BGM PRO vintage 12 volt CDI unit

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watto66
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Hello and Happy new year ,

Has anyone fitted or have any experience or thoughts on the new BGM PRO vintage 12 volt CDI unit manufactured to resemble a old type 6 volt type coil ? i need to replace my system and i have the BGM stator 120w V.2 on order but not the other components yet. I understand through reading other threads that the new red 12 volt BGM CDI is really good quality but probaly like a lot of others out there i really like the look of the vintage type. Any info' would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.
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byron
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jason frost
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Got some coming, will test them on Monday when I get back to work ;) and let you know what I think
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Philipp
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Hello everybody and a Happy New Year!

The bgm red CDI and the Vintage CDI do have the same internals. So they should work the same. We have tested the first prototype a year before and everything worked from the start. So did the first sample production set that was given to friends and good customers for further testing.

Wiring of the CDI is dead easy. You simply put the wires from the stator plate as indicated by the colour coded sticker of the CDI. (The first prototype had the green wire from the ignition next to the frame. On the serial production that was given out, this was changed so that the white wire sits next to the frame. So if the white (earth) wire touches the frame, there wouldn’t be a problem. Unlike if the green would connect to the earth of the frame. So I hope this puts the very offending post in the LCGB forums that we don’t test our things into perspective. We even ride the things daily.)
Back to the plot: The both connections on top of the Vintage coil are additionally earth connections, but can left unconnected without problems.

I don’t know what the reason is on the not or only poor working units. Please contact me or the dealer you got it from for a solution. For the unhappy customers, I will test the CDI before it is send off.

I hope this helps?

Cheers,

Philipp
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watto66
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Thanks for the information .

i think these are a great idea !.


Thanks again.
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ktmh5
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Hi Watto66,

I am the person on L.C.G.B. who had the problems with this new Vintage CDI.
The following is a copy of the e-mail that I sent To M.B. Developments:-

Received my Vintage CDI ok but a couple of us on the L.C.G.B. forum are having problems with it. I can get a spark but no way will the scooter start. I started the scooter with the old Indian CDI before I started to make sure all was well and there were no problems to begin with. I have fitted the Vintage unit after crimping on all new terminals to be certain of good connections. I am 100% that have connected it up right (same as the old unit) and also have run an earth to the negative terminal on the new unit, (even tried an earth on the positive side just to be sure). As I said there is a spark but it looks fairly weak. The scooter refused to start.

I then re-connected my old CDI and the scooter started first kick. The other guy on the forum cannot get a spark at all from his. Are we doing everything right as I thought this would be straight forward or could these be faulty?

I would appreciate your thoughts on this as I thought this would be a simple straight swap.

Kind regards,

Rich'
firekdp
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Philipp wrote:(The first prototype had the green wire from the ignition next to the frame. On the serial production that was given out, this was changed so that the white wire sits next to the frame. So if the white (earth) wire touches the frame, there wouldn’t be a problem. Unlike if the green would connect to the earth of the frame.
Could the faulty ones be first production, with the newer sticker (therefore green/white now in wrong positions)? :lol:
Adam_Winstone
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As I've posted on LCGB site:

OK, update time....

So, Gary came over to mine and I set about putting the BGM retro coil/CDI onto my daily use orange Vijai. The BGM item looked of the usual BGM good quality so, if truth be known, I wondered if we would prove that the item was fine and that Gary's setup was somehow wired in wrongly.

I had taken the time that it was going to take for Gary to get here to go on line and find out all that I could. Something that was noted was that the early prototype CDIs had the colours GRN, GRN, RED, WHT but that the production item (as per Gary's) was reversed to WHT, RED, GRN, GRN... and that the 2 screw terminals on the top (+ and - on original points coils) were additional earth points that did not need to be connected.

So, we bolted the whole lot to the rear frame strut and checked that it was earthing body to frame, which it was, meaning that all was well if the item earthed through the body.

Wiring up as the production sticker suggested gave no spark, not even a weak one.

Attaching an additional earth to the top terminals did not give a spark either.

Reversing the terminals (in case the sticker was the wrong way for pre-production or production) did not give any spark.

Additional earths on the top terminals did nothing, again.

Then, just in case the manufacturer connected the terminals incorrectly when talking about the change from pre-production to production models, we tried swapping all colours but this did nothing either.

Before giving up completely I decided to take out the HT lead and to trim the end back slightly to ensure (100%) that the contact was good where it screwed into the top of the CDI, even though there was virtually no chance of this being the case. I had already made sure that the end of the HT that we had been trying against the frame for a spark (no HT cap or plug to give false readings) was cut back so no issues there. However, when I went to screw the HT lead back into the CDI it kept turning and not tightening up :!: Unfortunately, with only light finger pressure the threaded contact/spike inside the CDI had sheared through and the HT lead could no longer be fitted :( This is not a case of over tightening as the HT lead never gave any resistance but just kept twisting.

Regardless of the fact that the contact broke off (something that has never happened to me before), this CDI simply didn't work when wired as marked and no permutation of connections resulted in a spark. To put it simply, the CDI didn't work. I feel for the suppliers of this item because the prototypes must have worked but it seems as though the production ones don't.

It should be noted that refitting the stator wires to my everyday CDI gave a healthy blue spark at low RPM by gentle kick-start use, showing that there is nothing wrong with my wiring, stator or any other part of the ignition system.

It'll be an interesting test to see how Gary gets on with returning this faulty item to the German supplier. When I asked him if he would ask for a refund or an exchange, he did say that a working exchange would be better than a refund as he still likes the idea (as do I) of these retro CDIs working.

Until the problems with these CDIs is solved, I'd suggest that people stick with their standard CDIs.

Adam
Yanker
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Adam_Winstone wrote: I feel for the suppliers of this item because the prototypes must have worked but it seems as though the production ones don't.
Top report, diagnosis and advice (as always) Adam

Can't see the point in the product personally (each to their own). Wouldn't a modern miniature version that eg. 'hid' under the toolbox and had as a consequence a much shorter HT lead be more practical? How many vehicles have standard copper core HT leads longer than a Lambretta's ......and only rely on one cylinder?
Adam_Winstone
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I like the idea of these as you should get a fully functioning and reliable CDI (replacement for traditional type) and not need to worry about doubling up on anything or hiding anything away. I would certainly consider buying one of these if I needed a replacement or a CDI for a bike that I was building. However, at this time it seems as though there are some gremlins that need to be worked out.

Good luck to the supplier for getting these sorted.

Adam

Edit: Philipp, please note that my response above is not intended to offend, just an objective post about my findings with Gary's example. I think that you have done a HUGE favour for the Lambretta riding scene by developing reliable stators and other very good BGM products. However, it seems as though you have some issues with these production CDIs.
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