Hello, I've got a bike that starts, idles fine but 3/4 throttle backfires pretty bad. Messed with the timing no change. Put a timing light on it and seems like the mark on the magneto is about 2" early on the pulsar pick up. So, maybe the cdi? Someone cut out a lot of the wiring to make it more of a dirt bike. Anyone have any ideas? Thanks in advance

Sounds more like the coil is breaking down,I would swap out the coil first.

I did with a used one, did the exact same thing.

I did with a used one, did the exact same thing.

Well you dont have alot of options here,pick up coil and cdi are the only 2 things left.Check all connections to ensure they are not vibrating loose ignition switch and kill switch as well.

stripped or missing woodruff key?

Most of wiring is cut out, no key but I tried connecting the red and brown wire out of the terminal, no change. Will check wiring again. And woodruff key is good

is it a cdi ignition then, not points?

Cdi no points, no key and the kill switch is a wire that you touch to the handle bars. No blinkers , no headlight, no voltage regulater, and the only electronics left is the cdi box.

mike is there a brown wire on the cdi?

if so what have you connected it to?...It should be connected to battery+ and switchable

I'll look, I do know that the key is gone, so I tried connecting the brown and red wire together and no change

so brn and rd are battery+ ? only you didnt happen to say!