XVS Dragstar - Destroying CDI?

[Vodfather]

Hey everyone,

So I'm new to the forum, haven't had my account for long, and I was looking for some advice.

I currently own a 2004 XVS 125 Dragstar, it's my first bike and I'm using it to practice until I get my full license.

Recently the engine stopped firing on the front cylinder, I started the bike and could tell straight away that something was wrong. Me and a mechanic friend had a look and found that there was no spark on the front cylinder. At first we thought it might have been the coils but they were fine, then we had a look at the Ignition Control Module as people in a few other forums had a similar problem and this is what they pinned it to. I tried my module on a friend's XVS 125 and his ran fine.

We tested the wiring and found that the grey wire from the CDI to the coil was completely dead, no pulse at all. The wire itself was fine, no connection problems, the CDI just wasn't sending a signal. We removed a corroded connector, and I managed to find a replacement CDI from ebay. The CDI worked first time and the bike fired up as well as ever, no problems at all. I was chuffed, the bike passed its MOT with no problems at all.

Now, after only a couple of days, the same problem has come back. No spark for the front cylinder. So my question is, does anyone know of any potential underlying causes? Something that could be affecting the CDI, damaging a diode or something? I can't afford to buy another CDI only for it to be broken again by whatever else is going on.

The only thing I can think that may be connected is that the cylinder didn't cut out as the bike was running. It was fine, and then when I started it up the problem appeared.

[neversaydie]

Always start with the cheapest possible cause first

Spark plug?

[Airhead]

unscrew the plug cap and chop off 10mm of HT lead from the front cyl coil