Since 1975, I've frequently toyed with the idea of electronic ignition on my SOHC4. I've always been discouraged by the unnecessary expense of the conversion. I can dress and adjust points and do timing in about 5-15 minutes during the tuneup. If that much of your time is worth the $125 to $150, then go electronic. I have 30,000 miles on one set of points. That's about 10 dressings. The condensers can go bad with long periods of disuse and extreme age. I bought two spare plates with points and condensers from Honda 10 years ago in anticipation of replacing the points when they failed to work right anymore. They are still in the box out in the garage. You must keep the point cam well lubed to make points last this long, though.
High RPM and point float can be a real problem... If you insist on reving past 10,000 RPM. What red line are you ignoring?
Even so, simply double springing the points will get you up near 13,000, I believe.
Still, the salesmen have had years of practice at convincing customers to shell out the bucks for electronic ignition "upgrades". I trust you understand their motivation at keeping the customers "happy". Does the phrase"selling ice cubes to Eskimos" ring a bell?
The coils are not bullet proof. Really, you can do serious damage with even a small handgun. Also, avoid any that have had any encounters with hatchet like implements. Mostly, if they look good on the outside, they will most likely still be sparking when we are all resting in coffins.
Alas, the weak point is the wires, themselves. Or, rather, the insulation of the ignition wires. Age and heat are not kind to them. Brittleness and cracking is a very very bad thing, as that lets the spark out before the plugs get a chance to do their thing.
The very best argument for replacing the coils is because the ignition leads are molded into them and they have cracked.
Don't let the 750 guys talk you into 3 ohm coils for city driving. The 550s have smaller batteries and 60 watts less alternator output. And, neither charges the battery at idle speeds. Low speed operation will run down your battery quicker with extra loads. When the battery dies, so does the bike, usually at the stop light or stop sign, in traffic, who then proceed to drive around you at high rates of speed and as close as they can to scare you. (sometimes shouting, in the process.) Picture your GF in that situation. And, you explaining to her that she has to keep the RPM up for future avoidance of a repeat occurrence. And, that she can take out the headlight fuse to get the bike kick started again. I'm fairly confident that whatever name given the bike beforehand. After such an event, it will either have a new, less endearing name, or a new expletive appended to its present one.
If you decide to keep the points, ensure their their reliability in the wet by making a neoprene gasket for the points cover. The stock, cork one is laughably good for only one compression cycle for a "sort of" seal. Make one from hardware store neoprene, and reuse it for... I don't know... I've not worn one out yet. 20 years a still going and going andgoing.
Cheers,
