C15 Ignition

[japes1275]

I'm thinking of moving into the 21st century and getting electronic ignition on my C15. I've looked at the various options and I'm thinking that the crank driven type is what I'll be going for. I don't need a battery or lights so it seems the easiest and best option.

I've identified three that look suitable, the PVL from SM, Electrex World and Rex Caunt. The PVL is at least one that I've heard of and looks and seems decent quality, I can only seem to find them at SM though. The Electrex World is a good deal cheaper but seems less trials oriented. The Rex Caunt also sounds ok and has the advantage of parts of the kit being available separately but it's more expensive.

All are big investments (by my standards!) so I wonder if anyone could advise me on which might be best, or even recommend alternatives. My bike is a distributor model (with a very worn dizzy!) so I'd rather steer clear of the points replacement type.

I'm edging towards the Electrex Word at the moment - purely from a financial perspective!

Thanks for any advice

[tonyp]

Hi,

 

This isn't an answer to the original question, but its a supplementary query....

 

- in this day & age when electrickery gets ever cheaper and more clever, does anybody know why electronic ignition continues to cost around £250 ?

 

- has anybody found an easy good-enough solution using parts from mainstream bikes or other machinery ?

 

 

Tony

[davetom]

Electrex works fine on my C-15 although there's a problem I find with it, not sure if the others have it ? The rotor doesn't positively locate on the crank, so it can move as you pull the crank nut up. A little is ok as you can get it back on the pickup adjustment, but it's not clever in my opinion ( mines 5 yrs old, it may have changed..)

I should just file a key way in , but haven't got round to it

[Prototype]

Hi Tonyb

 

The same question popping up in my mind , so i open discuss on some other forum , 

 

Cheapest way to run without battery.

just search in google ( cheapest way to run without battery britbike.com )

 

i found this very cheap ignition for C15 ,but i think it bike with side points,  i have bike with distriubtor

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BSA-TRIUMPH-NO...%3D130867676808

 

there are very smart guys on forum . who might have the some alternative solution.

 

Regards 

Edited November 2, 2015 by bsa4life

[japes1275]

Price wise you still get what you pay for in my experience, though I do accept the ones I've mentioned are expensive. The £250+ ones are still just a simple ignition system. For my similar aged car I can get a fully mapable machined alloy distributor that can have different advance curves programmed in seconds on a laptop, for the same price.

I've seen the Wassell ones but I've heard of a few people having problems with them - though I know those stories will exist for all of them!

I'll go and do some more googling!

[bobb]

i have HPI ignition on my bsa ( digital one) it works perfect also no key way in the rotor but just file one in and it will be good 

on my cub i had PVL ( alon witton) but i replaced by electrec world it works a lot better than the pvl (dont know if its the same on a bsa) 

[b40rt]

http://www.boyerbransden.com/alternator.html

[naichuff]

I have two cub engines one fitted with Electric world The rotor has two keyways cut in it but the stator is mounted on the outer clutch case so is hard to time the spark It runs ok The second engine has PVL  and the rotor has no keyway cut in it This is a later twin roller type engine and the stator is mounted on the crank case Ran fine till it seized because a bush was to tight so can not compare system yet Need to refit the second motor back in the bike and run it up

[japes1275]

Thanks chaps, I've ordered the Electrex World kit. Not heard any bad things about it (apart from lack of keyway) and the price seemed good compared to similar kits of alloy construction. I'll post a review once fitted.

Cheers

[madmostin]

Just fitted an electrex world today. Straightforward installation following the instructions. I have an issue with it that I'll be contacting the supplier next week about but bike started first kick.

No keyway version.

Easy to time up.

C15 type unit.

[japes1275]

Electrex world now fitted and tested and working great.

Fitting was easy ish but as usual took a lot longer than expected. I welded a bracket under the seat to mount the coil and had to extend the wiring a bit to get the cut out on the bars, I think the coil is designed to go under the tank but it's a bit awkward to fit there.

The rotor fitted ok and I'm reasonably happy with the taper system it uses, I made a tab washer and Locktited it to make sure it doesn't come loose.

The stator is the main problem for ease of fitting. The slots in it are bigger than the studs so it can move if not careful, I was pre warned by madmostin so had an idea to improve it. I basically made some thin spacers that fitted over the studs to keep the stator central in the slots. It seemed to work ok. Wiring it up is easy as its a very simple system.

It started first kick and it runs superbly, pick up is much better and it revs nicely. It's massively improved the rideability in sections which is exactly what I needed.

So it's a great system, very expensive but looks well made and good quality. It's just a pity they didn't come up with a better way of mounting the stator on the studs.