Royal Enfield Electronic Ignition - No Spark

[aceofhearts]

Does anyone on here have a Royal Enfield or know of any good UK forums?

The bike broke down today, just had a few backfires then stopped. The black was totally sooted up, but even with a new plug there is no spark, hence me suspecting the aftermarket electronic ignition system.

Anybody have any tips on how i can check it?

[cb1rocket]

Even if it has an electronic aftermarket ignition fitted, check the magneto points are closing and opening.
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[nighthawk250]

What make electronic kit is it?

[stinkwheel]

Not that I can help you much with an electronic ignition but stating the model and year of RE would be useful, they made a lot of different bikes over the years.

A lot of electronic ignitions need a healthy electrical supply so check there is a sufficiency of power in the battery and that it is charging properly. Is the ammeter dipping as you kick it over? Did you get a sudden rise or fall in charging amps prior to the stoppage?

Hitchcocks motorcycles have a reasonably active forum on their website.

This is exactly why I left my bullet on conventional points. Say what you like about them, if they ever failed, I have a spare set of points and condenser, along with all the tools to fit and time them up in the toolkit. I could do it at the side of the road.
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“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[aceofhearts]

Its a 2008 Bullet Trials, and the electronic ignition kit is from Hitchcocks but was bought by the previous owner. I will try out their forum thanks

I will be converting it back to points because as you say if i keep spares at least i can fix it by the side of the road. With this there just seems to be a lot of random black electronic boxes that i have no clue about.

The previous owner has posted me the standard ignition system as i forgot it when i went to collect the bike, so hopefully it will be here tomorrow.

I have checked the voltage to the coil and all seems well, but when i turn the bike over it seems like the ignition system is not sending out any signal, so i think that is where the problem lies

[Lone-Wolf]

Wotcha.

Stick with points.
Quite a few folks have had problems with aftermarket ignition systems.

It's a simple single cylinder bike than doesn't rev much above 5000 - there's no need for electronic ignition. . . . . mine has run happily on points since I bought it new back in 1991.
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L.W. - www.moonshiners.org.uk

[temeluchus]

the boyer inductive ignition box used with the points works very well, the points are untouched and you time it up as normal.
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[stinkwheel]

[YBR Ric]

An Enfield forum

https://tinytim.forumcircle.com/index.php

[aceofhearts]

Bit of an update:

I fitted the old points today and it made no difference, so i pulled the car apart and stole the coil to fit to the bike. BINGO

So I have just ordered a new uprated coil from Hitchcocks as well as a load of other goodies whilst i was there (timing kit, tool roll, tank bag, waterproof points cover, 2 x sets of spare points and spark plugs)

Now i just need to decide whether to refit the electronic ignition or keep the old points and carry spares. I would rather just keep the points, but there seems to be a small amount of wear on the backing plate for the points which i believe would cause it to over advance, and i guess it will only get worse. I could repair the worn part, but an unsure how to stop it happening again in the future

[YBR Ric]

You mean you weren't carrying a spare coil so you could fix it at the side of the road

IF you set the ignition on full advance then any wear found between the end of the crankshaft pinion and the advance and retard cam is relocated to where accurate ignition is least required.


But what you really need to ask yourself is...
Does the ignition setting given in the manual which once catered for the low quality fuels available in the 1950's perhaps need updating when that same engine runs on the far superior high octane fuels available today?

[stinkwheel]

As YBR Ric says, get the little washer thing that locks the points cam to fully advanced and set the timing there, it spends most of its running time in the fully advanced position anyway.

The actual timing setting is just a guideline anyway. Advance it a little at a time until it starts pinking under load (or kicking back badly when you start it), then retard it a fraction from there.

In India they loosen the backing plate and with the engine running, tap it round either way with a screwdriver handle until it idles fastest then nip it up and call it a job. They are simple and very tolerant of fuckwittery.

Mine is still on its original set of points at 24k miles.
____________________
“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[temeluchus]

[stinkwheel]