Well, just to set the 'record' straight on what this gadget does (or does not) do...
The points, once they have more than 1000 miles or so on them, drop approximately 0.5 volt during short-term closure (i.e., at engine speeds above 4500 RPM, in these bikes, or 1500 RPM in the typical old V8 engines). This has been a factor since the inception if the Kettering design. The condensor is there to help mitigate the arcing and reduce the surface damage that creates this "hot drop", as it is called. The transistors drop only 0.3 volt below the coils, so they are better than anything but brand-new points.
In addition, this box does have a feature I have not talked much about, because few understand it: I have a dual-peak output circuit that "floats" a resonance voltage at low RPM (below 2000) and high RPM (above 6800 RPM) to cause increased coil charge and to automatically match to the varying coils that the SOHC4 riders use, like Dyna or Accel coils, among others. This is specifically what gives the 1975 and later bikes such an improved cold-start performance with this box, removing the cold-bloodedness that tungsten (on the points) has below 100 degrees F (which causes weak spark until the engine heats them up). The second part of this circuit increases the spark at high RPM, extending the useful range of even the stock Honda coils to over 15,000 RPM (not that many of these SOHC4 engines go that far, but I have built them to do so in the past - which started this thing, in 1973).
So, yes, it DOES improve the system...I just let the owners decide how much, and if they can see the difference. I have found, as an engineer for nearly 35 years, that sooner or later, the superior products do float to the top if they can survive the initial increased price resistance.
