Hitchcocks Forum

My first post here as I have only had the bike a week, but its had its first breakdown on me

The previous owner fitted an electronic ignition kit, but today whilst on a sliproad and under acceleration, the bike lost power, backfired a couple of times then conked out. I recovered the bike home and have started checking it over and there is no spark. Looking at the electronics there are a few black boxes (one is a 'power box'), a couple of fuses and a coil. I don't know which of these boxes are standard and which are for the new ignition though.

The previous owner has posted me the bikes original carb and points ignition system and I plan to convert it back to the standard points. At least then if it fails i can keep spares on me and fix it at the roadside!

Is there a guide to fault finding the electronic ignition system, or a how to convert back to the standard ignition?

Also when going back to points will i need one of the £20 timing kits off of here to time it up?

Sorry for all the questions, i just want the bike back up and running.

The bike is a 2008 Bullet 500 Trials

Good man, at least you know where you are with points. There are a couple of items in tech notes on this page which might help. They deal with timing with and without points. Remember that timing a bullet is an art rather than a science. Forget about dial guages and timing lights, just get it somewher near then suck it and see. The quoted figures are only a bit of a guide 'cos they're all different.

First thing I would look at is, is there power to the electronic ignition box. Retain the Boyer powerbox because they are good and expensive and they are for the charging circuit nothing to do with the ignition side of things. Problem with the electronic ignition, providing you have power to the ignition box there isn't much else you can check except making sure all the wires are still connected

Hi guys---------- ACEOFHEARTS, How do you know for sure it's the Electronic Ignition system that's failed ??...Start with the simple, basic items first....Sounds to me like the HT coil has packed up...Is it the original Indian "Lucas" one ??---Have you a spare you can substitute ??...... Mine failed in exactly the same way last year.. I now have the smaller PVL coil which is much better..

Loss of power, a couple of spits & farts? My money is on a busted connection.

I had a situation like that and it turned out it was my ignition switch including corrosion on the switch harness plug , I found no juice was getting to the coil or the rear tail light at the same time . Get a multi meter and check you have power to the coil then check that power is getting to the Boyer black box .
I was driven mad with the old points system when we have tropical thundrstorms , I just could not keep the moisture out of the points , now with my Boyer and our hosts rubber distributer cap problem is solved , it still needs a water repelant spray twice a year so it's little sub coils dont corrode .
I would like to get a crank based magneto but until they make one that can be fitted with a mini alternater I'm sticking to what I have as Boyers are very reliable bar an EMP pulse hitting it .

OK i have a bit of an update, the problem turned out to be the coil. I started by fitting the previous owners standard ignition and it made no odds, so then i pulled the coil from my car and fitted that and I have spark again! With that in mind i have just put in an order for a new uprated coil, a waterproof points cover, a proper timing kit as well as a tool roll and a magnetic tank bag (with aspirations of touring this summer). Now I need to decide whether to put the Boyer ignition back in, or keep the standard points and just keep some spares in the tool roll just in case. At least then I could fix it at the side of the road if needs be. Opinions please?

Its a pity you didnt flash a wire from the battery across the coil to test spark before ripping out the Boyer... I think i would refit as they are good and usually fit and forget... gwilly

It depends on what electronic ignition it is, I personally like the Boyer IV. If fitted correctly and timed properly it will give better running and starting with excellent reliability. There are installation and fault finding notes on the Boyer website. Also the advance curve has got to be more accurate then some weights and a spring surely?

OK so our Infamous Enfiled is 1992 when quality control was virually unheard of in Madras........... back in 1997, soon after we took this poor orphan that had had 5 owners in 4 a bit years with only 4900 miles done, I slung the f****** points as far as the bin and fitted Boyer. never touched it again until I did a "peace of mind" rebuild prior to a big adventure.