AAU mechical fun faluts fixes.

Dave - Hobot,

I have a friend who developed these mods many years ago and they have proven to work very well for many years and on many bikes.

He started with the bushing mod that made the ignition setting solid, require a minimum of maintenance and increase the parts life.
It is easy to maintain, remove the bolt that holds the AAU and you can easily pull out the bushing and put 1-2 drops of engine oil at it. Push the bushing back, replace the bolt and you are done. Do it 1-2 times a year depending on how much you ride your bike. Most people will be ok with once a year.
The mod is done by maching both parts the bushing is fitted to. The machine work might be a bit different depending on the wear on the parts. After machining a suitable bushing is made to achieve the tolerancies needed.

The new cam profile was developed over a period of time and was tested also on other bikes (Benelli 6-cylinder). Different profiles were tested on the road and with high speed cameras to find a suitable profile. One target was to open the contacts faster to minimize sparking over the contacts (to increase life) and also to get a more "electronic-ignition-like" spark (at the spark plugs).
Additionally you can play around with the charging time of the coils to get fully charged coils but still using less power allowing you to run the bike with headlights on and still be ok with a 120 W generator.

And yes, it all works great

If you are interested in testing this I will check if I can have more units done. It is in the middle of our short riding season now so it has to wait until October. I would also need donor parts.
We have also discussed hard chrome or other wear protection but also talked about manufacturing new parts in better material.

Regards,
Per

DogT said:

Steve, I was looking at these units, only $20, but you need one for each point.
http://www.apogeekits.com/electronic_ignition.htm

Dave
69S

Click to expand...

don't know if it matters - electrickery baffles me - but the quoted link says "for negative ground"

"Negative ground"

That can either be insulated or convert to Neg ground when I get a Sparx.

Dave
69S

Per,

If you're still around, was the cam machined and replaced or modified from the original? Is the bushing not tight or pressed on either the cam or spindle, slide fit to both? I would think if it were press fit on one or the other, there would be less chance of wear and less tolerance at least on one face of the bushing.

Dave
69S

Dear Per I'd like to get in line for the upgraded AAU and might be able to stir up a few others too. Trixies scabbed together AAU should work ok rest of the year so no rush. Will have a neatly installed but unused SureFire to be rid of now.

The GM module could be triggered my both points I'd think for a wasted spark but double the coil firing rate. Would have to be isolated mounted for +earth use.
Exciting to know contact breakers can be made to function for now on.

Steve,
I've been impressed with the Pazon so far, but it's been only one trip so far. Tomorrow is next. I still like the idea of the AAU though.

Do any of you have a way to easily test the AAU to test the advance vs. the speed? I don't have any sort of tach I can read off my electric drill, and it probably doesn't go that fast anyhow, but it only needs to get to 3K. Plus it needs to be tested to return to idle speed. That may be why I was experiencing good idle and bad idle, how can you tell the difference between carbs and bad AAU springs? So many issues, so little time, so many hot neighbor trophy wives.

Dave
69S

Dave,
The bush is slide fit on both parts, it is easily removed so you can add a drop of oil each season.
The cam profile is machined on your old cam.

Hobot,
When I did this I actually used 3 donor AA units to get 2 good ones back. The better condition of the donor units the better unit/s you get back.
I actually have a spare sitting in the garage and I am travelling to the Hartford, CT, end of next week, working there for a week.
I could bring the spare AA unit with me and send it to you if you are interested :?:
Would be nice if yu could send me donor units that I could hand carry back home to save shipping and custom costs.

At first I was sceptic about the new cam profile, thought the forces of the quick lift would cause wear of the plastic heel and require frequent adjustments.
I set the breakers a bit over 0.015 and now on the third season it is still the same so it is not a problem.

Before the modified AA unit was installed I frequently had to charge the battery to keep it fully charged but now it is no need for that any more.
Still it seems to fully charge the coils but the current used by the system now is down to approximately 1,2 A .

Regards,
Per

Hi Per G
How many degrees of point dwell does the stock Commando points cam have. How many degrees of point dwell did you end up with? Do you use crankshaft degrees or camshaft degrees?
TomC in Ohio

To find the rpm the AAU flips to full advance you put time light on and see what someone else tells ya the rpm is when it does.
To find dwell you beg barrow or buy ancient analog or recent digital meter.

Trixie is again having trouble settling back to idle so yes I'd like an AAU that is upgraded and lasts a few years. I only have one mostly good one installed and one useless trashed parts one. The cam re-profile was extra educational to me, thanks.

To get spares we'd have to put out a request to Norton world to toss us theirs and call vendors to go through their dead inventory.
Bet ya can make a deal with vendors to unload a good lot at low price as not much future market to them. MAP offered me one, likely used condition for $25.

Dave I'm glad the SureFire is sure firing but now I can't relate to your posts with same adventure-pensiveness and next thing will be a thumb commensor to further leave Norton tradition in the dust : ) That is what Ms Peel is all about but not just dusting ole Nortons.

Trixie with new tire is pretty smooth in 55-65 zone but I still feel her blunted vibes getting through so more room to improve but she's reaching the limit of smoothness w/o the help of linkages, which ain't Norton, so know better than try to have much speed and turning fun on her, just an under powered quaint cruiser about any big twin can leave behind in speed and turns.

