Cag ignition

It seems to me that cags have a weak ignition. They always seem hard to start if the plug is not perfect and the spark looks weak. The guys at PSWS seem to agree with me and they feel that the ignition is stopping the engine from reving higher.

My X-1 has a fat blue spasrk and always starts with a few pulls. Cags always seem to have weak yellow sparks. My cag has a starting ritual that you ahve to do to get it to fire. Does any one have ideas for a stronger ignition or closing the plug gap for easier starting/higher revs.

Id buy an upgraded ignition just for easier starting.

i'll agree with you on that. most of the time the there is not a big blue kernel like we want. i gap the coil with a business card. Awhile back i remember seeng where somebody replaced the stock wire with an ngk 8mm one. They said it revved a little higher and might have been easier to start. The stock wire is pretty puny underneath the insulation. Ngk makes a universal type single plug wire kit, may have to look around for it. I slightly blip the throttle when i cold start, and can usually get her going on the 3rd or so pull.

Matt at PSWS told me he felt that it was the ignition, not breathing issues that was limiting ther revs and the output of the cag motor. I swear the ignition on all 3 of my cags puts out the sorriest tiny yellow spark of any CDI I have seen. Someone should do a coil kit or something.

To cold start my bikes I got to choke them, pull hard three times, then turn off the choke and crack the throttle slightly and is usualy starts on the next pull. If not I can pull forever. Then its remove and dry off the plug time. I run a 0,018" gap, any more and it seem like the igntion will hardly make a spark.

My X1 starts way easier.

It seems like all cags are somewhat hard too start.

I Came Up With This Crazy Idea To Go Ahead And Put The Msd Ignition That I Got On My Goped Onto My Pocket Bike. I Am Pretty Sure That I Got A Cag Hf But Not 100 % I Wanna Findout What The Hell It Is But I Am Ositive I Can Make The Msd Work Just Gotta Do It Also A Lil Time Advace Will Work.

I'm pretty sure stock ignition timing is fine. The real problem that doesn't allow for high revs is the puny port durations. Most are around 140* exhaust duration! Transfers can be as low as 90-100*! According to "the book" that is no good for high rpm use. 130/175 would be more appropriate. I still have a stock plug in mine, but think I need a hotter plug to burn some of the extra crap off.

Don't you have to carry around a battery pack and charger for the MSD? That would be a pain to deal with.

For the ignition hindering the rev ceiling, I was talking about fully built motors.

I was thinking hot plug as well but my motor has 13:1 with a TS Head kit and I was worried about detonation.

I swear, cags have the lamest looking sparks of any motor I have played with lately. There are a bunch of teenage kids in my neigboorhood with stock cags and they all stopped riding because one by one their bikes have stopped running and they lack the abilty to torubleshoot them.

When I look, the plugs are fouled and they hardly have any spark. Cleaning the plugs gets them going again for awhile.

I mean what do other people think? Do they agree that cags are somewhat hard to start?

All of my bikes have a blue spark. Gap your plug @.025 and file the corners of the side wire off, making a flat top triangle(very old and effective tuning trick). Align the side wire directly over the center wire. The stock plug connection IS A JOKE. At the very least tighten it up a bit with a pair of pliers but YES do replace the cap and contact with an NGK unit. I haven't tried pulling the wire out of the coil yet but an upgrade couldn't hurt. Gap the coil with a piece of standard printer paper. A business card is TOO thick. I've recently come across some information that's pointing Me toward using a timing key in at least one of my bikes.
If there's a REAL concern toward the integrity of the Cag coil then why has no one replaced it with say a Blata or Polini coil. Shouldn't be hard

Most recurrent starting problems are due to poor jetting. A properly jetted bike should cold start within 2 pulls with the choke and be kept running with throttle blips until the choke can be shut off.(15 sec.) I too usually crack the throttle when starting.

I also feel alot of parents buy these for their kids and later realize their not jump on and ride like a Honda. And if these folks are going by the manual ............., among other things, they're running too much oil and constantly fouling plugs. I'll be searching garage sales this summer for used bikes. Trolling for the $50 Cag.................

Banzai !!!!!!!!!!!!

ya u gotta recharge the battery on the msd but it gives u triple the spark plus with it a good battery u can run for like 4 to 5 hours str8 i mean really who rides for that long?

Thanks for the tips, I'll give them a try. I am doing better, I am inheriting free cags. The teenagers just give up on them and don't want them anymore. These OC kids have so much, selling them is "too much bother".

Will a balata or polini coil assembly bolt up to a cag motor easily?