this is a question that has come up on one of the bike sites i go to. there is a cheap coil upgrade for old hondas that involves using a coil pack from a newer GM ignition system, appearantly a bolt-on conversion with no wiring harness changes beyond a couple new terminals. the question is....which spark plug wires are best used with these coils....the stock wires on these bikes are 7mm solid core wires with resistor caps, and the wires that come with the GM coil packs are resistor[suppressor?]wires, right?. can the coils take using solid core wires or would it make any difference? anyone know? the stock coils on these bikes are 3.0 ohm units, if that helps.
All brands that are up to spec perform the same. "Claims of Horsepower Gain Every brand of spiral conductor ignition wires will perform the function of conducting coil output to the spark plugs, but NONE, despite the claims made in advertisements and other promotional literature, will increase horsepower. Independent tests, including a test performed by Circle Track Magazine (see May, 1996 issue) in the USA, show that NO "low-resistance" ignition wires for which a horsepower increase is claimed do in fact increase horsepower - the test also included comparisons with solid metal and carbon conductor ignition wires. http://www.magnecor.com/magnecor1/truth.htm"
Rob, I don't think that the wire itself will affect the coil performance. If I read your question right you are not asking about HP gains but rather whether or not you might cause premature failure to the coil if you use the wrong wire type. I have seen one '72 Honda 350 with a GM "points type" coil on it. It utilized standard GM carbon core wires. The coil was mounted between the head pipes and looked as goofy as could be. I needed some replacement wire one of my old Honda's and just picked up a length of solid core lawnmower/small engine wire. I think it was $0.25/foot. I know it's a pain with the older Honda coil packs because the wires are glued into the case unlike the competition that had a threaded type which made it easy to swap burnt coils or broken wires. From what I understand, if your current Honda coil is good you can drill out the old wire and epoxy in a replacement. If you are interested in the article I can dig it up for you. I still need to do this on my 550four.:TU:
we are not expecting any HP gains from just a wire change. the real gain will come from the hotter spark from the newer style coils. as a reference, the big aftermarket ignition switch for the bike in question [an early 80s CB] is to go to a Dyna unit which runs about $200. the GM coil packs produce about the same amount of spark and are almost free, found in just about every GM car made after 88. the distances the spark plug wires run is at most about a foot, and of course radio interference is not much of a concern:laugh: the question of which wires to run has to do more with efficency and compatability than anything else. would a suppressor wire work as well as or better than a solid core wire? would it make any difference at all in the long run? my contention is that one should use the spark plug wires that came with the coil packs. the OEM automotive wires will at least work with the coils and will make negligable if any difference in the delivery of spark to the plugs. we also have to remember that we are talking engines that spin at about 9-10 grand vs. big, slow spinning automobile engines, so there is a concern that automotive designed wire will not be able to stand up to the task of handling the energy delivery needed for a bike engine. this, i assume, is why solid core wire is used on bikes in the first place. i am only asking on a car site about a modification to a motorcycle because i was hoping someone had some knowledge about the coil packs i am talking about and how they work when applied to something other than their intended use. i would suppose that if these coil packs produce this much spark, they could be adapted to just about any ignition system for the same purpose. imagine a rack of 4 of these coil packs [two leads per coil] mounted on the firewall of my 69...