Early in my EE career I spent about a year doing R&D on solid state ignitions. The focus at the time was to equip my two stroke tripple with CDI so the damn plugs wouldn't foul. I traded the 350 in on the Norton and continued my experiments on that. One iteration used the AAU with magnetic studs pressed in the cam for triggering a magnetic pickup. Another iteration used reflective tape on the AAU cam and an optical sensor. If you have an inventive mind (and time on your hands) the AAU can be modified to eliminate the points altogether but still retain the advance characteristics.

Then one day I discovered Boyer and my R&D ceased... still have the prototype CDI in a box somewhere...

I also still have my old AAU. I had maybe 15,000 miles on the bike before switching to EI, and the advance weights are noticeably worn. I'd be interested in getting that renewed if possible. Maybe even revive the old project...

TomC
These mods were developed many years ago when I was still dreaming about buying a Commando so I have no clue about the numbers for dwell angle used on standard nor the modified unit. The person who knows is presently riding around the country but I will ask him next time I talk to him.

Regards,
Per

Soon I will put out an all points bulletin to have others toss us their scape AAU's, as Trixie's AAU is just barely usable to idle back and allow decent engine drag going slowly on touchy places. But the nice easy throttle response on points and dual Amal's is delicious delight when not pressing limits at either extreme.

On a side note Trixie's low beam in rather dull and voltage to it reads about 6 v while hi beam is getting close to12 v when tested and the hi beam indicator glows dimly on low beam. I find 12 v reaching the toggle terminals on head light shell so wonder if who ever wired her some how routed power to low beam via the ballast resistor... Last pm I took out the LED volts light meter and the hi beam indicator as possible current bypass but no help. The Pazion power was over 12 v reaching it so at least points getting all they can use.
I take some relief knowing we could get two points installs to start and run to ride around but not the intermittent firing SureFire.

Steve,
Check the voltages across the switches when you have the light on, you may have a switch that's got a lot of resistance in it. It doesn't always show up on the ohmmeter, but when you put enough current through, it shows up. Only real check is voltage check during use.

Dave
69S

Huh? I checked with lights on if that's what ya mean. Seem as if low beam wires must go through long loop of resistance. The high beam shows only the V drop you'd expect from a few feet and couple of terminals, ie: 10/ths of a volt drop not half a dozen. i rode Trixie last 1am out 1/2 mile drive and back for 1st real after dark test, to see ok on low beam if I stayed reasonable slow, while in just rubber boots and under wear, nothing else ugly anyone would see but me and the deer. Ugh that's not true, yesterday I got into view of wife's online phone camera to have her friend recoil and laugh her head off at me showing off my junk accidentally - ugh.

Another light annoyance/mystery is when I aim low beam best the high beam is aimed too low and visa versa, ugh. But that is another subject line can of worms to open.

hobot said:

On a side note Trixie's low beam in rather dull and voltage to it reads about 6 v while hi beam is getting close to12 v when tested and the hi beam indicator glows dimly on low beam. I find 12 v reaching the toggle terminals on head light shell so wonder if who ever wired her some how routed power to low beam via the ballast resistor...

Click to expand...

That sounds as if the wires are connected to the headlamp bulb incorrectly (wrong bulb tag connected to ground?)?

Duh yeah LAB, but not my wiring except to scab together mis colored wires tied together in mysterious combinations, to a least work for now. This is partly why Wes and I questioned ourselves so long and hard trying to get Pazion to avoid AAU.
Another clue is I know the charger is charging but LED voltage meter says it ain't, ugh. Power enters shell toggle switch via heavy orange wire but the bar switches also fed via a white power wire in loom. Some day after Peel done I'll have to cut loom in half and rebuild from battery forward. ugh. At least Trixie is a bit lighter than similar Combats w/o all the excess dead end police copper.

hobot said:

Power enters shell toggle switch via heavy orange wire

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Should be blue/yellow?[in to switch], blue [out] to h/bar beam selector switch.

hobot said:

but the bar switches also fed via a white power wire in loom.

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The white wire on one handlebar switch is the power feed for the horn and headlamp flash buttons, the white on the other switch side is the ignition power feed and goes to the kill button (white[in]>>>>kill button>>>>white/yellow[out]).

Yes I've the wire diagrams too but Trixie DPO apparently didn't care. Horn and hi beam are wired to her RH bar while kill and useless buttons are in the LH bar gear. On Peel faithful to Norton up front, the useless button is wired on RH hi beam side and the horn on LH with kill.

I'm still collecting old AAU's but want to preserve my current one, 1st failed with broken weight pivot post, so asking if there's a trick way to lubricate the AAU w/o losing the spot on timing set? I think I can just remove center blot and pull the AAU shaft forward to get oil on insides w/o touching contact breaker plate. This sure ain't enough to unseat the taper fit.

Got a test light or a meter? Hang it on the points, turn the engine over to detect exactly where the points open. Slow and easy, now. Once you've done that you have a reference at which you can adjust the breaker plate after you've removed it.