Iron Sportster ignition systems

[@billbruno6298]

Paul excellent videos. I am in the process of rebuilding an 80 Sportster, for my daughter, that has been kluged by the previous owner. Thank you so much. Your shop practices are like my own neat and clean is the order of the day. Thanks again.

[@Open-Sport]

So glad to hear I could help. I have been working on the house the last few months, but will be getting back on the Sportster videos soon. The only folks more neat and clean than I are the aircraft A&P mechanics that were working as Harley mechanics and taught me how they do things. Good luck with your project.

[@joehovanec1985]

It was good you shared your information with us. This kind of stuff is not talked about enough, especially going through all the years and all the different parts. Thank you very much. Northridge, California. I have relatives that live there.

[@Open-Sport]

I remember when Northridge had that big earthquake. I am in Florida now, so it's hurricanes, not earthquakes. Thanks for your kind words, it makes me want to haul out the cameras and make more videos.

[@jdcastillocastillo3492]

champion has been making H D spark plugs,for 100 plus years.points and condensers are not a bad thing,they have their detractors but they worked in all sorts of equipment for years,so ..................great video sir keep up the great work !!!!!

[@benclark1393]

Your a life saver I’ve been trying to get my head around the wiring mess on my 1997 you’ve really help me understand a bike I have very limited experience with

[@Open-Sport]

Yes, I am glad I could help, though a 1997 is quite different than these early Iron Sportsters I talk about. Thanks for the comment.

[@chrisoftheot6272]

Afternoon Paul - some time ago I asked if I could use some of your pictures in my videos (from your website), you were kind enough to agree - and very nicely too, thank you. I was planning on using a 1:22 section of this video 'cos the ignition bits are complicated between 1978-1980 on Sportsters. Your video shows all the greasy bits, and you even explain how they work, which will help in my next Sportster history video. I will obviously credit you properly, as I always do. Thanks again sir. Cheers, Chris

[@steveblottenberger1097]

Paul you are awesome keep up the good work you are such a good teacher you're like a radio station to Steve from Annapolis

[@Open-Sport]

Thanks, will do!

[@newzealandhoris4208]

This is the first video iv watched subscribed straight away he seems to be pretty knowledgeable I certainly enjoyed this video

[@Open-Sport]

Thanks for your kind words. More Harley videos coming after I fix up my house.

[@jmileshc]

Fascinating. I appreciate your sharing. I've a very weird ratty bitsa bike with an 85? engine in 70's frame with a blue "chip" points setup. The capacitor-condensor being a surface mount MLCC Chip type. Brilliant 4-part on the Keihin carburettor too! VERY useful indeed. Mines slightly different Andrews Power Flow AR40F which is now going to be stripped again after now understanding a little more as to why mine idles ok but bogs on revving. More cleaning grunge out & missing bung. Cheers !.

[@Open-Sport]

Great, I am glad to help. Good luck with that Andrews setup, I have heard good things about them, and with the parts availability problems with old Kehein carbs, I might have to buy one my self. I ran one of those chip capacitor setups years ago, and I don't think it ever failed, but I don't know what I did with it. Thanks for the comment.

[@benderbender1233]

wudnt trade my ultima single fire electronic ignition eye got on my 79 for nuthin!! best $ eye ever spent! ✌😎✌

[@Open-Sport]

Great to hear you've got a good solution working on an Iron Sportster. The 79 Sporty is cool since they still provided for a kickstarter, though they didn't build them all with one. Thanks for the comment.

[@brianstumo8581]

Damn straight single fire ignition is the bomb. I had a 81 sturgis was beat to death and bought it cheap never could get it to stop pinging on front cylinder and tore it in to it and it had already had a 010 over bore and went 050 to get in speck with wiesco 10.5 pistons doubly rings crane fireball camflowbenched heads and dyna s single fire with keigin carb rejetted with a thunderjet barnett cluthes and them evo,s didnt have a chance had electric and kick infact untill i had about 3000 miles electric wouldnt tun it over id get it up on the compression strokestand on that kicker peddle crack it 3 shots from accelerater and kick that kicker with my 180 pounds and i think 95 percent of the time 1 kick was all it needed that single fire ignition worked like a dream was expensive like 400 bucks in 2000 i recomend any one riding shovels iron heads to use them you will not be dissapointed i run single fire on my 03 twin cam also on my 77 spoty with dual pluged heads best thing you can do to a harley in my opinion

[@Open-Sport]

@@brianstumo8581 Sounds like a great setup you have dialed in, I may have to save some ducats to buy a single-fire unit. Thanks for the comment.

