Having trouble with my mag setup.

bassgoat1979

bassgoat1979

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I have been going through hell with points ignition on a VF500 stator-Banshee mag setup. With a accel cap. It is running excellent from idle to WOT and I know the carbs are perfect. I have straight pipes and pod filters. Went 1 up on the pilot and 1 on the main. I know it's ignition though. I have to set the points to about .020 to even get it start. It runs bad like that over idle, but I have to idle it to about 1400 rpm to keep it idleing. If I pop the throttle though it takes off on it's own and I have to idle it down to bring it back, then it stalls. hooked a battery up and it will run with normal .016 point gap and not stall at 1200 rpm even with the headlight on. So it seems that the point draw a LOT of power.

Do I have to go with a electronic ignition? Am I just beating a dead horse here? They must draw less energy to spark. When I look at a Banshee with a little 75watt stator you can start that and idle with head lights on. Even a very low idle with light almost off from the lack of power. Still won't stall!!! There is no way this will and the stator is much bigger. It has to be the CDI sytem right?

The only thing is I'm scared to run the Pamco ignition with the magneto setup because I know this burns up LED lights at low speed flicker. Has anybody ran the Pamco with a magneto for a extended period?
 
Have you figured any of this out yet? Something doesn't sound right that's for sure.. I'm surprised no one has been able to help. What was the donor bike for the regulator?

When you say it's running excellent from idle to WOT.. Do mean when you get it running at 1400rpm it works fine all the way to redline, but if you try to reduce the idle it will die?
 
The regulator was from the VF500 as well so it would plug right in and bolt the mounting bracket. I think I got it, for giggles I used the carb cleaner at the butterfly shaft and it died. So that must be why when I get the timing good it revs out on it's own and pops back out the carbs when it finanly comes back to normal. I tried a battery in the circut too and it still f's up. I'll have the seals in Monday and repost. Should it work fine with points? I know the old harley's do with a mag setup.
 
I might start at the basics, Check cam chain tension, set valves, gap points, time points.
Checking the ATU for proper action, if a bit dodgy, pull and clean the rod and bushings and seals, regrease and recheck ATU action. It should snap back to closed when pulled open with your fingers and released.
If the rod is sticking it can hold the points at full advance. If the ATU is worn or the springs weak it can advance too soon or to far. The springs can be adjusted by clipping of the loop and bending up the next turn for a loop. Do one spring and test, If nessary do the other spring.
These faults can cause irratic idle and backfiring.
The points themselves don't draw power, the coil does. How old are your points? How old is your coil? Possible burnt points or shorted coil.
Your condenser can cause simular problems to what you describe. Getting a couple car condensers to replace the stock one isn't hard to do. Can be done for $10 or less.
 
I went through everything else. I figuer since it dies from the butterfly seals getting sprayed, that is why it reving out on it's own and poping back at idle. I'll see tomorrow when I get the seals in. ALL the point stuff in new, and it was new roller bearings in the cam. The cain was adjester befor the build as well as valves. All have been rechecked twice too. I have found off valved cause a lot of trouble when running fast as well, so it can't be that.
 
I got it all sealed up and it didn't change anything. What make the engine run out and not come back when you rev it? It goes up to like 4000 rpm and won't come back unless you shut the bike off and restart it. It's pissing me off. Between that and the one carbs popping back, I've about had it with this bike. It does look like evey time it pops back it sparks between the points. Am I wasting my time with these damn points? My old XS750 with pods and straight pipes never sucked this bad! It had a mag setup stock so I could have ran it without a battery without the bs of this thing. I just don't want to spend $120 for a electronic ignition and have it do the same thing. So nobody had a batteryless setup with a Pamco that is stabil?
 
I used carb cleaner on the intake that look great and have new gaskets, that is all good. I had some air leaks arounf the buttyflys seal, I just replaced those today, did nothing. If I set the point to about .020+ it doesn't rev out, but it still pops out the carbs. So you haven't burned the new Pamco up? It's all good?
 
No I thought I did, but it ended up being that everything wasn't grounding out. It sounds to me it's more of a carb/fuel intake issue, but I'm definitely not an expert. Mine did something similar for awhile, but it was because it was sucking in air at the intakes. You sure that the throttle cable isn't snagging or anything like that? Try unhooking the throttle cable and starting it.

Is it better when running it half choked or anything like that?
 
I have new advance springs, new points, new condenser, new wires, new non resistor boots, and new BPR7ES plugs (tried non resistor plug and didn't change anything either.) I checked the power at the capacitor and it was 14.5 volts running idle and with the headlight on about 12.2 volts.
 

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