Hotwires - spark plug wires

[Bruno]

Has anyone ever tried Hotwire plug wires from Nology? They're pretty pricey for plug wires, but I'm thinking about getting a set. Their web page ways that they can supply them for any application.

http://www.nology.com/hot.html

Just wondering if they are worth the money.

[txironhead]

"HotWires are engineered with a special built-in capacitor, exclusive only to HotWires. This revolutionary design allows energy from the ignition coil to accumulate in the capacitor until the voltage at the spark plug electrodes reaches the ionization point. At that split second point the entire power of the stored spark is discharged at once, creating a spark 300 times more powerful. "

Um, isn't that what the coil does? Seems to me that running a system with a total of six capacitors (two coils + one in each wire) might cause some problems in timing lag.

Honestly, I think the easiest way for a hotter spark is a Dyna S ignition, some GSXR or Bandit (or Dyna) coils and some good Accel spark plug wire with brand-new NGK plug boots.

However, my understanding of how the capacitor works my be faulty, and I will be the first to admit I'm not an electrical wizard. But with a well-tuned, synchronized engine I just don't see it producing the "oh, wow!" power they claim. Look at all the hype Splitfires claimed, and for the most part that's all it was, hype.

[tkent02]

Bruno, looks like you will be the guinea pig on this one. My guess would be it's all hype and no hop, but I'm not 100% sure.
Let us know how it turns out.

[n1elkyfan]

Even If those spark plugs wires did work like they claim I can't see a larger spark making that big of a diffrence over an ignition that already works well. I just can't see paying that much for plugwires.

[txironhead]

Wait a minute.....I thought the spark plug wires were epoxied into the coils on these bikes. How are you planning on replacing the wires without replacing the coils? From what I understand, trying to remove the epoxy and replace the wires on the stock coils is pretty much a crap shoot.

[Bruno]

The wires are fixed in the coil on an '81 GS850. I'd be getting new coils as well. I'm spending ALLLLLL my money on this bike.

[txironhead]

If you're gonna get new coils anyway, spend the money on a complete Dyna ignition with Dyna coils. The Dyna wires are okay, if you really want high-performance wires bulk Accel wire is available at most parts houses, throw on some new NGK plug boots and new NGK plugs and you should get PLENTY of fire. Honestly, if you're going for high performance out of the bike, the best route is K&N pods, jet kit and high-flow exhaust. The Dyna will replace the troublesome stock CDI and eliminate a lot of wiring while giving your spark all the "oomph" it needs. If it's still not enough, you can look into porting/polishing the heads, overbore, etc.

Those fancy wires just seem too "gimmick" to me. To tell the truth, back when I was drag racing cars, one high-quality spark plug wire worked just as well as another, be it Accel, Jacobs, MSD, etc. And we're talking cars that we were trying to squeeze 1,000+ HP out of. You'd get more performance gains out of indexing the plugs, and even then you'd be lucky to pull another 1-2 HP out of an engine that's, what, 50HP from the factory?

[Bruno]

Thanks for the advice!