CDI differences

[Neil E.]

A forum user recently PM'd me to ask why he could not kickstart his 2014 bike with the key switch connector removed. I had a look at the 2014 wiring diagram and it shows the CDI as being DC powered via the battery.

Older bikes like my 2011 power the CDI via the single winding on the stator. The CDI gets AC power and no battery is needed. The battery is present just to operate the estart.

The ignition switch is the same and has identical function. OFF = ground the ignition and ON = switch the battery circuit. It just happens that the battery circuit is needed to power the 2014 CDI (via the key switch).

So the 2014 does not have anything connected to the single winding on the stator. The grounding is also different in that the output of the flywheel pickup is what's being gounded. Thus the 2014 CDI gets no trigger pulse when grounded by key switch or kill button.

In the old system, the grounding is done directly to one of the pins on the CDI. I have not checked CDI part numbers, I'm just posting this so others will be aware that parts may be different between model years.