Points System vs Electronic Ignition.

harleysmakegooddonorparts

My 74 has the points system and I would your opinion and advantages between the two. Once eveything is up and running I may switch ovr to the electronic ignition if there are signifigant advantages.

gordo

On the point system, there is constant maintenence on them, reseting the gap's, timing, replacement, ect. On the pamco unit,it's basically set it up & forget it. Only maintenence on the pamco is the advance weight's, keeping them clean & lubricated.
The maker of the pamco unit is a fellow 650 rider, his name is PamcoPete. And if you got problem's with the unit, he's right there to help you through it. Very reliable from what Iv'e read here.

jayel

properly maintained the points work fine (grease the point block pivots and cam oiling felts) I haven't had to adjust mine in the last 3000 miles and if something does go wrong with points they can usually be fiddled with to get you home black box quits it's done, yes you should check them more often but not a big deal

despecial

- there are several options really
...double points-original
...single points-double lobe cam
...electronic without battery
...electronic-with battery

...double points can be a problem to time
...single points needs cam chain in good condition and requires a little more setting maintenance, much easier though
...electronic wo batt. eg. pamco system can be run batteryless if you have converted to permanent magnet alternator
...electronic with batt. eg boyer, newtronic, probe- these all need a good cond battery and a charging system that works

...because of the xs charging system weaknesses, unless these have been dealt with and you trust them, my choice is single points
...personally i have an rd perm mag alt and run a pamco electronic batteryless ignition with no problems so far

...any system however that uses the cam to base timing on is going to be restricted by the cam chain condition...this is the advantage of the original TCI which uses a crank pick-up

xjwmx

The EI has electrolytic capacitors in it which will degrade over time. I haven't seen a schematic for the EI so I don't know how significant that is. That said, my '81 EI works fine. If I had a choice, I would opt for points, simply because it's repairable. And because when it goes you will have had the opportunity to see that coming.

jayel

there is a guy on the Yam650 e-mail only list that repairs the TCI units usually either the solder joints rattle loose or a transistor goes bad Yam650 @ Micapeak.Com or easier to join autos.groups.yahoo.com.../yam650ot/

wally

Can you run a RZ alternater with a Boyer & no Battery using a capacitor from a 4 stroke ktm

despecial

- to the best of my knowledge all black box electronic ignitions require batteries - BB is no exception and are very volt sensitive...if your delivery drops below 11.8 volts youre going to have trouble...

- i have sucessfully run batteryless with single and double points systems and with pamcopetes tidy little electronic bugger

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