Converting to electronic ignition

[bmk12s]

Chas

How long have you been running the sachse ? as it seems the favourite option for pre '79 bikes especially, imho.

I've gone off both the boyer & omega due to slight misfires which I suspect are due to some sort of electrical interference.

[chasbmw]

I have only had it since May, and it really has not done enough miles to justify any comments to reliability, remember that digital electronic ignitions do need 5000 OHM resistor spark plug caps, these are needed to protect the electronic boxes.

[Matt]

I has questions. Is your bean can set up broken or inoperable? Why swap to electronic ignition unless your doing some kind of racer or high performance set up? What do you expect to gain from changing ignition systems?

[Major Softie]

I has questions. Is your bean can set up broken or inoperable? Why swap to electronic ignition unless your doing some kind of racer or high performance set up? What do you expect to gain from changing ignition systems?

Matt throws the big wet realism rag on the party.

[bmk12s]

Matt

For me it's all about ease of maintenance, personally I find the points a bit of a pain to set up pre 79's, not a show stopper though + the omega did get rid of the irritating double timing image during the short period of time it worked......

On my 79 Rt, pure idleness... to reduce routine maintenance as it's my high mileage daily ride.

[Matt]

after being stranded by aftermarket electronic ignition units on old Airheads I finally got around to understanding what I was missing. Maintaining the stock ignition system, the bean can in this case & IMO is a great system requiring little maintenance is kind of fool proof once you spend just a little time learning how points work. With a little knowledge you simply can't be stranded by the set up as long as you carry a few inexpensive bits, a few tools and your knowledge along with you. If your not going racing or not chasing another horsepower out of a high performance application I can only ask WHY???
I'm not knocking you here just trying to understand the motivation. The bottom line is there is no maintenance or repairing an electric ignition especially on the side of the road....

[Roy Gavin]

If you are twin plugging then you will need changes, and the Micro Power twin plug system, which includes coils, leads and plug caps, and is less than $200- when the 18% sales tax is deducted, was the way to go, as it is not a lot more than two good twin lead coils and leads.

The one curve seems just about perfect, and I didnt want the added expense of somewhere between nine and eighteen dyno runs to find the correct right curve, particularly on a system costing three to four times as much.

The Micro power is Boyers latest system, has been designed to overcome some of the perceived weaknesses in previous products, and has worked perfectly for me.

But the fact that they include leads and caps in the kit seems to indicate that they are more sensitive to downstream resistance than points.

[Darryl Flynn]

after being stranded by aftermarket electronic ignition units on old Airheads I finally got around to understanding what I was missing. Maintaining the stock ignition system, the bean can in this case & IMO is a great system requiring little maintenance is kind of fool proof once you spend just a little time learning how points work. With a little knowledge you simply can't be stranded by the set up as long as you carry a few inexpensive bits, a few tools and your knowledge along with you. If your not going racing or not chasing another horsepower out of a high performance application I can only ask WHY???
I'm not knocking you here just trying to understand the motivation. The bottom line is there is no maintenance or repairing an electric ignition especially on the side of the road....

Matt, i have been motorcycling now for over 45 years and have covered thousands of miles.

I do ALL of my own maintenance because i like to know that it has been done correctly.

Installing and adjusting points/ignition timing is, as you say very easy however, on the RS there's quite a bit of stripping down to do before you actually get to the bean can. Gone are the days where on an old brit bike the points live under a cover on the side of the engine

I am not after horsepower just ease of maintenance and the fit and forget reliability which i am pretty certain Electronic Ignition will offer.
Most of my mileage now is made up of long distance Continental touring so as well as carrying a spare clutch cable/plugs etc i would probably carry the bean can with points already sey up as well.

Generally speaking modern electrics are very reliable and the only thing that i positively REFUSE to have on any motorcycle owned by me is an aftermarket immobiliser. They quite often do exactly what the name implies, unfortunately, usually to the owner at the side of the road miles from home.

Drum brakes and crossply tyres also have their place in motoring history but personally i prefer discs and radials.

Cheers Darryl

[chasbmw]

You could say that the only time that points are properly adjusted is when they are set up right, with brand new parts including the advance retard unit and the condensor and from that point onwards they will be deteriorating........... And by all accounts buying new points and condensers can be a bit of a crap shoot, with new parts being of variable quality.

Being able to fix points on the road has always been touted as a virtue, but if there was a gross malfunction, I still think that you might be reaching for your credit card and UPS.

At the end of the day, I think that there are points guys and electronic guys, I'm in the electronic camp having fitted my first electronic ignition in 1973.

[Major Softie]

Drum brakes and crossply tyres also have their place in motoring history but personally i prefer discs and radials.

Cheers Darryl

All my favorite rear brakes have been drums (not talking race tracks here). Now on the front wheel, you can keep your drums and give me a couple 4-piston calipers on dual discs, TYVM.