How Does the CDI Work?

As part of my series explaining how the various electrical black boxes work on the P200, I thought I would have a look at the inner workings of the Capacitive Discharge Igntion ("CDI") system fitted to most every bike. The animation below shows how the system works in motion, but it probably isn't glaringly obvious to most what is happening. Using the animation as a reference, I will describe the behaviour of the ignition system. This tutorial assumes a little electrical knowledge on behalf of the reader.

Okay so if you're stuck on how it works, let's look at the parts of the ignition system in order. We'll start with the stator.

Full Article