XS charge ignition problems.

kwhy3000

XS650 Enthusiast
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First off, I’ve been lurking and learning a ton from this forum. I was a Harley guy but have turned toward parallel twins like old triumphs and now the xs650.

Brand new build 1979 XS. HHB charging system and capacitor, mikes xscharge ignition, new advance everything, new rod, new wiring harness I did myself that’s perfectly done, I don’t mess around with electrical. Mikes dual output single coil 2.4ohm (I have Honda coils on hand)

First ignition had weak spark from the beginning, wouldn’t start. Decent spark first kick, and then would fade as kicked. Mikes gave me a replacement and the thing started right up. New vm34 carbs took a little tuning at 6000 ft above sea level here in Montana and ran great. Cold it was a 2 kick bike, warm it would was a 1 kicker. I got the clutch adjusted and was putting on my helmet to test ride. To my dismay there was a problem.

Now the timing light story… the replacement ignition shown the mark right on FIRE, cam chain and valves were adjusted correctly and things were good. After a couple days of testing the light started shining on TDC yet still running like a top aka one kick pony. The first ignition was doing this right off the bat and I thought I was crazy. Advance rod pins lined up great, True TDC was on the money. Yet never ran. The second ignition started doing the same thing, started shining on TDC yet running great and then all of a sudden, dead. Thing won’t start. Has weak spark, just like the first one. Why? Why would it do this? I tested coils, capacitor, wiring over and over and everything checks out but seems to keep burning down this ignitions or maybe I have bad luck? The only thing I can think of is my spark plug/cap/wire setup but wouldn’t think it would fry it that fast. As it were, running the best, i had stock wires/caps and ran bpr7es on plugs. Could this really screw things up this bad? Thank you in advance fellow XS people.
 
Here’s a photo, won’t take a fully finished picture until it’s fully finished. Thanks gang
 

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Don' know about mikes ignitions but the old Hall effect sencers/boards on the old Pamcos hated the cap systems due to the power surge. It was advised to run them with a battery in line.
 
Why would it do this? I tested coils, capacitor, wiring over and over and everything checks out
There have been several issues with certain brand ignitions and capacitors as a power supply. I don't know why, as no one seems to provide specifics on the capacitors involved. Substituting a battery for the capacitor seems to solve the problem.
 
Agreed, I have heard the same but with the mofset rec/reg they say it’s no problem. Capacitor tests great on the bench and in the bike
 
....a couple days of testing the light started shining on TDC yet still running like a top aka one kick pony.
That one of the newfangled lights where you can dial in the degrees? Check and make sure it's still on zero. I'm guessin' it ain't.

Just as a normal practice, anytime an iggy starts acting up on a capacitor run bike, the first step should be to tie in a battery (use jumper cables).
As it stands, you really don't know if you have a power issue or an ignition issue. Figure out which it is and go from there.
 
Don' know about mikes ignitions but the old Hall effect sencers/boards on the old Pamcos hated the cap systems due to the power surge. It was advised to run them with a battery in line.
Really trying to not run a battery… thing has great power to the coil leads/lights/etc with every kick. Could miss matching plugs/wires/caps really do this much damage?
 
That one of the newfangled lights where you can dial in the degrees? Check and make sure it's still on zero. I'm guessin' it ain't.

Just as a normal practice, anytime an iggy starts acting up on a capacitor run bike, the first step should be to tie in a battery (use jumper cables).
As it stands, you really don't know if you have a power issue or an ignition issue. Figure out which it is and go from there.

Basic light, no fancy buttons, although it’s newer. Works great on other bikes. I’ve heard/read you say to hook the battery up a number of times on my searches of this forum and it’s an ignition issue for sure 🤷‍♂️
 
Agreed, I have heard the same but with the mofset rec/reg they say it’s no problem. Capacitor tests great on the bench and in the bike

I have not seen anything regarding a MOSFET regulator helping the power-supply issue to the ignition - frankly off-hand can't see why it would. A 5.5Ah battery (LifePo ok w/MOSFET) ain't much bigger than a cap:shrug:
 
I agree with you but I really don’t believe it’s a power issue, it’s the ignition itself. Somehow I am burning these things down for some reason..:
 
I’ve heard/read you say to hook the battery up a number of times on my searches of this forum and it’s an ignition issue for sure 🤷‍♂️
So you've already jumped a battery into it and verified it's the iggy and not the capacitor? You didn't mention that in your first post.
 
On the other hand, HHB does offer a CDI ignition that is designed for his PMA. I have not heard any issues of that combination.
 
That one of the newfangled lights where you can dial in the degrees? Check and make sure it's still on zero. I'm guessin' it ain't.

Just as a normal practice, anytime an iggy starts acting up on a capacitor run bike, the first step should be to tie in a battery (use jumper cables).
As it stands, you really don't know if you have a power issue or an ignition issue. Figure out which it is and go from there.

I’ve used the wisdom you and many others have posted on here without sliding in my dumb questions but this one really has me stumped. Coil checks out, although afterwards I tested spark cap to cap and it was around 32k ohms. High. Is that high enough to burn down the iggy? If so, Could you point me in the right direction to wires/caps? I have some lowbrow suppression core wires I wanted to used but the testing on them was so weird and couldn’t get spark from them. Feels like I’m doing something simple wrong
 
So you've already jumped a battery into it and verified it's the iggy and not the capacitor? You didn't mention that in your first post.
Correct. Yes. Sorry thought my first post was already long enough for the first chapter 😂
 
On the other hand, HHB does offer a CDI ignition that is designed for his PMA. I have not heard any issues of that combination.
Yes he does but that ‘kit’ was out of stock when I was shopping so only went with the charging system which is different. Hugh says I can’t just add on the ignition part of it, I’d have to buy a whole new charging/ignition kit :(
 
Did you check charging voltage when it was running?
 
All we can go on is the info you've given us, but it does sound like another bad ignition unit.
 
All we can go on is the info you've given us, but it does sound like another bad ignition unit.
Trying to give all the info I can think of and yes I believe you’re right but why? I am very calculated with these sorts of things but of course I don’t don’t everything. This one doesn’t seem to make any sense except for bad luck.
 
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