TaoTao TBR7 Motorcycle Spark Plug Boot Upgrade?

By now, you know I am trying to squeeze out every horsepower from my TaoTao TBR7 and send it to my rear wheel. I have done many upgrades that have, in my opinion, succeeded.

I am now looking at upgrading my motorcycle spark plug boot(FYI, I got around to updated my spark plug boot: TaoTao TBR7 Spark Plug Boot Replacement Time: Only 10 Steps!). Give me a minute, and I’ll give you a quick background and why I am looking forward to eliminating my motorcycle’s stock spark plug boot afterward.

I am not a motorcycle expert, so learning as I go and I am thinking out loud here for my next upgrade.

“Picture it, Sicily, 1922.”

Wait, that is too far back, a little homage to the “Golden Girls“.

Picture It, A Lone Garage, 2021!

I have my new TaoTao TBR7 Chinese dual-sport motorcycle, feeling ‘blah‘ with its “OK” performance. I searched many Chonda sources and found the predominant supply of information has been posted on the web by RPS Hawk 250 owners: Need TBR7 help? Upgrade Guides? User Support? We Got You!

This supply of information is excellent, but one problem is that many Hawk 250‘s can be separated into two categories, carbureted engines and fuel-injected engines. The street-legal version of the dual-sport seems to be fuel injected. However, some Hawk 250 owners don’t say what version they have when posting their upgrades.

Get To The Point, Lowly TBR7 Owner!

What I imagine you, Hawk 250 motorcycle owners are thinking right now.

So I have taken time to pull out information from the Hawk 250 owner’s online posts about their upgrades and tried to imagine doing the same to my TBR7 motorcycle. This is the point; I imagine posts about upgrades Hawk 250 owners perform might not work well for the TBR7 motorcycle.   

Some Hawk 250’s are more complicated electronically with their fuel injection system, and TBR7’s aren’t. So an upgrade for the Hawk 250 might work well, but not so well for the TBR7.

So As A TBR7, some easy Hawk 250 Upgrades Is More Work.

For example, a fuel injection system can compensate for upgrading to a low resistance air filter and exhaust system with time, but our TBR7’s don’t automatically do this. It’s possible to be running the TBR7 in very lean conditions and could cause engine damage with time. 

TBR7 owners must remember another step to air intake and exhaust system upgrades; we must rejet our carburetors to prevent possible engine damage. So not all Hawk 250 upgrades directly apply ‘as-is’ to our TBR7’s.

Another Hawk 250 Upgrade Issue, But Not TBR7’s.

A guess… The Hawk 250 motorcycle has more advanced electronics to control the fuel injection. This complexity means the Hawk 250 cannot do upgrades that will compromise the motorcycle’s operation, and that’s the point of upgrade.

Some upgrades might not be done to the Hawk 250 due to the Hawk 250 being a more complex motorcycle, resulting in limited posts about these such upgrades. However, TBR7 might benefit from such hypothetical missing upgrades.

My Point Is…

I read that resisters in ignition systems, like spark plugs and spark plug boots, interfere with spark generation in the engine cylinder. Therefore the ignition source for the engine power is intentionally hampered.

Why?

Resisters are added to spark plugs and/or boots to suppress radio frequency generation, a source of interference in a motorcycle, or car, electronic systems.

With complex motor vehicles of today, onboard computers, electronic fuel control, and radios, suppressing the radio frequency interference makes sense, even at the cost of spark generation.

The TaoTao TBR7 bike doesn’t have a radio, doesn’t have an onboard computer, or an electronic fuel control system. Capacitor Discharge Ignition (CDI) is a simple ignition system that stores and discharges energy based on a mechanical trigger.    My CDI Experience so far: Is The Aftermarket CDI Worth It?

No Complex Electronics, TBR7 Have An Resister Ignition Issue?

Well, I will break this down from feedback from other motorcyclists, TBR7 owners, and what I read on sites like Wikipedia.

TaoTao TBR7 doesn’t use a resister spark plug. This is correct, and the manual never recommends one, so I never felt interested in conversations I heard from other Chonda Owners about resistive ignition circuits. I believed it didn’t involve me. Then I found out…

The TaoTao Built The TBR7 With A Resistive Spark Plug Boot?

