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[stinkwheel]

When I read threads like these I realise what a relief it was to fit an electronic timing....

I never saw the point because it still suffers from exactly the same backlash issues unless you get a crank mounted one, then the charging system is weedy.

I did always think the ideal solution would be to use a magneto with modern internals for power only and a crank mounted race ignition.

[Exile]

@ stinkwheel. Quote: "...then the charging system is weedy."

Perhaps I should have added, that I fitted a higher output alternator at the same time...
I have no problems with any of it now.

[stinkwheel]

With the exception of some of the very late, indian market 350's, I'm not aware of a way to have both a crank-mounted electronic ignition and a non-weedy charging system on a pre-unit Indian bullet.

[Bullet Whisperer]

For the record, I once checked the ignition timing of our first 500 racer, which was Lucas SR1 magneto equipped at the time, by strobe. At 4,000 RPM, long after full advance had been achieved, the timing was wandering randomly back and forth by 11 degrees, thanks to the slop in the timing gears between the crank and magneto pinions. It would have done just the same if we had been using a Boyer electronic ignition. We have run crank driven, self generating electronic ignitions [with no provision for lights] on the racers ever since I spotted that. I have also fitted a few self generating, crank mounted electronic ignitions with charging for lights on a few customer machines, at their request and the output for the lights has been rather poor, to put it nicely. One of these systems was fitted to a Norton Atlas and it was found to be lacking in advance / retard range and when set to the correct full advance, it kicked back like a mule when trying to start it, while if I retarded the static timing for easier starting, it ran very flat, due to being too retarded.
The only road bikes I have with electronic ignitions are a Suzuki X5, which was fitted with it when made and a BSA A65 I recently acquired at a reasonable price, thanks to problems caused by the fitment of an electronic ignition by the previous owner. My Trident has three sets of points and shall remain that way.

[Andy Freddy]

Hello Bulleteers ,
I printed off Mr Hitchcocks ignition timing instructions and followed them today .Before I began I started the Bullet and after several kicks ( it’s been sleeping in the garage for some weeks ) it started OK and ticked over beautifully, I was tempted to leave well alone but wanted to cure this carb blowing off problem .
I removed the points back plate and checked the advance units springs and shaft for movement, both OK, put the backplate back on and adjusted the points at maximum opening , set timing as per instructions, the points needed adjusting in order to swing the ammeter needle , however , it needed to be rotated anticlockwise, advancing the timing , to just before the midpoint of the adjustment cutout . On attempting to start received several vicious kickbacks , the kickstart lever sounding like one of Robin Hoods arrows hitting a tree , after heading into injury time and put her away for now , must be doing something wrong but can only think on going over the same process again , any suggestions gratefully received .
Previously when setting the timing /changed points I used Pete Snidal’ s Bullet service manual.

[stinkwheel]

Just to check you're rotating the engine forwards slowly until you reach the firing point and not turning it back from TDC? Because if you turn it back from TDC, the points cam will finish up in a totally different place because of the idler gear backlash.

I usually set the engine to the timing point, set the points then rotate it a full turn until the points are just opening and re-check my measurement was correct.

[Andy Freddy]

Hi ,

That would seem a logical conclusion, I followed Mr H’s instructions, “engage top gear and rotate in a forward rotation “ and I took forward to mean the direction the wheel takes when driven by the engine ( anti clockwise when viewed from the left ) , set the timing tool then rotate in opposite direction before going forward again in order to eliminate backlash from driving mechanism , then forward to the timing mark on the tool with ignition on , mark appears points still closed , loosened backplate bolts and had to rotate clockwise until ammeter swung to left and tightened backplate bolts , set up to kickstart and “TWANG “ , will try again sometime this week after ankle has recovered .

[stinkwheel]

A wee tip that might save your ankles. When you swing the starter, it's worth getting into the habit of keeping your foot at the bottom of the stroke after the kick until it's either fired up, or decided not to. So you effectviely just kick down and wait. Then if it kicks back, there's next to no leverage to transmit the force back through your leg. It's when it kicks back and you're halfway up that it can hurt you.

That's a good habit to get into when kickstarting any single cylinder motorbike. I got the tip from a WW2 dispatch rider training film and it works.

[jawa-enfield]

It keeps amazing me that manuals and tech-tips when using a TDC-gauge, do not take into account that the spark plug hole is under an angle, so 8,5 on the dial is not downward movement of the pioston..

[Adrian]

Who understands trigonometry these days? But if the axis of the spark plug hole is roughly 30° off vertical, you should be able to work something out based on a 3x4x5 triangle.

A.