1982 SS ignition woes

[Lumpy]

Recently the ignition was left switched on on my 1982 900SS over-night. Coming out in the morning I found a pile of melted wax under the coils. The bike started and ran in this condition, but I did not ride it, only idled on the stand. I no longer trusted the coils and replaced the original Nippon Denso units with after-market units as originals are no longer available. These units have no ballast resistors. These units came from a reputable bevel drive outlet and are used on many other bevels. The bike now runs very poorly. It would seem for all intents and purposes that the timing has changed as it seems to get very hot after only a very short run. Putting the old coils and ballast resistors back on make`s no difference. As the bike starts and idles fine, the problem only becomes evident when riding the bike I`m thinking it has effected either the pick ups, or Bosch advance units. Pick ups show continuity and no earth leakage. Is there a test for the advance units?
Does anyone out there have a drawing for a timing tool so I can make one.

[abmartin]

Have you tried checking the timing with a strobe light to see if the timing changes as the bike is revved? The Bosch units may not be advancing the ignition timing properly hence the overheating. I am not an expert but I would think if the bike starts and runs the ignition generators should be fine. You may be just adding to your problems by trying to mess around with the ignition pick-ups as the wires are very fine and the pick-up location is critical.

Other weak points with these machines are voltage regulators and chafing of the ignition wires as they exit the primary drive case.

John Fallon at Mdina Italia has used Nippon Denso coils and Bosch advance units for sale.

Bruce Martin