 12 volts, usually about 9, and at low idle/rpm possibly even less due to low output from the ALT.

SO...I would suggest that you do upgrade, but with BRAND coils like Dyna or Accel, so that you will be assured of getting quality and a warranty! THEN you could use/keep your 30 y/o OEM's as a backup set.

I've got the little big bore kit, so I didn't see any increase in fuel mileage with the new coils, but I would think that they would help provide a little more of a chance for a more complete combustion with a stronger spark pulse. YMMV

I think you were making a tongue-n-cheek comment, but how much longer do you think you can rely on 30+y/o "electrical" equipment? I know there are no moving parts in the coils, but the plug wires and caps, insulation breaks down with age, corrosion, heat, and it's a real PITA to put new wires on the old coils. JAT!

T.C.

[James England]

Still running the stock 32 year old coils without a problem. You think I should modify?

Personally, I would. Nothing last forever... I'd only use green Dyna coils though.

[Getty]

Sorry to bring up such and old post. But, I have recently rebuilt my carbs again after 9 years (2 of them it sat in the garage)

Have a stumble at low rpm after and before the rebuild. It sat so long I thought it was from sitting and dirty carb syndrome. I bought a rebuild kit from partsnmore. They sent me the wrong idle jets. I told them I needed the 3 hole. They sent me a set of three hole for free- well 6 holes to be exact and seven if you count the one the bottom. I have chewed up the screwdriver slot so bad on my originals that i want new.

Anyway, I have been trying over and over again to set the mixture screws then sync (rinse/repeat). And day after day I could not get it to perform better. So after reading this amazing forum over and over, search after search.....

I replaced the sparkplugs today. Not started it yet. Then began to measure resistances on my Mikes XS Green Performance Coils (about 16k miles on them)
18.8k on (2) and (3). SHOULD BE 15k +-10% (16.5K would be max)
28.8k on (1) and (4). SHOULD BE 15k +-10% (16.5K would be max)

My feeling is I need new coils. I got new wires/caps with the coils 9 years ago.

After selling a house moving a couple times I realized my dumb butt threw away my original coils.

With my existing wires, caps, and plugs which coils should I Buy?
I want some coils that last. Think I spent $80 each on these Mikes ones. My originals are in some land fill probly still measure perfectly. DOH!!!

[bikerphil]

Most of us go with the Dynatek DC-1-1 as a superior quality long lasting replacement. New ones going for about $120/pr. on ebay.

[Getty]

Ordered from Amazon free two day shipping.

Thanks Bikerphil - I remember you helping me many years ago. Thanks again - I will let you know what I come up with after replacing.

Oh, two gently used Mixes XS Green Performance coils up for sale on Ebay. First come first serve. JK