Electronic Ignition, which one to buy?

Ok, I'm thinking of biting the bullet and getting modern here... I know the Dyna S is the popular choice but I see there are a few others out there too. I saw this one and it sounded interesting, says you can program the rev limitter etc which sounds neat. Anyone have any experience with these? It doesnt say HOW you adjust it?!?!
Micro-Digital

Should I just get the Dyna S and new coils? $300 is kind of a lot of $$ when I'd still have my old stock coils.. I could get the Dyna S and new coils for like $240.. I dunno.

Ron

I am a little suspicious of some of those claims... controls coil voltage? HUH? Why control coil voltages? Should they be going up and down? IDLE? Bwhahahaha The ignition pulses are controlled by and ignition curve which I guess sort of controls the idle in a sense since it is full retarded at idle but stabilizing idle? I doubt it. They do have a rev limiter which is a nice thing but at my age, hardly the feature is was when I was younger and even more stupid than I am now bwhahaha

Your sense is correct... for $300, you can get a Dyna S, Dyna coils and Dyna wires... For $300 you "idle stabilization" and a rev limiter... you probably don't have to worry about over revving with the old coils/wires anyway bwhahaha

Go to z1enterprises.com and get a full Dyna set up as in my humble opinion it is a FAR better choice.

People over in Europe who has actually used the Boyer systems are pleased with them. They are made in the UK:

www.boyerbransden.com/index.html

The claims are pretty well founded. They are basically the same claims you could make for a later Kawasaki electronic ignition. It controls the advance electronically and in so doing, would also control the coil's voltage in order to control the onset of dwell. This means it won't waste a lot of power at idle and will give good spark at high RPMs.

The Dyna is just a transistorized switch, and uses a lot more power than necessary at lower RPMs.

This Boyer ignition eliminates the mechanical advancer and lets you program the advance. Dyna also has a similar device in the 2000 and 3000 series, but also costs a lot more than the S.

I'm not trying to sell you on the Boyer, just explaining the differences. The Dyna S is tried and true, and when a problem arises, Dyna seems to really step up in repairing or replacing defective units.

Any idea how it is programmed? The Dyna 2000 requires a ridiculously overpriced cable, I dont see any mention anywhere how this micro one works? I'd be tempted to get the 2000 if I could find a pin-out of the programming cable so I could make my own for under $5. I'm still torn, I'd love to hear from someone that actually HAS this micro digital thing!

Ron

Hmmm... good info. Thanks loud! The claims seemed out of whack with what I thought this gizmo could do but if it can do those things, it would be a better ignition than the Dyna S for sure... just have to consider the cost vs the gain which is going to always be a buying decision factor...

As far as the Dyna 2000 being programmable, I had a Dyna 2000 on a 1996 Kaw Vulcan VN1500A. It was not programable. It had eight pre-programmed ignition curves with 5 advance curves and 3 retarded curves. It also had a selectable rev limiter. This gizmo was needed because I use high compression pistons in the bike and the little combustion chambers ensured pre-detonation, even on 93 octane. The D2K helped a lot and allowed the bike to run well without using octane booster. The D2K also caused a MUCH hotter spark up towards the top of the rpm range. With the stock igniter, you could feel the ignition flutter about 85 mph or so... The D2K allowed a lot higher top speed without the fluttering. The D2K for the Vulcan was designed to vary the advance curve with the TPS system already used on that model.

BTW: Just looked at the www.dynaonline.com write up and it appears you don't program the newer Dyna 2000 either... they have selectable ignition curves like the those I had on my Vulcan...

allright stupid question time, why would you want less power to the coils at lower speeds?
when I was in the gas compressor industry we wanted the most output from the coils to the plugs, some of those ignition systems could jump a HOT SPARK over 1 1/2 inches.
it seems to me that you would want the hottest spark at all speeds to burn the fuel as efficant as possible no matter what rpm

If you can live with your system for awhile, time is your ally in finding bargains on the E-bay route.

Also, measure your coils. You may not need to finance that upgrade just yet.

BSKZ650 wrote:

allright stupid question time, why would you want less power to the coils at lower speeds?
when I was in the gas compressor industry we wanted the most output from the coils to the plugs, some of those ignition systems could jump a HOT SPARK over 1 1/2 inches.
it seems to me that you would want the hottest spark at all speeds to burn the fuel as efficant as possible no matter what rpm

A coil's primary current increases gradually when voltage is applied to them. The current is proportional to the energy stored in the coil. It takes time to build up. Once it reaches its maximum current, any more time will not increase the coil's current. This means the available spark energy is maximized, and the coil cannot store any more energy. Any more time spent at maximum current will only go into heating the coil. This extra energy is simply wasted as heat.

The Dyna S has the coil's current at maximum-current for about twice as long as the stock points setup, and 3 times as long as the stock electronic ignition setup. This is in order to ensure maximum spark energy at higher RPMs (where there is much less time available to build up current). So you suffer power-waste at low RPMs but get higher spark energy at higher RPMs (where older engines have trouble).

An ideal system would apply the voltage to the coil for the same amount of time regardless of RPM. The amount of time would be exactly how long it takes to charge the coil to maximize spark energy, and no longer. This requires a much more intelligent system than the Dyna S.

Actually, the early KZ electronic ignition does this to a very small extent. At idle the dwell is around 100 deg, while at higher RPMs it's around 120 deg.

...and yes, I should have said "selectable pre-programmed curves" instead of "programmable" curves.
Thanks for clarifying. I'd imagine there are some small switches or something on the box.

Post edited by: loudhvx, at: 2007/04/05 02:46

it sounds tempting.. more tempting would be the other kit that comes with high performance coils...but I cant find a distributer for that one.. This whole dealing a company with no US support is not too comforting.

Putting aside all the tech stuff, I already had a set of nice Andrews coils from ebay in bike. Started nice, ran great, idled well with new points, condenser, etc. Bought Dyna S ($120) from Z1 and the results were fantastic! On the coldest mornings it would almost start faster than I could get my finger off the starter button! No joke, still freaks me out how fast it starts, idles better and pulls sooo smooth and strong! I'm sure other electronic ignition systems would give similer results but for the price, simplicity, and reputation it would be hard to beat this one! Just my opinion...

I like the idea of saving some power with the other system but there seems to be no support whatsoever in the US. I emailed that distributer that I got that link from above and never even heard back! I think the Dyna S and new coils for $60 less than just that ignition is sounding better and better. Plus I can order that from Z-1 which always makes me happy cause they are so easy to deal with. I know I'll have it in 3 days too which makes me even happier

Appreciate all the input, I'm not 100% sure yet but I havent heard from a single person who actually HAS a Boyer ignition and the Dyna is tried and true so that's prolly what I'll go with.

Ron