TCI Replacement 2020 It Works

Updated List:

Jeff, 4 boxes........................... all are grounded.
Steve has 1 box (dissected)...... grounded.
Jack, 2 boxes............................ Floating. Amazon sold by seller Suuonee.
Jim has 1 box........................... grounded.
Jim has 1 box (dissected)... ....... floating.
Thuban, 2 boxes.........................grounded
Jake650 1 box............................floating
Port, 1 box ................................grounded
JC- Superjet, 1 box.....................grounded

Breaking News: For just $3 you can get an ID bracelet which says, "I'm a Member of the Gonzo Club"
 
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Just got another two boxes in the mail. Both are floating. Been running my original gn nownfor about 250 miles. Need to recheck timing and possibly slot TCI pickup to make sure it's advancing as far as it should.
 
Just got another two boxes in the mail. Both are floating. Been running my original gn nownfor about 250 miles. Need to recheck timing and possibly slot TCI pickup to make sure it's advancing as far as it should.
Without going back through the comments.... is your original floating or grounded?
 
Original is floating too.

Updated List:

Jeff, 4 boxes........................... all are grounded.
Steve has 1 box (dissected)...... grounded.
Jack, 2 boxes............................ Floating. Amazon sold by seller Suuonee.
Jim has 1 box........................... grounded.
Jim has 1 box (dissected)... ....... floating.
Thuban, 2 boxes.........................grounded
Jake650 1 box............................floating
Port, 1 box ................................grounded
JC- Superjet..............................grounded
Larry, 3 boxes.............................floating
 
Jeff, 4 boxes........................... all are grounded.
Jack has 1 box (dissected)...... grounded.
Jack, 2 boxes............................ Floating. Amazon sold by seller Suuonee.
Jim has 1 box........................... grounded.
Jim has 1 box (dissected)... ....... floating.
Thuban, 2 boxes.........................grounded
Jake650 1 box............................floating
Port, 1 box ................................grounded
JC- Superjet..............................grounded
Larry, 3 boxes.............................floating
 
Just confirmed my $15 Sears timing light works great. Dead on firing at idle and full advance at left notch on side cover (hard to take a pic of that needed 3 hands.) Gonna get to it on the weekend to see how my Gonzo will work. Fingers crossed :eek: You can also see how durable the Mikes shifter rubber has held up too lol!

FA73DCC5-1465-4A6A-8A66-2F0E2B28791E.jpeg
 
Yamadude, I don't think you can have them sent to you in a standard envelope. The magnets will get stuck in the Postal Service sorting machinery which reads and sorts the envelopes. I don't think the envelope will make it back to you.

I say 0.5mm thick because they worked on my SH when I had it. I do not know what the max clearance is for the rotor. Perhaps 1.0mm would work??

The magnet on your rotor may be strong enough for the stock TCI but perhaps too weak for the Gonzo????.

You could take a bit of steel wool/fine emery and polish off the top of the magnet first before switching rotors. There was a report in the last year where just cleaning the top of the magnet cured the weak magnet syndrome.

May be the best route for you to eliminating a weak magnet is as Jim says, switch the rotors (Good idea Jim, just why didn't I think of that?).


The magnets from Radio Shack made it to me.
The shop followed my directions to tape them to the index card I enclosed.

zzzxxxxxx.jpg

They seemed to be quite happy to sell their last magnets.
Hobby Lobby has bought them out, so they will soon be gone. :(

For less than 2 bucks, it will be worth a try to see if they work.
First, I'll try Paul's suggestion of just cleaning the magnet.
.
.
 
Update: 1981 XS650 SH

Took me a bit of time to get a good test as i was painting the tank and side covers, building a new Reg/Reck, and replacing the stock fuse box. I got everything back together now and the bike is running stronger than I've ever seen it despite some issues. I suspect i had weak spark this whole time between my Pamco (sketchy install) and weak charging system.

Issue: Left side backfire around 2,000 RPM. Coming out of idle I am getting a couple of pops out of left side exhaust, especially when under load, and a significant loss of power. The backfire got worse after the bike got fully warmed up. No backfire issue once underway.

I rode it briefly last week with the Ganzo Box, noticed a high idle but no backfire. Reduced the idle significantly after that and this is first ride since then. I did not have an issue like this before the Ganzo install so i am questing if this could be due to some timing issue.

I am going to double check for vacuum leaks and put together a manometer to dial in the carb synchronization. But, like I said, i didn't have the issue before the swap so. Let me know your thoughts and i will report back after i rule out carb sync and vacuum leak
 
Since this is a waste spark system, it's doubtful it's an iggy problem if it's just 1 cylinder. Swap the plug leads and see if the popping follows. If it does, then yeah it's an iggy problem. If it's still the left that's popping... most likely it's fuel/air related.
Edit: could also be the plug on the left side....
 
