trying too set these stupid left side points... yuk!!!!!!

[oldbiker]

hi guys well i read the notes which were fairly detailed from somebody on how to set each side ,,etc..i could understand ... but my emotional down fall is i still cann,t get the left side correct so that it fires ,,i,ve got spark,,, i understand where the top mark is and then the 2 marks to the left of tdc,, ,,,,but what is the mark about 2-3" around to the right ,,i,ll try again during today .. it will not beat me ... i also pulled my 98% unleaded fuel ,,out of the tank ,,not all of it ,,and as was suggested use it for the mower ..4 stroke,, well i haven,t ridden it all winter although it was started when the crappy electronic ignition was on it it was made in australia ,,,, but even my mowers ran lousey mowing my lawns.. which really surprised me ,,as they usually run well without dramas.. regards oldbiker

 

[jayel]

the advance mark, checked when running and revved with a strobe

 

[XSLeo]

Yes, the left set is the PIA. When new and not much wear on the parts they may be easy to set. After a few years of wear and the half breaker plate and mount screws show some wear they get very hard to set.
Get everything set, tighten the screws and it shifts 4 degrees. So you reset it 4 degrees off, tighten the screws and it don't shift. So again you try. Eventually you get them.
Been there, done that. 5 minutes on the right, 3 hours on the left.
I replaced the screws with Allen socket head screws. This helped.
On my first 75 I replaced the points with a Martek ignition. Ran great. On my current 75 I put in a Pamco. Easy to do, runs great.

 

[CDNTX650]

I would honestly ditch that setup and go with something else. As i have said the single points setup has on my previous Xs worked awesome for me, and so far on the new 74 is also stellar. No ghost imaging and pulled right to redline.

Or spend more and do a pamco.

 

[5twins]

Do you have a timing light and dwell meter? If not, you'll never get them set exactly right. Even with those proper tools, it's an adventure. I didn't realize it at the time but it was one of the best things that ever happened to me and my 650 when Pamcopete sent me one of his ignitions to test. Needless to say, he ain't gettin' it back, lol.

 

[jayel]

yeah getting both sides to fire at the same time is a bit like making sausage, messy! try setting your points gaps to center of thier range .012-.018 then if you run out of plate adjustment you can cheat with the gaps a little bit, smaller gap opens later (retards timing) wider (advances timing) by opening earlier, so your gaps may not be the same but where they fire will... mine runs well enough as is and I'm used to points systems or I would be buying a Pamco

 

[gggGary]

No big deal, One side spot on and the other to "XSJohn" specs! Best of both worlds and you should still qualify for the main at Peoria.

 

[5twins]

What really sold me on the Pamco was when I installed it. According to my notes, I had set the timing and points 400 miles before that and upon checking them, the settings had already changed.

 

[jayel]

No big deal, One side spot on and the other to "XSJohn" specs! Best of both worlds and you should still qualify for the main at Peoria.

i dunno first time I ever went to Peoria I watched Bart Markel fall down four times and still win the race, his handlebars looked like a cross between a cafe and ape hangers, one side up the other down before he got it acrossed the line, he was crazy fast or maybe just crazy

 

[pamcopete]

Well, when I was a kid in High School in Pittsburgh I had a part time job at the Gulf station across the street from the entrance to the Allegheny County airport. Chrysler had just come out with their revolutionary dual point system designed to extend the dwell angle for the Chrysler 300 Hemi, a real beast of an engine. Trouble was, nobody knew how to set the points. The owner of the station asked me to see if I could figure it out, and I did. Wasn't really that complicated. Just required a different thought process and a really good dwell meter. I also cheated and read the instructions in the service manual.

So, every Saturday after that, he had me tuning up these behemoth hemi's. There would be a waiting list when I got to work Saturday morning, and I still had to pump gas. He was working me to death but I didn't want to argue with the owner. He was shot in a robbery at the station one dark and stormy night, but he managed to strangle the thief even with a bullet in his gut. Not the kind of guy to disagree with. Besides, I got a great discount for gas to put in my '49 Chevy 6 and I got paid enough to take my girl out Saturday evening. Life was good.

Later in life, I owned a '67 Camaro 327. GM had introduced that little door on the side of the distributor so you could stick an Allen wrench in there and adjust the dwell with the engine running. I got real good at it, but like all points systems, the setting didn't hold for more than a few hundred miles, if that, so I spent more Saturdays screwing with points, only this time I wasn't getting paid, but I married the girl friend so didn't have to take her out every Saturday.

Then, more recently, I got my hands on a '78/E XS650. More Saturdays screwing with the points. Not getting paid. Not riding the bike. So, I ripped the points out of that '78/E and replaced them with my own electronic system made with a lid from a jar of Gerber's Baby food, and the rest is history. No more Saturday mornings screwing with points. (and not getting paid!)

Ride. Enjoy. Life is simple.

 

[pamcopete]

For the doubters...here is a pic of the original PAMCO ignition system made with a lid from a jar of Gerber's Baby food. (prunes, I think)