CDI compatibility issues

[oldskool]

Does anyone know if a chinese knock off unbranded CDI will work on a Jap bike?

Case in point. I have a Honda XR200R 2 valver. There are a number of chinese knock offs of the older pre 80's Honda pushrod motor.
A genuine replacement CDI ex-Japan is $360.
A 20 yr second-hand original part anywhere between $40~$80
A new unknown chinese part with identical connections between $15~$50

A CDI's charge is triggered by a pulse signal. Without testing the resistance across the pulse coil and comparing specs (hard to obtain from chinese part) has anyone had first hand experience trialing and testing these cheaper unknown brands. Tested for: whether they work with an equiv cc jap bike, their advance curve, peak rpm range.

[birdhandler]

You may want to look at this unit or read about it before making a choice.
Given the price of the chinese unit i would just give it a try
Cheers

[craisin]

well i have 2 lifan engines one 48cc and the other 86cc the 48cc had a CDI with 4 wires and wired to work off the rectifier while the 86cc was bought new and had a five wire CDI that can be wired to run with no rectifier or battery well I broke the crankcase on the 86cc motor so i had to reinstall the 48cc so i decided i will use the five wire CDI on the older motor and it works but i had to use the little coil off the newer motor as the other coil is big and wouldnt do hi revs till the little coil was used both motors are horizontal motors that dont rev as high as the vertical motors that have a six wire CDI that does more revs than the horizontal motor I may be getting cheap an XL250 bike thats could respond well to a new 6 wire CDI I figured things out for myself and it was simple but time consuming. Lifan wiring code is the same as hondas too I reckon it will work

[craisin]

well I use lifan CDIs a friend and I have been talking about getting some cheap no name CDIs and removing them from their case and mounting them on a heatsinkbut another part of me cant be bothered

[awayatc]

try googling it....remember years ago (pre Chinese bikes)when I had similar issues to have stumbled upon a very helpfull page dealing with the whole CDI issue for under 250cc bikes and cheap replacement options......

[oldskool]

well i have 2 lifan engines one 48cc and the other 86cc the 48cc had a CDI with 4 wires and wired to work off the rectifier while the 86cc was bought new and had a five wire CDI that can be wired to run with no rectifier or battery well I broke the crankcase on the 86cc motor so i had to reinstall the 48cc so i decided i will use the five wire CDI on the older motor and it works but i had to use the little coil off the newer motor as the other coil is big and wouldnt do hi revs till the little coil was used both motors are horizontal motors that dont rev as high as the vertical motors that have a six wire CDI that does more revs than the horizontal motor I may be getting cheap an XL250 bike thats could respond well to a new 6 wire CDI I figured things out for myself and it was simple but time consuming. Lifan wiring code is the same as hondas too I reckon it will work

Thanks for sharing your experience. Interesting your comment about the HT coil. It's great you could get the CDI discharging with the pulser sweet. Gives me hope that the chinese 6 pin CDI could be interchangeable.

I just received the '82 metal CDI yesterday and of the 6 wires only one was colour coded different. The plugs are mostly male on the '82 as opposed to mostly female on the original '86 CDI. With a quick bodge I could test for spark. There was. Today I'll wire it up properly and check to see how high and quickly she'll rev out to.

The plastic chinese CDI I saw on Trademe has identical plug mount as the original '86 Honda CDI. For the $40 it may be worth getting one to test. It's probably a good idea to keep a spare in the toolbox anyway. My concern would be how long will they last, especially when you're deep in bush.

[craisin]

sounds good because of copyright there is always something different and as long as you know it its easy to sort it out the 90cc was in a RM so thats why I wired it to run with no battery less weight when offroad and less things to break down. Sweet as Old Skool if you get a spare CDI you will never need itif you dont get a spare you will need itthats how it goes

[oldskool]

Holy crap what a difference the older '82 metal box CDI made. The XR200 actually has a mild powerband after all! It revs out like I remember and then at a guestimate of around 4000RPM it just frees up and lets riiip. Unreal.

What was a bit of a worry tho' was there were no warning symptoms of the original '86 plastic box CDI breaking down. Had a big ride at Glen Murray, parked it after giving it a wash, and a week later went to do the weekly kick in the guts and she wouldn't start.

Next step is to order a chinese copy and give it a go. I think it's been established trial and error is the only way to go with the knockoffs as they don't usually come with any documentation. The search criteria I'm putting into Google fails to come up with anything.