Noticed that Niche carries a reasonable electronic ignition

[1976RD400C]

I had a Dyna on my bike and it was sitting there idling real low and all of a sudden it lets out a little cough/misfire and starts running backwards. And another good one. I was working on a  little 4 cylinder industrial engine that had a Pertronix ignition. When it was shut off it stopped just past TDC on a compression stroke of one of the cylinders. The rotor was pointing right at the plug wire for that cylinder. When you shut the ignition off on the Pertronix it causes the coil to fire. I can't remember what I was checking, but I turned the key on. A few moments later I flicked the ignition switch off and then immediately on again. The motor started, no starter motor needed. 

[m in sc]

coincidentally put this on tonight.

[msr]

Regular Dyna or similar designs will run backwards.  I know my GT750 version did.

VS system uses dyna or similar pickups but I believe that he has extra magnets in the rotor so that if the thing kicked back, the timing would be so far off, that it cannot run.

Just kick it harder. The GT only did that once but it sure surprised me and took a moment or two for the brain to work out what was going on.

"Just kick it harder" is good advice for all sorts of situations in life. I like it.

[Brad-Man]

Kick it harder or use a bigger hammer...

[m in sc]

so, full disclosure:

well, i put the pickups in, the ignition worked great, i mean stellar. like, pull a pretty damn good  wheelie in 1st gear good, which is something on a stock t500 as they are long as an aircraft carrier. 

then.. the RH coil took a shit on the way to work. 

so, i used a bigger hammer, reached out to Benji at treatland, and ordered an HPI for the 500. the only recurring issues i've had with this bike has been ignition failures, intermittent or otherwise..  I know i could replace the coils, and be ok on the cheap, but i plan on keeping this bike for a LONG time. the whole unit is under 300 shipped and the little rotor should help it wind faster as the flywheels on the 500 are huge anyways. Im pretty sure a lot of these issues are due to the damp environment in fla it sat in for all those years.   

[quocle603]

I've had my engine run backwards. It was pretty scary.

[rd400canuck]

That's the Ebay special. Tytronic. I'm told if you like your machine running in reverse, buy one of these and enjoy.

haha!

[m in sc]

way back before MZB redesigned the rotor on the now vape ignition, mine fired up backwards once. it was idling, didn't know it was in reverse except it sounded weird (electronic tach). then it grabbed the kicker.. see the results.  yes, i had to replace the cases. 

[sav0r]

I did exactly that with my Pertronix system. Not cool.

[gardenhosebusabottle]

i did very similar setup using allison car igntions with a dual lead coil for years on rds. they work well.

I can attest to this.   XR700 Crane ignition is reliable and about the cheapest you can do. Had the XR700 on both the RD350 and the RD400.  about 100 bucks for the XR700 kit.  modify a fender washer and tack weld it to the points cam, dual spark coil...i think at least 3 ohms resistance....a drill and bits w/ tap and dies and Spacing the triggler correctly.

The only dial indicator i like to use is the very small Central Tools D.I. that fits under the tank.  Also when you time it, use a post office box card board envelope and fold it around the generator to shield the trigger from any light while timing it.....I had a side cover fall off while riding and the sunlight had the igntion go BONKERS.  Very important to keep light away from the trigger while timing.

Mark can you confirm that it is better to time w/ the bike running a slow turn static time?  I remember turning the crank 3.0 turns clockwise and then sneaking up (counter clockwise) to 1.8~2.0 mm BTDC w the key on and a battery charger hooked up to the battery.    I had no ill effects w/ Judy's 400 doing it this way, but I'm sure Mark will probably say, make your timing mark on the generator and then strobe it while running...idle? or higher rpm?