[@Open-Sport]

@@brianstumo8581 Sounds like a great setup you have dialed in, I may have to save some ducats to buy a single-fire unit. Thanks for the comment.

[@brianstumo8581]

@@Open-Sport Im pretty sure you will be impressed with the difference they make its like night and day . I wouldnt steer you in the wrong direction . you might wanna read your plugs after you install slow, mid, & high 3 new sets and some time i did some rejeting after i installed ignition i also run a Thunder jet also it actually works to improve performance in all cuircuts on Kehin also older works best differnt year s had bigger accelerater pump housinguse a 1/4 inch wrench and turn nozzle in float bowl so sprays directly in center of manifold as most did not you probably know them tricks im sure but put all them little things together and you,ll have a smile on your face from the results and thank you for your sharing your knoledge with us all we appreciate the effert it takes !!

[@jerrybigrig9475]

😎👍😎 Did you ever wire up the VOES to your non voes system..with a switch..to gey your additional advance ..??

[@Jamestfarrell]

So-1967 was the first year of the XLH (electric start). My XLCH ain't it. The magneto is everything you implied; low spark at low, kick start, rpm. My old KHK was also magneto fired but lower compression so it was manageable. With no provision for a battery on the XLCH I'm trying to figure out how to go with an electronic ignition. My wife's 79 Bonneville kicks and starts fine with the original electronic ignition and Amal Mark II carbs. What's a good solution? Small battery somehow mounted....somewhere? The later Sportsters had that lump on the side case so I guess it is easier to find or adapt but I want something that mounts to the top of the cam case where the original mag (distributor on the XLH) goes. Thanks.

[@Open-Sport]

I mount a standard later-model XLCH battery, 7 amp-hours, between the frame and front wheel. You have to keep it tucked in and low, or the fender might clip the terminals. You can see what I cobbled up on all my iron Sportsters, some crude, some fancy: www.open-sport.org/Smorg/1962-XLH_SportsterPauls-Sportster/ Next is much cleaner, and the side-plates lets you drag the bike up into a pickup truck, should the need arise: www.open-sport.org/Smorg/1977-XLCH_SportsterPauls-Sportster/ Similar to the 1977 is the '79: www.open-sport.org/Smorg/1979-XLCH_SportsterPauls-Sportster-chop/ And my 1980 had a tiny battery tucked behind the starter hump, that just did not get the job done, so I did the same with it, a standard 12V 7AH battery between the frame and front wheel: www.open-sport.org/Smorg/1980-XLCH_SportsterPauls-Sportster-monoshock/1980_Sportster_monoshock_rt.jpg This was semi-crude, it used the stock 1974-78 battery box and rubber mounts, and made brackets for the frame to pick those up. Note the swoopy side-plates on the '77 and '79 do not hard-mount the battery. The have rubber washers around the through-bolts that give a bit of cushion to the battery box that I fabricated. My 1962 starts second kick with the points ignition, and first kick if it is warm. You can save your magneto, or sell it for big bucks on eBay,. I would save it if your bike is at all stock, so you can keep the original parts together. My 1962 was made from spare parts, so I sold the mag, or actually gave it to a pal with a '69 who didn't mind 30 kicks to get it started. You can also try to "flash" the magneto at an alternator/generator shop, it rebuilds the magnetism. My pal took mine off and bought one of those 500-dollar Mallory auto-advance magnetos. It's way better, but far from one-kick.

[@gregstone6374]

watched in hopes of seeing a timer for a 71 that has the tach drive. it had it, as the cable is still there, but timer changed to electronic at one point. want to go back original but no luck finding one. any help, pics? I'd machine one if I could find more info.

[@Open-Sport]

Good news, I just found one in my parts stash I intend to put on one of my bikes. It is a bigger thing than you might think, in that the shaft that rotates the points cam is different than a regular timer, it has a square hole machined in the end. Once you get that, the cap is a stock cap (I think) with a hole for the drive that plugs into the square hole inside the timer and has the threaded end for the tach cable. I can't use facebook, but google shows a picture of the unit here: www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fm.facebook.com%2F1613930588649324%2Fposts%2Fironhead-distributor-with-tach-drive-cap-75-shipped-ironhead-ironheadsportster-i%2F2661209687254737%2F&psig=AOvVaw2l99Dbjq0i173OBOM8YgyL&ust=1651513404293000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CAkQjRxqFwoTCKDtxYDtvvcCFQAAAAAdAAAAABAH I tried to take mine apart to measure it for you, but the knurled ring is frozen and I don't want to tear it up with Channeloks worse than I just did. I noted that the square drive part of mine is broken off, explaining why this timer was on the junk pile. You might search images for "harley distributor tach drive" even though you are the rare guy that knows it is not a distributor, but a timer. I sprayed my unit down with Kroil, so maybe I can get it apart in a day or so. You might start with the later model tach drive, and see if you can adapt it. Your biggest headache is getting the square hole in the timer shaft. You can look for a used timer on eBay, but I suspect an auto-advance timer with tach drive will be over 300 bucks by now. Sorry to say, that is why I am hanging onto mine.

