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I will buy one if he makes them so that's atleast 2. I will also do a review on it.

I'd spring for one as well... basically I just needed to hear some first hand reviews on it before I went and bought one. I was leary at first, being a homemade product (not doubting anyone's abilities, I just don't know him personally, I'm weird like that). Sounds like its a nice upgrade to me.

Ok, I'm in. If he'll build them, I'll buy one.

A note to Jaguar: FWIW, I co-own a small internet company that makes classic musclecar parts. We've had similar requests on products that we made, discontinued for lack of sales, then had people wanting them. Here's how we handled it:

We had people pre-pay. We told folks on the forums that if enough people PRE-PAID for a given total number of units -- in our case, usually 10 units -- then we would do a small production run. Most people pre-paid for just one, some two, didn't matter. As long as we ended up getting pre-paid for the number of units we asked for, we did the production run.

It's easy for people to say "Oh yeah, I'll buy one" then not follow thru, leaving the vendor with money sunk into unsold units. We set the number of "pre-pays" at a level that we'd at least break even, that way the customers, not us, paid to get them made.

Sometimes it worked and people prepaid, sometimes not. But that way we made sure we didn't lose money. We run a business, not a charity.

BTW: I'll gladly prepay for one of these units.

Oh, forgot one last thing: when customers pre-paid for 10 units, it was enough for us to build 20. Once the pre-paid orders were filled, we had 10 more to sell for pure profit. If it took a year to sell them, no problem, they were already paid for.

chkdx wrote:Ok, I'm in. If he'll build them, I'll buy one.

A note to Jaguar: FWIW, I co-own a small internet company that makes classic musclecar parts. We've had similar requests on products that we made, discontinued for lack of sales, then had people wanting them. Here's how we handled it:

We had people pre-pay. We told folks on the forums that if enough people PRE-PAID for a given total number of units -- in our case, usually 10 units -- then we would do a small production run. Most people pre-paid for just one, some two, didn't matter. As long as we ended up getting pre-paid for the number of units we asked for, we did the production run.

It's easy for people to say "Oh yeah, I'll buy one" then not follow thru, leaving the vendor with money sunk into unsold units. We set the number of "pre-pays" at a level that we'd at least break even, that way the customers, not us, paid to get them made.

Sometimes it worked and people prepaid, sometimes not. But that way we made sure we didn't lose money. We run a business, not a charity.

BTW: I'll gladly prepay for one of these units.

Excellent points and a very reasonable way to handle it.

Maybe I should contact him again and see if he would sell the plans and the right to make them? I'm pretty good with a soldering pen/gun. Wouldn't really be looking to make money but I would really like this cdi to be available to the KDX community because what he has developed is that good.

It's definitely worth asking him. I understand that you're not in it for the money, just make sure you DO make a profit, however small. It makes all the difference, mentally, when you're putting in the effort to make it happen.

Also, keep in mind that sooner or later, if you sell more than one or two, something's going to happen and somebody's gonna want a refund WITHOUT you getting the unit back, or you get it back damaged. UPS lost it, it didn't work, it blew up my motor, yadda, yadda. It's gonna happen, and if you don't give the refund, you're gonna get slammed on the internet. Making a profit on them means you can absorb this without an overall loss.

Don't mean to discourage you, I hope you do it! Just don't sell your time and effort too cheaply.

I have one of these sitting on my shelf. Bought a 220 and it lost spark. Thinking it was the cdi I bought one. Turned out it was the coil so I never even tried it. The bike rips as is so I never though about that cdi. Maybe I'll try it one day.

Well, a little hiccup. Started my bike today and let it warm up for a ride. Everything was good and even rode it around the staging area a bit with no problem then parked it and waited for my buddy to arrive. It sat maybe 30 minutes. Buddy arrives and is finally ready to ride. Bike started fine and we take off. About 3/4 of a mile in my bike started to cut out when giving it throttle and within 30 seconds wouldn't run. Tried kicking it many times and it would fire maybe every 5 or so kicks for just a moment and back to nothing. Had to hike back to get my truck so I could rescue my bike. Finally get back to the staging area and starting checking everything and there is no spark. Checked all wiring connections including the kill switch itself. Luckily I kept the OEM CDI mounted to the bike, swapped the wiring, and it started first kick and ran fine the rest of the day.