Yup, from all the sources I found, the stock spark plug boot has a built-in resistor. The “OK” stock performance is intentionally hindered by dampening the spark generation of the engine, and this is my observation.   

Well, Much Of The TBR7 Is Held Back By Design.

Yes, a sealed carburetor that runs very lean. A crankcase breather line that sends oil to the airbox. Stock carburetor air intake tubes are often not angled correctly and have reduced inner diameters due to kinks and gluing issues. The TBR7 is a great bike(a good dirt bike too), but it has its problems.

Maybe The Resistor Spark Plug Boot Is Good For The TBR7.

That is not what I found. Feedback and advice suggest that any inline resister between the ignition coil and the end of the spark plug is terrible for Capacitor discharge ignition (CDI) systems, and it makes the CDI work harder and fail faster. FYI, TBR7’s have CDI’s. Read more about CDI’s at Wikipedia: Capacitor discharge ignition.

Okay, Does TBR7 Bike Needs Another Upgrade?

IMHO, yes. I have concluded that I want to eliminate all resistive properties of the ignition system and get as much spark to the engine cylinder I can. This way, I get more power from my motorcycle, and I can extend the life of the CDI.  

I have succeeded with past upgrades resulting in better performance and reliability of the TBR7:

• Carburetor Upgrade: Completed My TBR7’s Carburetor Upgrade!
• Air Pod Filter Upgrade: TBR7 Air Filter Pod Replacement, DONE!
• O-ring-less Chain Upgrade: My TaoTao TBR7 Chain Is Upgraded!
• LED Headlight Upgrade: My TBR7 LED Headlight Bulb Upgrade.

It goes on and on, almost like I have no life outside upgrading my TBR7. Well, I reached out to Hawk 250 owners that posted their upgrade adventures; they inspired me to get more out of my TBR7; thank you.

So What Was The Point Of This Post?

Well, many points:

1. We TBR7 owners share many goals with our Hawk 250 owners, motorcycle upgrades extracting more power and fun from our motorcycles.
   
2. Hawk 250’s are owned more than TBR7’s based on the web presence. Therefore as TBR7 owners, we trail behind Hawk 250 owners in doing upgrades, following their lead.
   
3. Because there is so much information about Hawk 250 upgrades, that lack of online information about a particular upgrade, like going to no resistive boot, suggests to us TBR7’s, it might not be worth trying.

Overall, my point is some Hawk 250’s have EFI, and we TBR7 owners need to carefully pick and choose where to follow and where to lead.

My Next TaoTao TBR7 Upgrade Experiment

I have researched getting rid of the resistor-style spark plug boot and upgrading to a non-resistor-style sparkplug boot. The goal was to get rid of that ugly stock spark plug boot for something more stylish or just less ugly.

I look back on this post and say, “wow,” I was thinking out loud, and at the same time, my mind wandered so much, glad you made it to the end. Again, this isn’t a Hawk 250 vs. TBR7 argument; I might even buy a Hawk 250 in the future, just that we TBR7 owners need to experiment and post our results for all Chonda owners’ benefit.

Still a big fan of my TaoTao TBR7, not bashing it or the manufacturer, just that some of us owners want to capitalize on the bike’s potential. It wouldn’t have that potential without it being designed in it, so kudos to TaoTao.

My Online Spark Plug Boot Shopping Findings:

I have gone on Amazon, yes I am addicted to their service, am an Amazon Affiliate partner, and found MSD Spark plug boots.  

Just in case you want to test your results before I get to posting mine, here is the spark plug boot I ordered.

Author’s Notice: This page contains affiliate links, for which I may earn a commission by their use. Also, as an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying Amazon purchases.

Click For Current Prices: Spark Plug Wire Boot and Terminal.

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Click To See My Recommended
TBR7 Upgrades

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Spark Plug Boot Upgrade Update, I got the new MSD spark plug boot ( TBR7’s New MSD Spark Plug Boots Arrived! ) and got around to changing out the spark plug boot on my TaoTao TBR7 Motorcycle ( TaoTao TBR7 Spark Plug Boot Replacement Time: Only 10 Steps! ). Hope this helps!