car coils on motorcycles

bluecharger750

Joined
Jan 11, 2010
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Back in the mid to late 70s, Cycle magazine ran an article on putting automotive ignition coils, with a ballast resistor, on motorcycles with battery/coil ignition. I did my RD350, R5C, '73 Commando, etc. I can't find the article, and,I guess if I scratched my head and stared at it long enough, I could figure it out, but I was wondering if anyone knows the parts list and wiring for such an application.

rlcauler@yahoo.com
 
I used to use Ford six volt coils, some body reminded me a while ago that there were actually some cheap replacements that tested very well, but i can't recall what they were. I wired them in the same as stock with a Chrysler resistor in the old days.
I'm currently running 50,000 volt coils that are more similar to GM of the 60s with electronic ignition and no resistor.
 
Many of the cars in the 70s had a 9 volt coil with a ballast resistor that was bypassed when engaging the starter circuit, this was to give a bigger spark when cranking, as the coil would get the full 12 Volts during this operation. I don't imagine that there would be any technical difficulty in fitting an automotive coil to a Norton except they are normally physically much larger than the original Lucas ones supplied with the bike and you would still need two of them. I suppose the idea is to permanently run 9 volt coils on a 12 volt system to get a bigger spark all the time, these coils can probably handle the extra voltage in a motorcycle application, however I suspect that the various modern ignition options we now have available would make this modification redundant.
 
They are pretty big coils and you can get the same voltage in a smaller package. I just wanted the 70s hot rod look.
You can see how big these are under the headstock.
car coils on motorcycles
 
Bluecharger, I remember that article! I even have a copy somewhere in my garage. I'd go look for it but I'm away from home for a month. As I recall, they were not very particular about the auto coil they used, saying that the size was the big improvement. They said it was necessary to use an auto ballast resister (again, any one would do). The other important point was to open the plug gap up to .035. I was going to do it to my 67 Bonneville but never got around to it, however a friend did do it to his son's RD350 and claimed a noticeable improvement in performance and reduced fouling.
 
The real difference I noticed was in starting in cold conditions. It seemed pretty much the same when running and warm. It was also easy to get a Ford coil or Chrysler resistor in the sticks but you had to go to a city and pay twice as much for Lucas stuff. That said I ran the Ford stuff for ten years and never replaced anything but points.
This is silly to recall now but at one point I made what I think was called a transistorised igniton for my Norton. All it was consisted of a was little amp and you ran very low voltage at the points. I still have the book that showed me how to do that somewhere. It was a large waste of time but I had fun doing it.
 
The coil on my little Yamaha 80 died, I just replaced it with one from K-Mart as Cycle had written and it worked fine until I gave the bike away and never saw it again. The coil was much larger, but I had room inside the pressed steel frame, There was so much room, I could have used it to carry a LOT of drugs if I had been a bad boy back then :mrgreen:

Jean
 
Why do I think you are not giving us the full story on your habits back then Jean? I could tell you about the time my idiot friend ate the drug supply at the Canadian border and we had to camp a couple days until he came down.
 
Cookie said:
Why do I think you are not giving us the full story on your habits back then Jean? I could tell you about the time my idiot friend ate the drug supply at the Canadian border and we had to camp a couple days until he came down.
Click to expand...

I know you won't beleive me, but I never used drugs of any kind, all my brain damage was self inflicted by too much exposure to noisy machines and kids :mrgreen:

The most potent drug I use now is aspirin which at my age is pretty good :lol:

Jean
 
Cookie said:
Are you sure you are from Montreal?
Click to expand...

7th generation

If it goes with the territory, then what is the main characteristic of people near San Fransisco :?: I have heard rumors that they are...

:wink: :wink:
 
I'm just thinking of my time in Canada as a kid. You had the good food, the cute chicks, great bars, and the Mounties were after hockey players not tourists. I once got driven all over ST. George on a Sunday when I lost my sports car by a local cop. We got in a car with a bunch of Canadian kids at a bar and I was toasted enough to forget where.
I recall riding my bike up to a date and having a great time while the whole family played fiddle and guitar and sang. The locals liked my Norton, gave us kids hot toddies, and just enjoyed life.

p://web.ukonline.co.uk/pdcmusic/jolie-blonde.html
 
Saying you went to Canada is like me saying I went to the USA :wink:

I can't see why you want to move from the Bay area unless you know the big one is coming soon :mrgreen: Without insulting anyone, I think that is one of the best places I have visited in the US. Driving and bicycling in SF was just great. http://www.pbase.com/jeandr/image/52966471 me on Lombard.

Jean
 
The big one is always coming somewhere. We could get it in Kiwi, you have to live until you die.
Yup, we sure did have good times in Canada when I was a kid. I loved the atmosphere and the culture in Canada but not the weather. This was a good place for my working life due to the weather and the more liberal culture, as well as interesting scenery. Oddly enough one of the great treats was to be able to ride my bike most of the year. For several years I didn't have a car.
If you ever get back drop in. I could use your expertise on my bike!
 
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