Ok, with that being said, I don't know if the Jaguar CDI actually failed on it's own or something caused it to as I haven't investigated since I got home. This was the first time I had ridden with it since we got some rain and the humidity was over 50%. I did seal the CDI per Jaguar's direction on his website for my older CDI model against water/moisture. I need to pull it and find out for sure moisture didn't somehow get in there. I know it wasn't water as there was literally no standing water to get it wet. I'll report back as I find out more.

Well, after all this time, I should update this. I had put the CDI in a box of spare parts and forgotten about it. While searching for something else I rediscovered it. I finally decided to split it open to find out what happened. Turns out the semiconductor and a capacitor failed due to mechanical reasons. I believe that vibration was the cause of failure. Not sure which one failed originally but my guess would be the capacitor due to it's size.

That said, thanks to his info on digging in the factory CDI and how he said to mod it, and lessons from how this CDI failed, and learning how the different values affect the timing curve, I'm working on my own version. It's going to take a while, due to testing, but I think I can make one that works just as well but more robust.

Rebooting this thread due to my own current experience with the ignition system, source coils, and CDI's. Thanks for posting your update! Sounds like the Jaguar unit is pretty solid.

Yeah, still working on this upgraded/beefed up version. It got put on the back burner for a really long time and really need to get back on to it. Thanks for the reminder. BTW, the creator of the Jaguar ignition has made improvements over the version I originally purchased. I like the version I have for it's adjustability compared to his newer version but I do think his newer one is a more robust unit.

If you are serious about building a “more robust” cdi unit, I’m interested in helping you test and or would buy one. Could also help you sell at least two or three. Thanks!

I'm curious about these improved CDI units... Did you ever get very far with making a more robust version? Are there other aftermarket CDI boxes available for our bikes with similar improvements to the ignition curve?

Does Jaguar no longer make/sell them? The website link explains everything in great detail but I see no contact info or any way to purchase.
I was instantly hooked on my first real trail ride which was on my first KDX, 8 years ago, after a lifetime of BMX bicycles and vintage street bikes. The past two years I've gotten really really into riding my KDX on rugged gnarly terrain in the Appalachian hills and mountains. Now I'm just trying to squeeze every bit of suspension, engine, etc performance tweaks that I can out of it to further enhance my experiences on it. This sounds like another worthy endeavor.

Yes, I finished building the first batch and sold out of them already. I was selling mine for $120 shipped in the USA. Sadly, it will be a while before I build another batch as I'm in full swing developing an e-start for the KDX at the moment. Once I have repaid my e-start investor I will work on building some CDI's again. Here is more info on my CDI: viewtopic.php?f=77&t=25353

Jaguar is still selling his excellent unit. It doesn't have quite the adjustability of mine but is still a great piece. He's a member here so you can contact him via PM to get purchasing details. The only other unit I know of I think is out of Germany and it is a 100% digital programmable ignition and very expensive. However, it is the ultimate setup, IMO, if you want to really dial in the perfect ignition curve. Sorry, I can't remember the company's name that makes it.

My ‘pre-production’ unit built by SS109 is for sale. I tested it a few months ago and found that it does work, but it is more aggressive than what I need at this time.

I’m through Columbus about once a week, if you are interested in it I could deliver it to you.

MoonStomper wrote: ↑06:42 am Aug 25 2022 My ‘pre-production’ unit built by SS109 is for sale. I tested it a few months ago and found that it does work, but it is more aggressive than what I need at this time.

I’m through Columbus about once a week, if you are interested in it I could deliver it to you.

Thanks for letting him know! I figured you had already sold it.