Topic: opinions for ingition system PAMCO vs Hondaman

[Terry in Australia]

The benefit of Mark's (Hondaman's) ignition amplifier is that you get a better spark regardless of the condition of your battery, your battery can have as little as 6 volts and your bike will still run, as opposed to an electronic ignition which will run like sh1t if you haven't got a constant 12 volts.

Here is a video of a PAMCO running with a 6 volt lantern battery which was actually 5.5 Volts for the test:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzuvyZom0ro

That is a 3/4" gap, so obviously there is sufficient voltage there to jump .03 + .03 = .06" combined gap of two spark plugs. That'll get you home if the alternator fails and you can start the engine with a low battery.

Thanks Pete, and seeing your demonstration I remembered buying a device that improved the spark energy on one of my old Fords just by creating an "air gap" between the HT lead and the coil, so I can see what you're doing there. Cheers, Terry.

[Scott S]

 I've heard too many horror stories about Dyna failures and lack of customer support.

 Pete's customer support is the best in the business. The SOHC4 guys have been slow to accept it, but go to http://www.xs650.com/forum/ and search for Pamco. You'll see what you're getting in addition to a points replacement system.

 I've also heard only good things about the Hondaman system, but, as mentioned before....if your points are shot, you have to factor all that in, too. Makes the price parity a little closer.

[70CB750]

It was discussed here within the last year or so - Pamco is set as far as 1-4 and 2-3 are concerned.  You are not able to adjust them individually like Hondaman's two sets of points.

It never bothered me none, however somebody pointed that out, there is a thread on it.

I truly like the idea all of it inside the cover with no additional box to place.

[AJK]

Can't really agree with the new shorts scenario. You have old points, give them a cleanup with some wet'n'dry & install a hondaman ignition. The old points are only going to pull in milli-amps through the contacts, big deal. With old points and a clean connection & some lube, those points will likely last almost forever together with the HM installation. New points will help if you have a stock setup with no hondaman ignition, where amps are being pulled through the contacts, making them wear.
  I have the pamco and i'm happy, but just want to sort out the apples from the oranges. As far as GoldArrows costings go, don't forget that your bike will already have the points there for you to clean up, so i think he has a point. On the other hand, who cares about a $42 difference if your going to keep the bike a long time and want a pamco. I think its more like betamax vs VHS.

[Schnell]

Can't really agree with the new shorts scenario. You have old points, give them a cleanup with some wet'n'dry & install a hondaman ignition. The old points are only going to pull in milli-amps through the contacts, big deal. With old points and a clean connection & some lube, those points will likely last almost forever together with the HM installation. New points will help if you have a stock setup with no hondaman ignition, where amps are being pulled through the contacts, making them wear.
  I have the pamco and i'm happy, but just want to sort out the apples from the oranges. As far as GoldArrows costings go, don't forget that your bike will already have the points there for you to clean up, so i think he has a point. On the other hand, who cares about a $42 difference if your going to keep the bike a long time and want a pamco. I think its more like betamax vs VHS.

Well summarized, IMO.

[Stoli]

If the points not wearing out as fast with Hondaman's ignition amplifier was the only advantage I'd agree with your analogy, but you missed the part where the spark is amplified to produce a spark similar to that of an electronic ignition. So I guess the comparison should be closer to that of a DVD compared to Blue Ray, which isn't really all that much. Cheers, Terry.

Agreed. A stronger spark (less power loss over the point gaps) and less wear on the points are both advantages that the HM system has over the stock system. However, I think the general discussion here is comparing the HM to the Pamco and as you point out, they are probably very similar as far as the spark is concerned. I guess my analogy was more pointed towards what is going on to produce the spark as opposed to the spark itself. If you are comparing the end performance of each system, I guess they are both Bluerays.

The points plate in my recent project was a lost cause so it was an easy decision for me to go with the Pamco in that case.

[pamcopete]

It was discussed here within the last year or so - Pamco is set as far as 1-4 and 2-3 are concerned.  You are not able to adjust them individually like Hondaman's two sets of points.

It never bothered me none, however somebody pointed that out, there is a thread on it.

I truly like the idea all of it inside the cover with no additional box to place.

It is possible to gently bend the late sensor up off of the PC board to position it closer to the passing magnets so it will trigger a couple of degrees sooner. Do not bend it from side to side. Just straight up off of the PC board.

The other thing to keep in mind is that each coil produces a positive voltage on one plug wire and a negative on the other. The timing light works best on the negative wire. Some timing lights will not work at all on the positive wire, others will produce an erratic strobe that tends to be late because it is firing on the trailing edge of the pulse which is interpreted to mean that that cylinder is retarded. There is no easy way to determine which of the two coil wires is the negative wire, so if you are experiencing erratic or late timing, just switch to the other plug wire for that particular coil and see if the results are better.

This phenomena is also true with a points setup. We often hear of someone saying that they have run out of adjustment on the movable set of points. It could just be that they have their timing light clamped to the positive wire, so just try the other wire for that coil and see if the results are better.

[Mooshie]

Hondaman no contest.  Any problem on the road switch a few wires and you are back to points only.  I have been using HM for almost 5 years.  Very happy with that unit. 

[70CB750]

I run Pamco with no backup, trust it completely

Hondaman no contest.  Any problem on the road switch a few wires and you are back to points only.  I have been using HM for almost 5 years.  Very happy with that unit.