Heeelp! Boyer ignition

Hi guys,

Yeah, I know my first post should be in the hello section, will get to that in a moment!
Now, I have just instlled a Boyer Micro Power ignition with Boyer coils on my bike. The problem I am having is a really nasty backfire when the bike tries to idle and teh bkie kicks back when starting as well. It doesn't start easily, but will run well at over 3000 rpm.
I've checked and triple checked all my wiring, the timing is right(even moved it around to see if it helped) carbs are fine( i've richened and weakened them at idle, no change to problems).
The bkie is a 77 Z650, fairly stock, and was running well enough before the swap (as well as a 28 year old bike with ancient coils, points and leads would.
Things I have also tried moving the electronic box as far away from coils as possible, routing high tension leads away from each other so no inductance can occur and tried a different heat range of plugs I had lying around.
The bike idles and runs a lot better when it is running, this is very frustrating!
The bike behaves like it has too much ignition timing really, that's how I'd describe it.
The instructions say to use resistor plug caps, and I measured mine at 4500 ohms, the specs call for 5000 ohms, so I think that should be O.K?
Regards, Andrew.

Post edited by: typhoon, at: 2006/01/13 06:34

not familiar with boyer...
does you bike have a mechanical advance?
you can watch with a strobe type timing light.
-Duck

Post edited by: Duck, at: 2006/01/13 06:22

No mechanical advanc, the Boyer ignition does all that by itself. The mechanical system is removed.

Regards, Andrew.

I looked at a boyer trouble shooting site, it adresses the things you are having, look at the charging system first, make sure it is putting out the right voltage

O.k, So I spent a lot of time on this thing and have it sorted.
I ran around with my multimeter measuring voltages and was losing about .8 of a volt between batery and coils/ Boyer module. So I wired up a relay and those components now have a 30 amp supply of power. No go, still misfiring!
So, off to the bike shop, new resistor spark plugs and resistor plug caps. Stil no go!
Sat down, cursed all and sundry, rechecked wiring for the millionth time.
Figured it sounded like incorrect ignition timing, I have nothing to lose, so let's play around a bit with things. I swapped the coil positive on the RH coil over to the coil positive on LH coil ,and swapped trigger wire over in it's place, this is the exact oposit of the wiring diagrams. Now it runs perfectly.
I am not really impressed with the Boyer instructions or their wiring diagrams, it's a little hard to follow and ambiguous in some areas, and they stil haven't returned my email asking for help. The instructions look like they were printed 25 years ago.
It's very dissapointing, as it's an excellent system otherwise, and the bike idles like a brand new EFI engine.
Oh wel, at least I know my bike's ignition system inside out now.

Regards, Andrew.

Someone may have flipped the plug-wires and that requires swapping the coil wires.

Geez...I had the same symptoms with My Boyer sytem last year(Some might remember...LOL)...I ended up going back to the points,just to see if it would make a difference,and to hopefully stop the incredibly loud backfiring...and it did.My engine was apart for most of the winter for a rebuild and upgrade(cams,carb and pistons),so now I'm wondering if somewhere during the whole process,that maybe the same thing happened to Me,and it got over-looked?I tried SO MANY different things,and pulled so many hairs during all of this...WOW!
The bike ran perfectly BEFORE I tore it all apart,and as soon as I put it back together,that was when it all started.And I CHECKED the order of the wiring over and over again!...ALL of the wiring.What's strange though,is that I set it up the same way that I did when I originally installed it...where it worked great!
I re-read the instructions,and NO...I wasn't drinking when I re-installed it.The backfiring was unbelievably loud...in fact...One of My Neighbors thought I had finally snapped,and SHOT My bike!LOL...seriously!
I ran the whole season with the points,because it WORKED...and I wasn't about to pull it all apart again,and kill even MORE of My season.I now have a Dyna2000 system about half-way installed,and I'm pretty sure that I'll get good results from it.
Typhoon...welcome to KZR,and thanks for shedding some light on the whole thing.I now have to wonder if maybe the order of the power-supply wires were the culprit.I contacted a Boyer Supplier,and asked about coils,and I was told that I could use the factory coils on My 77 KZ1000,so I did...and originally it worked flawlessly...the next season(after the engine rebuild)...the exact opposite...hmmm...I have always wondered what could have happened,and why it wouldn't work after My rebuild.The module had never been dropped,and was treated like GOLD,anytime I worked near it.
So My 1-year-old Boyer system might still be usable,and in perfect condition?...Oh well...I'm sticking with My Dyna2000...much nicer,and more User-Friendly.LOL

Where the hell were You LAST year,BTW?!!:lol:

The coil leads weren't swapped, this kit comes with new coils and I fitted them to the coils and routed them in the way Boyer specified. No way around it, the Boyer diagram is wrong, and I'll stand by that statement.
It's a beautiful ignition though, now I've had it on the bike a couple of days. I haven't ridden the bike as yet due to rain, but it starts great cold or hot, and isles sooo much better, so I will say it's a great system after all this. I don't need full chole for a cold start any more and the idle is a rock solid 1000 rpm when hot. It will even idle as low as 600 rpm when cold and be smoothish with no choke.
Ths is teh Mirco Digital system with Boyer coils for those interested.
I've found that the more illogical a solution may seem, the more likely it IS the solition! Works for me!

Regards, Andrew.

I'm glad it's working but thought I'd throw out some other possibilities for being 180 Degrees out on the crank. The timing plate could be 180 out, or the rotor can be 180 out, or the coil wires can be swapped, or the plug wires can be swapped. I'm not doubting the diagram is wrong, but there are other things to consider. These same issues can also occur on stock systems.

Agreed. I've learnt long ago to check and double check timing. I couldn't put a timing light onto the thing when it was running badly as I needed both hands to keep the engine runnung, and I really should have checked timing when it was running badly, would have told me a lot.
I've done the whole timing 180 degrees out before, mostly on auto engines with incorrectly installed distributors, but haven't done that for years!
I don't think the timing plate can be put on incorrectly on a Z 650 though, I seem to remember it engaged with a pin or raised shoulder on the crank, and the pin/ shoulder was on one side of teh crank only, the Boyer rotor, having two pole pieces and two pickups on the plate, can't be 180 degrees out either, but a stock system could possibly be. Hovever the other suggestions are certainly possible.

Regards, Andrew.

piled-arms.com/tech48.html

Rode teh bike to work today. Went beautifully, more tractible, virtually no misfiring under trailing throttle, smother, less revs to take off at the lights, glass smooth idle, everything just like electronic ignition should be!
Got on the bike to come home from work this afternoon, bike started fine and warmed up normally. Go to get on the bike, bump kill switch! Bugger, oh well. Go to start the bike again and NOTHING. No spark at the plugs. Grab a multimeter, power(13v plus) to coils, Boyer module but no spark.
I've emailed Boyer again, and will give this system one more go, otherwise I'm done with Boyer. I've spent around $50 replacing plugs(resistor type), plug caps, fitting relays etc to get this damn system to work......
I wish I'd read this forum before I dropped money on this system......I think I'll end up sending it back for a refund and going Dyna.

Regards, Andrew.