Lloyd, I have done the bench sync, cam chain, valve adjustment to get this far, set the float levels, and the only thing I haven't done is the vacuum sync. I do have the vacuum gauge set, used it quite a few times on other bikes, and it works well.
Time to test how well your bench sync was, no?
I also have not done a compression check, but it seems pretty healthy, this bike pulls really well up past redline, hit 10krpm once and it still wanted to pull!
Anyway, I think the resistance on the coils might be part of the problem, too.
Why are you guessing instead of testing and assembling "known facts" about your engine? One gets the impression you are lonely for conversation.
I am running the yellow Accel coils with the yellow spark plug leads, they do not have resistor caps, and I was running non-resistor plugs.
Do you have a specific reason to run Accel coils? Does your engine have more compression pressure than the stock one? Are you experimenting with larger spark gaps?
Aren't these spark leads suppression types? These have resistance built into them and can break down with age and vibration. New, they would work the same (mostly) as having resistance in the plugs and/or the plug caps. The issue is the total series resistance that exists between the coil and spark plug. For D8 heat range spark plugs, you should have about 5K total series resistance in the coil to gap pathway. But, this can vary dependent on coil design parameters. Have you measured the coil secondary resistance. This is part of the total loop resistance of the secondary circuit. Stock was in the neighborhood of 15K Ω for the coil and 5K (x2) for the plug caps giving the total loop resistance of about 25K. I've not had occasion to measure Accel coils or their offering of wires.
I have installed DR8ES-L plugs now (haven't checked them yet), and was thinking I might need a ballast resistor on the coils. What do you think? Would it help the ignition system to put a Ballast Resistor on the 12vdc coil feed?
A series ballast resistor lowers the operating voltage to the coils, as well as lower it's current demands. Higher current demands on standard point impact their service life due to increased contact surface heating. A ballast resistor helps this.
On the output side of the coil, a ballast resistor makes little difference, as the voltage in the spark gap is determined by the gap distance and the physical attributes of the atmosphere within that gap. High compression, for example, requires more voltage to make a spark jump than a lower one. This is why built performance engines need a higher spark voltage that stock coils may not provide consistently. "High performance" coils do not make more power in engines that haven't been built to make that power in the first place.
SOHC4 coils are comprised of two windings wrapped about a common metal core. They develop an output voltage relative to the input voltage based on a "turns ratio". For simplicity of concept, say the input winding is 10 turns and the output winding is 100 turns. This is a 10 to 1 ratio. The coil would output about 10 times the input voltage. 12V becomes 120V. If you lower the input (primary) winding turns, to say 5, you've increased the turns ratio to 20:1, and for the same input voltage of 12V the output would provide 240V. Lowering the primary turns shortens the wire which lowers the resistance and lower resistance draws more current. Adding a ballast resistor, in effect, adds more wire, but is also lowers the operating voltage getting to the winding where the work is done.
How about resistor caps, would have to make up new wires, or disconnect the stock Accel plug caps and install 5k NGK ones... think they are needed? Or none of the above lol... Thanks!
Do understand that resistance in the secondary or spark side of the coil behaves very differently in function and effect than resistance in the input or primary side of the coil circuit.
On the secondary side of the coil, the resistance determines how fast the energy is delivered to the spark gap. Too little resistance results in a quicker rise time and a rapid dump of the energy into the gap, shortening the event time. Too much resistance and there may not be enough voltage or current to sustain the spark for the desired duration. The actual voltage developed is determined by the spark gap distance. For the SOHC4 swirl quenched chambers, a longer duration spark is desirable to involve as much initial charge as possible at the beginning of the combustion cycle.
Cheers,
