Ignitech TCIP4 Sparker Ignition

[#99]

After I mentioned I had installed a programmable ignition in another thread I was asked to tell a little more about it. I figured this was the best place for it, though I wonder if a 20 year old bike still qualifies as a "modern" Ducati.

A while back I did some simple engine mods to the exROB '91 900SS which I planned to exclusively on the track. J&E 11.5:1 pistons, Yoyodyne flywheel, 41mm FCR's and a lovely ArcFab stainless pipe. It all seemed to to work very well at the track, but eventually I sold my 748 to get my AZ driving license and sold the FCR's and the ArcFab pipe for rent money . The 900SS would go back on the street.

I then became aware that the hi-comp pistons and stock ignition posed some problems that were not apparent at the track. The stock Kokusan "igniter boxes" don't provide an advance "curve" they just provide a base (idle) advance and then kick in full a 36 degrees advance at around 3000 rpm. The detonation when rolling on at 3000-4000 was alarming and would eventually kill the engine. I could ride around it somewhat by dropping down a gear or 2 but where's the fun in that ?

Searching the web for a solution led me to this site;

http://www.ignitech.cz/english/aindex.htm

and specifically;

http://www.ignitech.cz/english/tcip/tcip.htm

Their english isn't all that great but most of the other stuff I googled seemed positive. They emailed me an invoice and I paypaled them 150 euro. 40 of that was for shipping. Rather pricey but consider that I ordered Thursday morning, the unit was shipped the same afternoon from Czechslovakia and delivered to me Monday at 10:00 a.m.

What arrived was the unit on the website, a short wiring harness specific to the 900SS, a CD rom with software plus a base map for the 900SS and spare pins in case I wanted to add wiring for a shift light, TPS, etc. No instructions but I found some useful info on the web. The hardest part of the physical installation was finding a mounting place on the bike, it was literally plug and play.

The computer hardware interface is the old 9-pin serial type so I had to get a USB -> serial adapter cable for my laptop. I loaded the software, plugged in the cable, loaded the base map and hit the starter button. Viola! All the data numbers on the screen came to life, the tach line slid back and forth across the advance curve graph as I blipped the throttle!

I figured I would start with the base map supplied and go from there. I unplugged the laptop and took advantage of the warm weather and went for a test ride. The results were evident and impressive. Whacking the throttle open at any RPM produced no pinging whatsoever. Mission accomplished!

I did notice an off idle stumble that did not previously exist so I swung back to the house. I left the bike idling in the driveway, grabbed my laptop, booted up and plugged it in, raised the idle advance up 150 rpm and hit the program button. Dead easy. When blipping the throttle the bike seemed more responsive so I went for another test ride. It was much better, I think the problem might be caused by my physically retarding the ignition sensor at the flywheel a couple years ago. The base map probable assumes the bike to be set at factory spec. Note to self ; fix that.

So far I am extremely pleased with the solutions that the unit has provided. Costs all in was about $250.00Cdn. which compares favourable with USED Kokusan units. It only needs 12V and a flywheel trigger so it would be great for projects, etc. schematic are available on their website. I will update this post as I get more experience with the device. You can check out the links below if you have any questions or drop me a line.

Dave

http://www.bikeboy.org/ducati2vignition.html

http://www.speedzilla.com/forums/genera ... azing.html

Note: CA Cycleworks used to sell these but had some issues and no longer sells them.

http://www.ducatimonsterforum.org/index ... ic=48442.0

[cm250to999]

Overdue thanks for the write-up, Dave

Tons of good info for the carbie models.

[Steve302]

Hi Dave,

When you hooked up the Ignitech unit to the ignition pickup sensors that usually fire the Kokusan ignitors did you attach to both pickups or just one.

Thanks,
Steve

[#99]