Well, did some checking on the motor today. Pulled the shroud, pull start basket, and inner cover plate off, and sure enough, this motor is definitely not a points motor. It has two cdi pick ups, one in between each of the stator coils. So, that brings me to my next question. Does anyone know where to get a CDI box for a '77 Exciter 440 (actually SS433)? Is anyone running the Fireplug CDI that I've seen on the web? Are they good reliable units? I believe I can get one of those for around $160, and it would be new, which would probably be better than trying to find a 30 year old original Yamaha CDI, but are they a good substitute and do they work?
Now the only other problem is trying to figure out why they are running two individual coils instead of the original unicoil that the '77 should have. I was looking at the connectors tonight and one of the coils has a round barrel connector like original and the other has had a flat blade type aftermarket connector attached to it, which I know is probably not going to connect to any kind of factory connections on a CDI, so I may have to re-wire this with a barrel style connector when I get a CDI box. I was just wondering if running these individual coils might hurt whatever CDI box I put on it? Might even be the reason why this motor doesn't have a CDI box. If anyone knows whether or not running the two individual coils instead of a stock unicoil could damage the CDI box, please let me know. I've found a lot of unicoils for these motors out there, but I don't really want to have to buy something if I don't need to.
And one more thing, which may be kind of dumb, but would I know which coil was cylinder one and which one was cylinder two to get the timing right? Or would I run into problems trying to time this motor by running two individual coils instead of a unicoil with the CDI? As I say, I don't know much about the sled motors, but I'm trying to learn all I can about them for this project.
I think that's about all I've figured out so far. Thanks for taking the time to read this and for any suggestions, tips, or help anyone might be able to provide.
Now the only other problem is trying to figure out why they are running two individual coils instead of the original unicoil that the '77 should have. I was looking at the connectors tonight and one of the coils has a round barrel connector like original and the other has had a flat blade type aftermarket connector attached to it, which I know is probably not going to connect to any kind of factory connections on a CDI, so I may have to re-wire this with a barrel style connector when I get a CDI box. I was just wondering if running these individual coils might hurt whatever CDI box I put on it? Might even be the reason why this motor doesn't have a CDI box. If anyone knows whether or not running the two individual coils instead of a stock unicoil could damage the CDI box, please let me know. I've found a lot of unicoils for these motors out there, but I don't really want to have to buy something if I don't need to.
And one more thing, which may be kind of dumb, but would I know which coil was cylinder one and which one was cylinder two to get the timing right? Or would I run into problems trying to time this motor by running two individual coils instead of a unicoil with the CDI? As I say, I don't know much about the sled motors, but I'm trying to learn all I can about them for this project.
I think that's about all I've figured out so far. Thanks for taking the time to read this and for any suggestions, tips, or help anyone might be able to provide.