Topic: Dyna S failure (another one)

[Puntas13]

I've got dyna units in both of my Hondas. Between the 2 I've only put maybe 5000 miles but Ive had no issues from either one. The start ups are better and overall I like the way both bikes run with them.

[scottly]

I've recently been turned onto the C5ignitions.com units. I guess they're developed by PowerArc and are alleged to have numerous advantages over the Dynas.

Fatmatt650 had a PowerArc strand him in Lake Havasu only a month or two ago...

Is your point that anything mechanical can fail? If so, I'd agree. Or are you intimating that only those ride bikes equipped with aftermarket electronic ignitions suffer these failures? If so, I can list plenty of members who have condensers fail, points crap out on them, and suffer at the hands of time, wear, and poor quality (think Daichi).

Since when is electronic ignition mechanical??? My point was that there was a recent report of a failed PowerArc. I'll stick with my 35+ year old Gerex.

[cakey]

Hope no one minds my thoughts on the ignitions but here goes:

I was born in 72 and by the time I was old enough to understand the mechanics of my old cars and bikes the ignition was always replaced with electronic because I just cannot get my head around how points work and I am a bit intimidated by them. This was more than evident with my 75 GL1000 where a split timing is used with the points and I gave up and put a dyna on. Never had a problem and it runs great.

There seem to be reports of dyna failures with the gl1000 but not as much as the cb750 so I wonder if it's the model and the positioning of the unit that effects the dyna and not so much the quality.

For this reason I still do not know what to put on my resto but I know it will not be points because I just want to plug and play. Some average reports on both the dyna and the Pamco for different reasons but also good reports.

There is a guy selling electronic ignition for $260 here in OZ which is made out of Japan which by all of his reports are great but I don't know the brand.

Every time I see a post on ignition I read it because I know it will be the last thing to go on the bike before it breaths fire for the first time in 20 years.

I love old bikes and can do just about anything on them but it sounds silly but points are just beyond me.

[AJK]

Hope no one minds my thoughts on the ignitions but here goes:

I was born in 72 and by the time I was old enough to understand the mechanics of my old cars and bikes the ignition was always replaced with electronic because I just cannot get my head around how points work and I am a bit intimidated by them. This was more than evident with my 75 GL1000 where a split timing is used with the points and I gave up and put a dyna on. Never had a problem and it runs great.

There seem to be reports of dyna failures with the gl1000 but not as much as the cb750 so I wonder if it's the model and the positioning of the unit that effects the dyna and not so much the quality.

For this reason I still do not know what to put on my resto but I know it will not be points because I just want to plug and play. Some average reports on both the dyna and the Pamco for different reasons but also good reports.

There is a guy selling electronic ignition for $260 here in OZ which is made out of Japan which by all of his reports are great but I don't know the brand.

Every time I see a post on ignition I read it because I know it will be the last thing to go on the bike before it breaths fire for the first time in 20 years.

I love old bikes and can do just about anything on them but it sounds silly but points are just beyond me.

Hi Cakey,
Just get it running on points to start off with, then if you chose to go electronic, its just another option for you. There is heaps of info on points in this forum, but if you get real stuck, PM me and I'll walk you through it, by phone if need be. If we were closer I'd just do it for you. Once you do it once, you'll wonder what the fuss was all about. Your bike is looking great by the way. You must be getting keen!

[cakey]

Really appreciate the offer AJK when the time comes I am sure I will pick your brains.

I guess what I am trying to say is that I can understand the frustration of wanting the reliability and maintenance free aspect of an electronic ignition system. But for someone who can make such a thing on a  40 year piece of equipment that was not designed to have it, then my hats off to them for understanding way more than I ever will.

And yes I am getting keen. Up here we say "it's going to be on like donkey kong" when the time comes.

[enwri]

Hey Cakey, I completely understand the "why would you do it like that, when this is so easy?" I was born 66, my memories as a kid are of constant breakdowns of the ignition kind.
timing covers full of mud, trying to get magnetos off with a rock and a screwdriver on the side of a creek, to trying to set timing on the hondas with the clapped out cams flapping around changing point gaps and timing in a fairly random pattern, ( had a TL 125 ran the best it ever had for ten seconds before the points plate fell off completely )
 CDI is magic as far as I could tell. just worked perfectly even under water. my 75mx250b was bulletproof and simple in comparison.

I was thinking, I've got a rock and a screwdriver, and I'm only 3000k's away so I'll go show you how to set the points, but it seems AJK has got in first with the offer. He's 4000k's away, he's going to be riding home in the dark.

Should mention that I had no problems with the standard setup and was running with the same sets that it had when I got it, ( I have filed and realigned them  a few times over 20 years)

Fitted a dyna s to fix misfire in the wet, slightly better idle but ended up with less idling time in traffic with the flashers and brake on before the battery goes flat, and it didn't fix the misfire either. ( cleaning tiny little air vents on the carbs fixed it, along with keeping the overflow tubes dry.)