Lost ignition

[jussumguy]

Hi I have a 1971 xs1. I finally got it rideable last November. It ran pretty good but would ping pretty good when pulling hard in the hills, since that's all I do I decided to get the auto advance Pamco from mikes last December. Worked fantastic until a few weeks ago while on a ride it just died. No sputter, just dead. Long ways from home back in the hills. Luckily a friend towed me home and all was well. I'm running a power sonic PTX5BS 4AH battery with the stock charging system with radio shack rectifiers and Chrysler regulator. I wired the ignition system according to the instructions online. It ran like a bat out of hell for about 500 miles but now no go. I have a volt gauge on the bars and I've never seen any voltage higher than 14 volts. What did I do wrong?

 

[fredintoon]

Hi I have a 1971 xs1. I finally got it rideable last November. It ran pretty good but would ping pretty good when pulling hard in the hills, since that's all I do I decided to get the auto advance Pamco from mikes last December. Worked fantastic until a few weeks ago while on a ride it just died. No sputter, just dead. Long ways from home back in the hills. Luckily a friend towed me home and all was well. I'm running a power sonic PTX5BS 4AH battery with the stock charging system with radio shack rectifiers and Chrysler regulator. I wired the ignition system according to the instructions online. It ran like a bat out of hell for about 500 miles but now no go. I have a volt gauge on the bars and I've never seen any voltage higher than 14 volts. What did I do wrong?

Hi jussumguy,
I had the "quit cold a hundred miles from home" thing happen to my Water Buffalo a while back.
Had to phone wife, car & trailer to come fetch me.
Problem turned out to be that the ignition switch terminals had gotten too dirty to transmit current.
My first guess is that the cause of your bike's instant failure is that some wire or other has failed.
&/or that your Pamco has quit.

 

[jussumguy]

It's getting power.... back to points I guess. Hope I didn't throw that stuff away.

 

[jussumguy]

Does putting a 7 amp fuse help with longevity of the system?

 

[5twins]

Pete likes to see it fused to protect against a shorted coil back-feeding into the Pamco and frying it. So actually, what he likes to see fused is the coil. You got the MikesXS kit so I'm thinking it included one of those China sparkers. That's the first thing I'd check.

 

[jussumguy]

Pete is already sending me new parts but I'll test my coil before I put the new parts on. Is there some way to update the wiring diagram provided online to show the fuse? If I had seen one i would have put one on mine

 

[5twins]

On my '78, the stock coils were powered by red/white wires, one running to each coil. I used one of those to power the Pamco and the other to power my new dual fire single coil. I put a 7.5A fuse on the one running to the coil. On your '72, those 2 original coil power wires may be red or brown. Or, you may just have a single power wire with a double bullet connector on the end. No matter, just make sure the power wire running off it to the coil is fused.

I added extra wire and moved the fuse back under the left side cover so it would be easy to get to if need be. I ran a wire from the coil power feed wire under the tank back to the fuse under the side cover then a return wire up to the coil .....

 

[jussumguy]

I tried a different coil and it's all better!
Sorry I ever doubted you Pamco , it was the bargain mikes Chinese coil I guess. Thank you guys, you make this stuff easy.

If anyone is getting a Pamco ignition , don't cheap out on the coil get a good one!

Thanks again

 

[figure8]

I tried a different coil and it's all better!
Sorry I ever doubted you Pamco , it was the bargain mikes Chinese coil I guess. Thank you guys, you make this stuff easy.

If anyone is getting a Pamco ignition , don't cheap out on the coil get a good one!

Thanks again

Share what the coil is please.

 

[jussumguy]

The bad coil is the one mikes supplies with the Pamco package. It is the cheap one. Get a dyna 3.0 or a Mallory . I put a stock coil on and it was ready to go!

 

[pamcopete]

I tried a different coil and it's all better!
Sorry I ever doubted you Pamco , it was the bargain mikes Chinese coil I guess. Thank you guys, you make this stuff easy.

If anyone is getting a Pamco ignition , don't cheap out on the coil get a good one!

Thanks again

OK. So there is nothing wrong with the PAMCO?

 

[jussumguy]

Well I plugged an origional Yamaha coil in last night and had spark. Then I removed the bad coil and bolted the working one in the frame and no spark. By then it was late and I went to bed. I will get back to it this evening. Thank you for your help

Rich

 

[jussumguy]

Yup the PAMCO is ok. I put a coil from an xs1100 and it started right up