the scooter doesn't ever do a a hair over 30mph . . . if anyone has any suggestions to a specific CDI I could buy myself and install, that'd be great!
The Kymco CDI is like a straight-jacket. No matter what you do to the scooter, you'll stay at 30mph. It only takes a few minutes to swap the CDI. Here's some samples from my parts bin, the yellow ATV one with the transparent case is the best. Adds about 1000rpm, idles nicely, and timing is adjustable. Don't know what make or model it is, but they're easy to find on eBay, about $15. The orange one is too hard to start, the orange Scrappydog is OK but rough idle, the Scooter Assassins one with the logo has a terrible idle but revs OK, the home-made Kymco with the saw-cut is the cheapest (free), adds about 500rpm. Any replacement CDI must be a DC version (not an AC). AC CDIs are easy to recognize, they're noticeably smaller than the stock CDI.
If you swap the gear set, you can get some extra speed, maybe another 10%. Every little bit counts.