[@neiluscook2283]

Would like on my 74 too. Thanks for the great tech stuff. . .going to watch all of yours!

[@Open-Sport]

@@neiluscook2283 Great to hear I could help. I am thinking about taking the electronic ignition off my 1979 and using points, at least until I get the carb sorted, Then I might go back to electronic.Good luck with your 1974

[@berendbotje1598]

That Looks like a nicely modified 67 / 70 cam cover, to give it a pre 67 look, am I correct? Many thanks for your videos, very clear explanation.

[@Open-Sport]

Ya know, I stared at that cover trying to think what the heck it was, and you must be right, it's a grooved 1967 type, where someone ground off a couple ribs. I suspect that is why I might have found it at the flea market years ago. Good eye.

[@markbay9668]

Can you make a video how to set up points and timing on an actual bike I set my timing to factory specs but I want to know how you set the timing to not burn the valves

[@Open-Sport]

I will try to do that when I get a video setup in the garage. The key thing is to make sure the timing is advanced, too much retard and it will burn pistons, likely before the valves. Also be sure the lifters are adjusted pretty loose, so the valve sits fully on the seat when it is not lifted. That period is when the valve transfers heat to the head.

[@jerryking1434]

Is there a sure fire way of checking a condenser... Say you needed one ..went to the autoparts store to pick up a new set ... Ohm them out on the parts counter ...???

[@Open-Sport]

A condenser is a capacitor, so if they have a capacitance meter, they can measure it-- let me go check with a Klein Tools MM600 from Home Depot --- yeah, mine measure around 220nF (nanoFarads) same as saying 0.220 uF (microFarads). That is what the internet seems to say as well, though magneto condensers might be different. Thing is, I have had them measure fine, and still be bad. It is breakdown at high voltage that usually happens, an a meter will not test them. Also most might measure fine at the store, and only once they get hit with the high voltage from a 300-volt ignition pulse off the coil that they fail. I just buy one, take my chances, run it for a month, then switch back to the original. If it lasts a month, then I put the spare one in the tool bag. Sometimes the bike just won't start with a bad condenser, but twice I had them fail so the bike would start and idle, but would pop and stumble when I tried to give it throttle.

[@jerrybigrig9475]

Thanks ..

[@steveblottenberger1097]

That's what I call the Bible old service manuals and parts books Steve from Annapolis

[@Open-Sport]

Yeah, all the old-timer biker buddies called it The Bible too-- though they all had tricks and work-arounds to what the manual said.

[@steveblottenberger1097]

K r o y IL is the best guy a very unique smell to it WD-40 is just good to use to wipe down with feels like donuts once again I agree with you Steve from Annapolis keep up the good work I'm watching every one of your videos

[@Open-Sport]

Thanks for sharing!

[@johnkelly6942]

Magnetos?

[@Open-Sport]

I gave away all my magnetos since I could not start my 1962 with less than ten kicks, and sometimes 30. With the points setup it starts in a kick or two at most. So without a real magneto to demonstrate, I didn't think it made sense to video. With a mag, everything is critical. Spark plug gaps, spark plug wires, clean cap inside, point gap, timing, and carburetor. Maybe get the mag "flashed" at an auto electric store, that "refreshes" the magnetism inside it. One buddy swore he could start the bike with an old round-slide Mikuni but I never saw that myself. I used a Tillotson and then tried a butterfly Keihin like in 1977 bikes. My buddy Preacher dropped 500 bucks on that Morris auto-advance mag you can buy new, but he ended up using his Panhead with a regular ignition instead of the '69 Sporty, and then bought a new electric-start bike. Wish I could help more, but I gave up on mags 20 years ago and have not looked back. My right knee thanks me every day.

[@steveblottenberger1097]

I'm sorry that's WD-40 smells like donuts. Feels like donuts Steve from Annapolis

[@Open-Sport]

WD-40 smells and hold water in suspension, I don't keep any in the house.

[@ahill7099]

The original hemi

[@Open-Sport]

Yup, I suspect Harley went to aluminum hemi heads when they could study aircraft engines after WWII. I know the Knucklehead was a cast-iron hemi back in 1936, and I be Harley was hemi heads even before that. Chrysler was late to the party with the 426. By then, my pals were learning a 440 Wedge would perform better than a 426 Hemi, who knew?