SOB part query

In the process of reverting my '78 R80 back to standard ignition, I've
discovered that the optical pick-up at the camshaft of the aftermarket
electronic ignition came with it's own rotating backplate.

So I'm in need of one of the original backplates, the one that has the
points attached to it, and which is rotated to set the timimg.

Anyone got one of those collecting dust in a drawer?

 

Try MotorWorks. I'll bet they have them, new and used.

 

WHY

 

I had a look at their website, which shows used ones at "only" £28.
Which made me wonder if it was made from titanium or one of the rare
earth metals. FFS, to me it looks like a basic, ca 50 mm Ø perforated
iron plate . . . which should be in surplus on the market, considering
how many of those bikes have been converted to electronic ignition.

 

Simplicity. Originality. To get it running again with minimal effort
when the EI breaks down.

 

I'm with Olson. Leave it on electronic. It's less likely to break down,
and will run better anyway.

 

Yebbut, I just don't understand this sort of hankering for something
that "can easily be fixed". My idea of machinery is that it shouldn't go
wrong in the first place, not that it should be easy to mend when it
does.

And by and large, electronic ignitions don't go wrong anywhere near as
often as points systems, require zero maintenance, and make an engine
run better. What's not to like?

 

Or maybe he wants his classic bike to be authentic.

 

Plus there's not a lot on the TV at the moment and he might want
something to keep himself occupied! Some people need a mission in
life!

Having had boxers with both points and EI I would want to keep EI,
even if it took me a few weeks extra to save up the money to replace a
broken EI

Boxerboy

 

One coconut to Champ for the correct answer.

The current EI was fitted to replace one that failed in the most
spectacular fashion[1]. Whilst troubleshooting the latter, I came across
plenty of reports of other's EIs that also had failed, or worked not as
good as points, both without and with detailed explanations why.

So I want to see how my R80 runs with points, and if not better than EI,
to keep as a back-up system that will allow me to continue a journey
when EI #2 gives up the ghost.

Back to my parts query; if everyone agrees that EI _is_ better than
points, why is there no surplus of said part, and why can used ones
command prices approaching 1/10 of a SOB?

I am tempted to take that as a compliment.


[1]Two days before longer journey, after lots of work to improve the
reliability/performance of the bike. But for some reason I let the
aftermarket EI in peace, because "they don't fail" . . . - hah.

 

Perhaps there just aren't many working ones left?

 

I was thinking it was because all the sensible types threw them in the
bin years ago. Which ties in nicely with your theory.

 

Thus spake Jordan () unto the assembled multitudes:

I still have somewhere in my garage an unused piston for a +80 thou overbored
BSA C15 basket case that I abandoned and threw in a skip in 1986 (coo! if
only eBay had been around then). It will never be of any use, but an unused
piston is something of a thing of beauty, which is prolly why I couldn't bear
to get rid of it.

 

Thus spake Jordan () unto the assembled multitudes:

I had the barrel bored out too, of course, with the crazy idea of trying to
build a C15 that went fast (well, fast for a C15 anyway). I was only 20 at
the time. Even if it had been built, I am sure the big end bearings would
not have lasted long. By then I had a Tiger 650 and no money, so the poor
old C15's bits lanquished in a box for another 10 years until I gave up
(prompted by the then wife) and threw them out. Should have thrown the wife
out instead, but she saved me the trouble ten years later anyway.

That'd be a nice paperweight

 

In Stornoway I witnessed the shipping of a - correction - the - piston
out of a Norwegian trawler - it came out of the hatch on a pallet. and
you wouldn't have got two on it, either.

Paperweight, or what?

 

Sherlocks in South Molton used to have a pretty big Diesel piston next
to the spares counter. They said it was from a German sub, which is
plausible but I've no idea if it was true. About 10" diameter IIRC, with
its con-rod. Not in the same league really, but hey.

 

Not really - allegedly you could get inside the cylinder (singular) of
one of those engines to decoke it. (Big plug?)

They were amusing to watch in the harbour - boomp.......boomp......
boomp......boomp, and being out of time with each other they bobbed up
and down like a slowed-down pondful of pogo danceers.