timing adjustment using test light

Dyna S, fit and forget, in this day and age i do not understand why folks keep the old points systems when you can have stuff like a dyna-s for just over $100 points and condensers now are rubbish, and half the time if you go into a shop the guys behind the counter and in the workshop have either never heard of and don't know how to adjust them, i like my classic bikes but they always get treated to dyn-s or a Boyer Bransden, the old points plates then get stored away.

kevski wrote: Dyna S, fit and forget, in this day and age i do not understand why folks keep the old points systems when you can have stuff like a dyna-s for just over $100 points and condensers now are rubbish, and half the time if you go into a shop the guys behind the counter and in the workshop have either never heard of and don't know how to adjust them, i like my classic bikes but they always get treated to dyn-s or a Boyer Bransden, the old points plates then get stored away.

Points work fine and won't leave one stranded the way electronic ignitions can. Yes, points do need to be replaced every 10,000 miles or so, but for most of us that is not a difficult or expensive task. Of course, if one takes the bike into a motorcycle shop for such simple maintenance tasks one may expect to be disappointed and ripped off.

Having said all that, my truck and 3 cars all have electronic ignition and I would not even think about switching them to points, but those electronic ignition systems are not aftermarket and have never had problems that some aftermarket retro-fit systems have had. Ed

I have a Dyna S. The second one in 30 years. The last one took a dump due to a ground breaking off the battery. Works great but I keep my points and cam on hand JUST IN CASE.
Steve

If you've been on Kzrider long enough, you've seen countless topics related to failed Dyna ignitions., which had to be returned for repair/replacement, which Dyna is pretty good about. But I don't know if I've ever read a thread where points were so worn out that you couldn't get another few miles out of them to get home. I guess they could conceivably break somehow, but that is not very common.

I've my share of decades adjusting points. Nowadays I always go with the factory electronic ignition system.

Points are a great way to learn about ignition though. You can actually see what the dwell angle is, and understand what it's for. And a little reading will show what the condenser is for. If the condenser goes bad, you can see what the result is, etc. Working on old bikes is always a learning experience.

Never had points or electronic ignition let me down in 40 plus years of riding, i do all my own spannering, whenever i have purchased a bike or car it's serviced this includes all aspects, points and condensers are old hat and if they were that great manufacturers would still be using them, i am already using other forums and have seen negative views on aftermarket systems and the original points type, generally what lets both systems down is poor fitting practices or maintenance.

So I got the point on but in order to get the gap within spec I had to leave the bottom gap adjustment screw out on both sides. It seems that the angle of the bottom slot wasn't cut quite right? Regardless, I figured out why the test light wouldn't turn on the first few times. The kill switch was off... I set the timing and it started up and flew up to 4K rpm. Looks like it may need some fine tuning.