Since this is a waste spark system, it's doubtful it's an iggy problem if it's just 1 cylinder. Swap the plug leads and see if the popping follows. If it does, then yeah it's an iggy problem. If it's still the left that's popping... most likely it's fuel/air related.
Edit: could also be the plug on the left side....


Great suggestions! I'll check those out before messing with the carbs
 
Update: 1981 XS650 SH

Took me a bit of time to get a good test as i was painting the tank and side covers, building a new Reg/Reck, and replacing the stock fuse box. I got everything back together now and the bike is running stronger than I've ever seen it despite some issues. I suspect i had weak spark this whole time between my Pamco (sketchy install) and weak charging system.

Issue: Left side backfire around 2,000 RPM. Coming out of idle I am getting a couple of pops out of left side exhaust, especially when under load, and a significant loss of power. The backfire got worse after the bike got fully warmed up. No backfire issue once underway.

I rode it briefly last week with the Ganzo Box, noticed a high idle but no backfire. Reduced the idle significantly after that and this is first ride since then. I did not have an issue like this before the Ganzo install so i am questing if this could be due to some timing issue.

I am going to double check for vacuum leaks and put together a manometer to dial in the carb synchronization. But, like I said, i didn't have the issue before the swap so. Let me know your thoughts and i will report back after i rule out carb sync and vacuum leak
Suggestion: if you have a couple spare pilot jets, insert them in the manometer tubing - they pretty well dampen out the fluid level swings otherwise seen at idle rpm and allow very precise carb synch.
 

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1981 XS650 SH Ganzo is a success. I just need to increas my idle speed a touch and no more backfire, I will still balance the carbs later this week.

- I used the stock plug for the TCI ignition box and located the Ganzo where the Headlight Backup Box used to be located (I fried mine).
- I had to swap the trigger wires after my first test but other than that, it was plug and play.
- Image of the wiring is before i swapped the trigger wires. (Red/White & Black/White)
img-1065-jpg.171284


----------------------------

- In the top right corner of the below image you can see the access notch that is easily filed into the side cover to allow for adjusting the timing while the side cover is installed. Note, you also need to notch the sensor mounting bracket so that you can advance the timing. I elongated the hole by about 3/16". I did the without removing the sensor from the bike, with a small file... I'm not sure i can recommend this method as it took over an hour bent over with a file.

- An easy way to extend/create the advanced timing mark was to brighten up the surface a bit with steel wool, lightly scribe the two lines and then fill in the edges with some sharply.
- Left side of the notch is 40°... right side is 35°.
- Keep in mind, when you extend that notch towards the center of the rotor, that 5° spread widens a bit along the same vertical axis.

timing2.jpg


Obligatory paint picture - Thanks for all of the help guys
20200728_184016.jpg
 
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1981 XS650 SH Ganzo is a success. I just need to increas my idle speed a touch and no more backfire, I will still balance the carbs later this week.

- I used the stock plug for the TCI ignition box and located the Ganzo where the Headlight Backup Box used to be located (I fried mine).
- I had to swap the trigger wires after my first test but other than that, it was plug and play.
- Image of the wiring is before i swapped the trigger wires. (Red/White & Black/White)
img-1065-jpg.171284


----------------------------

- In the top right corner of the below image you can see the access notch that is easily filed into the side cover to allow for adjusting the timing while the side cover is installed. Note, you also need to notch the sensor mounting bracket so that you can advance the timing. I elongated the hole by about 3/16". I did the without removing the sensor from the bike, with a small file... I'm not sure i can recommend this method as it took over an hour bent over with a file.

- An easy way to extend/create the advanced timing mark was to brighten up the surface a bit with steel wool, lightly scribe the two lines and then fill in the edges with some sharply.
- Left side of the notch is 40°... right side is 35°.
- Keep in mind, when you extend that notch towards the center of the rotor, that 5° spread widens a bit along the same vertical axis.

timing-jpg.171915
Good writeup... thanks. You'll prolly need to file the slot in the pickup to get more advance. Yours look just like mine did before I filed the slot. After filing, I'm hitting right at the green line. Although performance seemed OK at the blue line, I think the gas millage will suffer. Any chance you can do a millage test as it's currently configured and then one after hitting the green target line?
 
Good writeup... thanks. You'll prolly need to file the slot in the pickup to get more advance. Yours look just like mine did before I filed the slot. After filing, I'm hitting right at the green line. Although performance seemed OK at the blue line, I think the gas millage will suffer. Any chance you can do a millage test as it's currently configured and then one after hitting the green target line?

That was on old picture, that was from the initial run before extending the slot. I've already extending the slot. I replaced the image for clarity. That being said i would be interested to see the effect.
 
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