Originally Posted by
BajaRon
A little of subject. But still interesting. The real issue, and eventual reason for the waste fire systems demise is that energy always takes the path of least resistance. The exhaust cylinder presented a much easier pathway for the spark to travel than did the cylinder under compression. So, more spark energy was spent on the 'Waste' cylinder. This is why performance tended to deteriorate relatively quickly on waste fire applications. I know my Honda 750 was this way. One of the best upgrades to that motor was to convert it to a dedicated coil for each cylinder. You would still have 2 coils firing at the same time. 1 to waste and the other to compression. But at least each spark plug was getting 100% ignition spark every time.
Those were the days! I remember many saying that a 750 cc motorcycle was ridiculously large. No one needed an engine that big!
Now I own a Suzuki M109R (1800 cc). And it's becoming a middle of the road size what with the Rocket and other larger displacement engines out there. And we're not even discussing the Boss Hoss!