Rick Olivers Programable CDI. Track day test.

[matty_boy]

Well I decided that November was a good time of the year to do a track day so I booked up Snetterton. While getting a few bits and bobs sorted on the bike I noticed that I needed a new clutch cable. Luckily for me Rick Oliver only lives 5mins down the road so off I popped. While I was there I started talking to him about these Programmable CDI's as I had fancied one but was not quite sure how it worked or what it did. So Rick asked me if I fancied giving one a bash around the track and let him have some feed back about how I got on.
Ok first off I did not snap his had off because as I have a full Tyga system fitted to the bike and I still need to get the bike fully sorted on the jetting, so I did not know whether it was going to be a good idea, or if I would see any gains or not. But Rick said just take it and have a go, so I did.
First off when I got there the track was wet and I had brand new tyres on so I wanted to run the OEM CDI, and off I went. Straight away I was getting naffed off with the way my bike was running, massive flat spot around the 6k - 8k mark and if I was in the wrong gear coming out of a bend the bike was really slow to pick up. So I finished off this 20 min session, but I thought I would keep the set up as is because the bike was cold and had not been used for a good couple of months. I also wanted to use up the rest of the normal fuel that was in the tank before I went over on to the higher octane stuff.
20 more mins around the track like the last, the bike was feeling good but I was still not happy wishing that I had got my finger out and sorted the jetting for the full Tyga system that I was running. So time for a change off comes the rear seat unit and out comes the OEM CDI and in went the new one with HRC power curve programmed in it. Fuelled the bike up with high octane full.
The bike started and off I went.............oh what a difference this made. To be honest I did not think that there was going to be much of a change by just fitting a new CDI, what with the jetting issues I had already but I was wrong.
The bike was like new, it did not feel like there was a massive BHP gain in power but it was just 100% better, if that make any sense.
When I was on the power the engine just span up quicker and was a lot crisper through the rev range, there was no loss of power at any point, no flat spots. I even tried to go round bend in the wrong gear and the bike just picked up quicker than before.
So on the whole even with me being on the fence when I tried the unit out I was blown away by how much difference this made to the running of the engine. I would not say it adds much more in the way of power at all, but by Christ it makes the engine perform better. It is now on my shopping list. So a massive thanks the Rick for letting me have a play around the track with it fitted.

So I would say that if you want your engine to rev smoother, run crisper and just work loads better then how the OEM CDI has your engine running then this is for you. Plus for the money it is one hell of a cheap "bolt on" MOD.

If you have any questions let me know.

Matty.

[royster81]

i was really interested to hear about this matty and thak you for posting it up on the forum,i also was chatting to rick about these and he told me you had it for the track day so if i just give you a little nugde you might post up about it.

my bike is similar to yours,system and jetting ,not much else so i was a little curious as to what this might do for me but i am happy to hear it did alot.
maybe i'll speak to claire nicely and she can get me one for crimbo ....

[Gazzahh]

CDI unit sounds good, you say you used high octane fuel? does the unit give more ignition advance compared to the standard unit?...

[matty_boy]

Yes GAZZAHH it advances the timing so it is better to run with the higher octane fuel to stop any chance of detonation.

Royster, I have been busy at home but now I am away at work I have some spare time to do a little write up on the unit, and I think that it deserved one as I was really was impressed with the difference that it made to the bike. I know that I will looking at getting one. But my bike is at Ricks at the moment getting some other work carried out, and what with moving house it might have to wait until next month. Glad you liked the write up.

Matty.

[CMSMJ1]

It sounds bob on Matty - I have one of these and found it "cured" my midrange fluffynies and also was alot more eager to pull harder.

This can be setup to pull whatever advance you want - I got it, rant +5 deg on top and used 99 octone and it ripped.

I had a map from Rick and with a tweak or two it was superb - the std ECU strangles the motor...
Bottom line is as Matty says biggest bang for your buck!

[Speedy]

When I swapped the O.E. CDI for the HRC unit on my RVF, I noticed the same things you describe! The revs build up a lot quicker, a bit like on a 250 2T on the boil!
I don't know what RickO is asking for these CDI's, but if I had an NC30 I'd definitely get one them!

[zimm]

good stuff matty :)

i found exactly the same with the box on my zxr.. flatspots and snatchiness brought about by fitting sp cams/beet exhaust/DJ needles all gone, and much nicer response all round ..

the advance can be put wherever you want it, so high octane fuel isnt essential.. but you have the option of making the most of it if thats what you want to use.

they are the ignitech boxes discussed in a few threads a while back and will work on any bike with the correct loom adapter from ignitech and (obviously) the correct ignition map.

all in all a good bit of kit that actually seems to "do what it says on the tin" and cheap too :)

[matty_boy]

Speedy I agree with you about the 2T feel I meant to add that to the review. When I was up in the high revs the engine reminded me of my 2 smoke.