3-2-1 Ignition!!

As I mention in part 11, the ignition side of things is not good – it’s a BTH system and those bits are now very hard to come by (I still kick myself on missing out on two BTH units being sold locally on eBay a few months ago ?). So, I have a new strategy to tackle this, a 2 stage strategy.

Firstly, get enough ignition working to get the engine prove the works well enough to make it worth going to stage 2. Stage 2 is electronic ignition, something that, although hard to believe, already exists in the LE community, developed and promoted by Nigel in Canada!

Stage 1

There are no BTH contact breakers to be had, and the coils are also not available, and those that are are mostly breaking down electrically, just because they’re getting old and deteriorating. So, I need alternatives, and Andy in the LE club has realised that Yamaha FS1E points will fit! Remarkable! So a set of those has been bought off eBay. And, yes, they do fit, just about. A small amount of filing to make the mounting hole a mm or so longer and wider makes it fit fine, the below base protrusion fitting nicely into the screw hole left by the removal of the original points base plate. I have a slight issue in that the contact heel protrudes a bit above the cam, but I’m sure it’ll still work, so onwards with that.

I’ve worked out the electrical connectivity in the BTH ‘biscuit tin’, so now the wiring can be sorted out. I have a car condenser to hand, but it is a bit old, so maybe a new one will be needed. As an ex-electronic engineer I do have a small stash of components… And I’ll be needing a double ended ignition coil, but they’re easily available on eBay, so I’ll get one of those. As to where I’ll mount it, I’m not sure yet. Also a little concerned that the photos seem to show that they have shortish HT leads. We’ll see. And, of course I’ll need a 6 volt battery, and maybe a gel type would be best, so I’ll get one of those. Once all that’s installed (photos of that when it’s done) hopefully I’ll get the engine running and see how good it is.

Oh, but there is the issue of re-mounting the engine in the ‘frame’ first. It looks like it’ll be a frame lift, gearbox out, checked over, clutch lever and rods installed and mount gearbox to engine process. Then install the whole engine into the frame before I can actually pull the starter handle!

Stage 2

Presuming I have a good engine then I’ll be on to the next stage which is electronic ignition. As per the existing LE electronic ignition system, it’ll be based on the Arduino micro-controller/micro-computer.

https://www.arduino.cc/

I’ll be doing it using the same hardware (hall sensor, shutter disc on crankshaft, ignition power transistor, various indicator LEDs), but I have an alternative software design that I think really improves things. More on that later – I want to see if there are patents on my idea already, or not…

The current plan is to mount the hardware in the tool box so the lid can be lifted to see the indicators, or closed to make the LE look ‘normal’ – flashing LEDs are not really in keeping with a 1950 motorcycle.

This is all work in progress, so watch this space ?

Next page here.