Which is more reliable ... Points or Electronic Ignition for Airheads?

[squish]

Originally Posted by _cy_

worth repeating...

electronic ignition failures in all but airheads are just about non-existent. yes all electronic can and do fail, but are very reliable.

would we be having this discussion in say Honda or Yamaha bikes? yes ignition failures do exist, but for everything except for airheads they are rare indeed.

someone will be along shortly to deny it all. but for some reason threads on electronic ignition failures for airheads both OEM and aftermarket ignitions consistently pop up.

First hand experience from someone who's a true believer of Electronic Ignitions...

1983 R80ST, bad Bean Can to be replaced with A/M bean can.

1993 R100GS Bad Bean Can replaced when the bike was still under warranty.

1993 XR650L died, on the freeway (Carrying my wife) Trouble shooting lead to a failed CDI box AND bad trigger winding.
Replaced the box and stator, (which also includes trigger winding) and problem went away never to return.

1983 CB750F, Ignitor potting failed leading to Ignigtor failing. When the Ignigtor fails the bike no longer has Ignition.
This mind you is an age and heat related problem, so an outlier when it comes to electronic ignition.

But I've had far more experiences with points needing work and futzing and hard starting and...
To sway me to go back to running points, ever.
But I'm also a fan of fuel injection over carbs.

[GREWUPIN_D11]

1971 R75/5,rode it 4 years and 50k miles, never touched the points, no problems

1984 R100RT, rode it 26 years, 40k miles, no (ignition) problems.

[Global Rider]

Originally Posted by _cy_

Which is more reliable ... Points or Electronic Ignition for Airheads?

Do you mean more reliable or more maintenance free.

Electronic Ignition is more maintenance free...simply because you really can't do anything to it.

Points are more reliable...because I can fix them roadside and get going again. Try that with an electonic ignition module that has failed.

And in both cases, they have coils, which can fail no matter what system you have.

The last thing I'd want is "high tech" when riding in really remote areas.

[homere]

Points are very simple, file / replace, ride, If you are going to put a electronic unit in, carry a set of points as a back up? They don't take up to much space.

[DaveBall]

I have had points fail in the middle of nowhere. The spare set I had would not work as they were bent out of shape from being the the bottom of my tool tray for umpteen years. So had a set sent to me via courier. Got them 2 days after ordering and was on my way.
Had a bean can die up in the Yukon, back in 1993 while on my 81 RT. No dealers around with a bean can available. So had one sent via courier from Vancouver, got it 2 days later, installed myself and was back on the road.

So, 2 days to get either a set of point or a bean can. Not a big deal to me. Sure, both were inconvenient, but not a trip breaker. Those were the only 2 times I ever had any sort of ignition issue in the past 35+ years of riding airheads.

Both are extremely reliable. Points are more finicky and old school.

[disston]

The solution preferred by a significant number of riders is not a part of this survey. Myself an many others keep the ignition points but add a Booster. If there is an electronics failure the parts to convert back to the OEM ignition are still on the bike, they do not need to be carried in the tool box, all that's needed is moving a couple of wires.

Ignition points are made cheaper and the tips are made thinner than in years past. They burn out sooner. They should be checked and re-timed after run in and and checked again at each tune up. If using a Booster the ignition points will be more stable requiring fewer adjustments.

I recently bought a Velleman Electronic Ignition Kit. I received this yesterday.



I have to find my soldering gun but think I might be able to install this later this month.