XS1B with Pamco ignition

[Ipa62]

Hi out there. I have an XS1B that I have now been working on for the last few months, bringer her back to life after 30+ years of sitting around. Started her up a couple weeks ago (2 kicks , it was awesome) ran for about 5 minutes then died, found that one of the stock coils died (thanks Maxpete, your write up on coils helped). So rather than spending $ on stock parts I decided to go with a basic Pamco and use the stock mechanical advance (with new springs). Followed the instructions from MikesXS, "set the backing plate to midpoint of the upper slot, start the engine and adjust the backing plate as needed to make the timing mark line up with the [F] mark", pretty straight forward. Only problem is that after turning the backing plate fully CCW (retarded) in the slot the timing marks were still not lined up. My timing light has a dial on it that can be turned to adjust the firing of the strobe, you can then see how far off the timing is from the marks, by this it shows that the timing is still about 12 degrees advanced. I removed the Pamco rotor and pulled the shaft just to check my work, all looked OK and when reinstalled I had the same result. So.... I have an idea that I could simply make the slots longer (where the screws hold the backing plate) and I could then turn the backing plate further CCW, but honestly I am not sure if this is a good idea. Am I missing something? The picture shows the current setting which is the most the backing plate can be turned CCW. BTW, the bike does start on 1 or 2 kicks and idles/revs fine, have yet to take it out for a road test, its raining .
Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[650Skull]

Maybe this will help..........http://www.xs650.com/threads/starter-electrical-issues.50196/

have you set the timing chain, Tappets and checked TDC ???

 

[Ipa62]

Skull, thanks for the thoughts. Yes the cam chain is adjusted and the valve/rocker clearance is properly set. However it never occurred to me that timing marks might be off as I haven't had the motor apart, but then who knows what may have happened in its previous life. Will check TDC soon. Looks like this subject has been hashed over before, sorry to go there again. Thanks

 

[pamcopete]

Set that timing light to zero pre set. Use the timing marks on the alternator.

 

[Ipa62]

Yes, zero was the setting used and could see that the timing marks were off even with the pamco backing plate fully ccw. Turned the dial on the timing light until the timing marks lined up, the dial on the timing light was then at 12 degrees. Will find TDC today and go from there.

 

[pamcopete]

OK. Sorry to ask this, but you are trying to set the timing to the "F" mark, not TDC? Are all three locating pins in place? Is there a woodruff key in the crank for the alternator rotor? Did you try connecting the timing light to the other spark plug wire?

 

[Ipa62]

Yes, setting to the F mark. As I mentioned, I have not disassembled the motor so I can only assume all pins and keys are in place, I do know that the pin for the points (pamco) rotor is in place. May not be a bad idea to pull it apart and check, easy enough to do

 

[Ipa62]

Here's a photo of timing marks at TDC, checked with a dial test indicator (the type with the arm, not the plunger). Pretty darn close if you ask me, but not perfect. I also check for the 3 alignment pins, all are in place. Did not check the woodruff key of the alternator rotor.
I'm leaning towards enlarging the slots in the pamco back up plate to get more movement, but could be talked out of it.

 

[pamcopete]

Try loosening both the PAMCO magnet rotor and the slotted disk on the advancer side and hold the PAMCO rotor hard clockwise while you re tighten the nuts on the advance rod. This will move all the free play in the retard direction which will mean having to move the plate in the advance direction.

 

[Ipa62]

Already did this.