Reedspeed variable CDI

[Muppet]

kheper is muppets choice

[Donnie]

if the kheper failed I would put my standard CDI on that's in my toolbox, take the flywheel off, set stator to the 16 degrees mark and carry on.

As far as setting the Kheper up goes, There are ready made curves to use if you don't want to make one yourself. its not rocket science!

Never said it was, you still seem to think im anti the kheper, im not, I am just saying it's probably overkill for many scooterists. The fact there are ready made curves takes the work out of it im quite sure, but that's no different than the agusto or mtech to be fair.

The point of having a programmable ignition is that all engines are different, one curve that works well on one engine wont necessarily work well on another engine. that's the problem with adv/retard systems with a few set curves and is why I never ran an adv/retard system on any of my motors till a reasonably priced programmable one became available.

Again, while the kheper may have lots of adjustment, your downplaying some of the other systems out there, ok the agusto only has a few set curves, but it's a little disingenuous to say that about systems like the mtech, 16 is more than a few to choose from and I'd be very surprised if there are any scooters out there running one that couldnt find one to match.[/quote]

Its very easy to programme the curves, you just drag your curser. al you need to find out what curve would work is a dyno graph, tbh you don't even need that if you understand how and why an adv/retard helps your engine, just make a curve and try it, then make another and try that until one is found that works best. That method can be used using the curves that are already with the kheper, try one then try another and if you find that the motors works better at lower rpm with one and better at higher rpm with another you can then make your own curve which has the parts from the existing curves that you find work with your engine.

It really isn't as hard as you obviously think it is.

I never said it was hard at all, you're the one being defensive of the kheper and how wonderful it is, again, Im not saying it isn't, im sure its got its place, but your previous paragraph on setting it up just shows its weaknesses.
Putting aside the simple stuff like needing a dyno run (quickest way to set it up) the biggest weakness is one you pointed out, knowledge.

And there's the rub, many of these after market products are marketed to the general scootering public as improvements, upgrades etc but too many people literally think these items are plug and play / fit and forget. I mean forums are full of people that dont have the knowledge to do the more simple stuff like jet a carb never mind fit a kheper and try some of the curves, much less have the knowledge to test their own curves and hope the engine doesn't go bang :-/

[eden]

if the kheper failed I would put my standard CDI on that's in my toolbox, take the flywheel off, set stator to the 16 degrees mark and carry on.

As far as setting the Kheper up goes, There are ready made curves to use if you don't want to make one yourself. its not rocket science!

Never said it was, you still seem to think im anti the kheper, im not, I am just saying it's probably overkill for many scooterists. The fact there are ready made curves takes the work out of it im quite sure, but that's no different than the agusto or mtech to be fair.

The difference is that once you have ran it with the ready made curves and learnt what the differences are that you are not stuck with them, you can then programme your own to improve your motor even more!

The point of having a programmable ignition is that all engines are different, one curve that works well on one engine wont necessarily work well on another engine. that's the problem with adv/retard systems with a few set curves and is why I never ran an adv/retard system on any of my motors till a reasonably priced programmable one became available.

Again, while the kheper may have lots of adjustment, your downplaying some of the other systems out there, ok the agusto only has a few set curves, but it's a little disingenuous to say that about systems like the mtech, 16 is more than a few to choose from and I'd be very surprised if there are any scooters out there running one that couldnt find one to match.

what I'm saying is that the curves are best fits all and not specific to a certain motor, using a ready made curve is settling for something that's may or may not be quite right.

Its very easy to programme the curves, you just drag your curser. al you need to find out what curve would work is a dyno graph, tbh you don't even need that if you understand how and why an adv/retard helps your engine, just make a curve and try it, then make another and try that until one is found that works best. That method can be used using the curves that are already with the kheper, try one then try another and if you find that the motors works better at lower rpm with one and better at higher rpm with another you can then make your own curve which has the parts from the existing curves that you find work with your engine.

It really isn't as hard as you obviously think it is.

I never said it was hard at all, you're the one being defensive of the kheper and how wonderful it is, again, Im not saying it isn't, im sure its got its place, but your previous paragraph on setting it up just shows its weaknesses.
Putting aside the simple stuff like needing a dyno run (quickest way to set it up) the biggest weakness is one you pointed out, knowledge.

