Ignition coil question......

[Dougie]

As I'm running points and condensers on the GS does the coil resistance matter?I know it does with leccy ignition.

[hacky]

na m8 it wont matter .....if your running replacement coils,then they either work or dont .....on an old gs pretty much anything will work fine as long as there matched... :D :D

[growl bunnie]

Should make no difference, also my mates GS 850 used to run with mini condensers (i think) cheaper than the stock ones :D
Worked perfectly
GB

[Dougie]

I'm using Joe Lucas condensers mounted up by the coils with no probs.Looking at Dyna coils on Evilbay,mebbe get a pair.

[Kicky]

Coils from a bike fitted with CDI will work ok on a bike with points.
I've an old GL1000(non CDI) that runs fine with the coils from a GL1100(CDI)
Non CDI coils will burn out on a bike with CDI.
Condensers,get a pair from a car accessory shop that roughly match you mountings and modify them,save you a fortune.Condensers are only there to stop sparks between the points as they're about to open,and they all pretty much do the same job.
Any set of coils can be made to fit,there's a slight difference in the wire colour coding from the different manufacturers.

[Dougie]

Cheers Kicky,I've used Joe Lucas condensers for the last 10-12 years.I was just wanting to know if the coil resistance made any difference with points.Good to know it doesn't. :)

[Mitch]

Why not get a Boyer Bransden (http://www.boyerbransden.com/) ignition for it Dougie? :D

[Dougie]

Why not get a Boyer Bransden (http://www.boyerbransden.com/) ignition for it Dougie? :D
You taking the piss? :rolleyes:
Had one o' them,ate 3 coils in one day then let all the smoke out the ignition system....... :mad:







Cos we all know that electrics actually run on smoke,don't we? :D

[Mitch]

ah... perhaps not then Dougie!!

Why do those classic nuts swear by'em then?

[Dougie]

Feck knows.Mebbe Brit bike coils are tougher than made in Taiwan crap.Thing is,I set everything up per the instructions,even timed it in with a strobe at the 4000rpm they recommended (that pleased the neighbours...NOT!) but the bike was never really happy.Had much less trouble with points and condensers,although after a double condenser failure last year (Suzi Genuine parts as well :mad: ) I now carry a spare pair of Joe Lucas jobbies at all times.......

[trikerdrew]

Cuz they've spent so much returning a perfectly usable bike to concours they think nowt of a boxfull of coils :D

ho ho

drew

[pyro]

ah... perhaps not then Dougie!!

Why do those classic nuts swear by'em then?

At them more like it, BB's were designed to work on bikes with positive earth, so they work well on early brits, rather like Champion plugs work ok on brits but not Japs and NGK vice versa, cos champions were designed to work on positive earth bikes and NGK on negative.

Cdi coils should only be used with cdi units, the resistance does make a difference! If you run coils that are outside the tolerance of the condenser (should really be called a capacitor) and the dwell angle of the points then they will burn out. Almost any coil designed for points will work on any points bike, most coils for CDI will only work with the correctly matched set of electronics.
Ask Slob....

I hate Boyer Bransen systems, if they are not matched to the system/coils correctly you have loads of problems, Piranha were much more tolerant.

[Mitch]

I'm currently trawling through my copy of Motorcycle Electrics techbook. I'm sure it mentions coil resistance being important :) Will keep digging...

[Hillbilly Deluxe]

ngk plugs worked MUCH better than champion on all the brits i had,champion were (rap. :)

[Dougie]

Tried Splitfires,even tried to persevere with them.Anybody wants them they're in the undergrowth at the side of the Edinburgh Bypass.GS550s don't like Splitfires. :mad:
Prefectly happy with NGK B8ES plugs.........

[johnr]

why not retro fit the electronic ignition from the later gs bikes or the gsx 1100's ?

[Dougie]

Because I'm quite happy with points and condensers thanks.

[Kicky]

Aye gimme points and condensers before CDI's every time.You can set em up at the roadside wae a fag-paper and patience,CDI chucks it and it's the "very nice man" in the big yellow van.
CDI's are fine when they're working,but a pain in the arse to fault find :mad: .

[Dougie]

After an incident last year where a pair of brand new Genuine Suzi condensers went tits up (together) I carry a pair of suitable Joe Lucas ones at all times.Soon as I recognise the symptoms I'll be able to swap 'em pronto.

[pyro]

One last thing, and this kills more systems than you might imagine, when ever you turn on your ignition and dont run the bike TURN OFF THE KILL SWITCH, you guys who work on your bikes and need the ignition on to over ride the alarm should take note of this.
Leaving the ignition on can burn out the coils very quickly, it will cook them.
Points bikes are particularly sensitive to this.

[Dougie]

Waaaaaay ahead of you mate! :D :D