That is the case for all the advance retard units, you can blow your motor up if you choose a curve that isn't right. to fit any of the other advance retard units requires the same "knowledge" needed to fit the kheper, which is the point ive been trying to make all along. if your going to fit an advance retard why pick one that doesn't give you a perfect curve?

And there's the rub, many of these after market products are marketed to the general scootering public as improvements, upgrades etc but too many people literally think these items are plug and play / fit and forget. I mean forums are full of people that dont have the knowledge to do the more simple stuff like jet a carb never mind fit a kheper and try some of the curves, much less have the knowledge to test their own curves and hope the engine doesn't go bang :-/

I agree 100% with that statement, but as ive just said, the same applies to any advance retard unit, NON of them are plug and play and ALL of them can blow your motor up if you don't know wtf your doing.
Some of them that have selectable curves don't even actually advance or retard exactly the same as the curves they have in their literature! You can only see this when you use a timing gun in conjunction with a rev counter and have numerous timing marks set on your mag. Ive seen one unit advance steadily after 7k rpm. i'm not going to say which unit because it may have just been one faulty unit, I have no idea, but ive gunned a few units on my motor to see what they actually do and the only one that did exactly what it was supposed to do was the kheper!


I fail to see how something that does what it should do can be considered over kill.

By the way im not defending anything, all im doing is sharing what I have experienced on my own motor. if you think im arguing with you Donnie, your mistaken. im stating facts and your stating your opinion, which from the sound of it is an opinion based on hear say rather than actual experience of the kheper.


just to put some balance on what ive said about the kheper... I have had an issue with one kheper unit which was an early one. the problem wasn't with how it worked, it was due to the kheper's USB drivers not being reliable which meant that it was hard for my PC's to connect to it to load new curves. I passed this info back to the manufactures and a while ago they changed the USB interface and sent me another unit which has had no problems at all connecting to the PC. it wasn't plug and play as far as the USB connection goes but it is now

[Donnie]

OK, yes it is just my opinion to be fair, and your right about any adv/retard system can feck your scooter if you don't know what you are doing, I take your point. I do think though the level of knowledge required increases with each system eg static timing vs varitronic vs agusto vs mtech vs kheper in an increasing curve if you see what I mean, however you are kind of persuading me to a degree!

So, tell me what you have found as the benefits to your motor when it comes to the kheper? Is there any actual increase in bhp or is it a case of just smoother running?

[olliewtf]

going back to the original subject, I think the readspeed cdi has some nifty features which i think are being overlooked.
Ive got on waiting to fit; I got it second hand so was a steal, a fraction more than the cost of a genuine ducati cdi. I quite like that its an all in one unit for this reason.
Also, the fact that it allows you to set your ignition timing to a normal fixed point definitely puts it ahead of say, the agusto. this means that i the unit were ever to fail, you could simply whack on a cheap spare cdi to limp home on without having to change your ignition timing roadside. the other reason for this is, as mentioned earlier, to do with kicking over; if you kick over your scoot with advanced timing it can kick back and generally be a pain.

It has 3 curves built in which advance just after tickover and retard each at the same rpm (see graph on site), they just advance differently.
Now in an ideal world it would be great to program your own curve, but i feel for the average scooterist, these 3 may suffice to at least experiment with the novelty of advance / retard. I mean ffs, people are still buying agusto units even though theres all these multi curve devices out their now.

The readspeed has 4 other settings however. One returns you to your fixed ignition timing, which I feel is a great tool to show yourself the difference the unit is making at the flick off a switch roadside.
Then it features 3 more fixed ignition points each more retarded than the next, the idea being that if you notice lean running or hot running due to an air leak or bad fuel you can reduce your timing to cool things down at the flick of a switch.
I think thats pretty cool for a unit with the same price point as most other units. plus it has a cdi built in.
I think more people should fit them just in case when i come to fit mine i have problems with it, people can help me

[fishi]

you can try a HHP vCDI from SIP in Germany, it is similar to the Reedspeed, but with different curves

[eden]

[Donnie]

More like steps as opposed to a slope then?

[fishi]

???

[Donnie]

Seems to have erased the post which actually made a lot of good sense to me and was starting to make me entertain the notion of trying one on my next motor.