Factory electronic ignition

vitesse · Aug 8, 2011

Some time back when I had my 850 I read that there was a very few factory installed electronic ignitions on Commandos, I believe the article claimed Texas instruments was the designer of the unit.
Anyone ever heard of this?
Thanks

Rohan · Aug 8, 2011

Was this on the announced but not produced 'Norton 76' model ?

TI sounds an unlikely supplier, especially if it had to design one when money was in short supply at Nortons. Unless someone already had something suitable, based on TI chips ?

swooshdave · Aug 8, 2011

vitesse said:
Some time back when I had my 850 I read that there was a very few factory installed electronic ignitions on Commandos, I believe the article claimed Texas instruments was the designer of the unit.
Anyone ever heard of this?
Thanks

Nope.

I bet there were some Ritas tested by the factory but I don't recall any in production units.

Rohan · Aug 8, 2011

What is in the Rita units ?
Suitable timing chip suppliers back then would have been rather few and far between ?

DogT · Aug 8, 2011

Lucas Smoke?

Dave
69S

Hortons Norton · Aug 8, 2011

I read that as early as 72 you could order bikes with an electronic ignition from the factory, It was a special order type of thing though. And it didn't say what type or who made it.

Hobot · Aug 8, 2011

Rita was a lovely meter maid, duh. A mass produced early fragile ignition was later name after her, for obvious electron metering reasons besides being English and of military man appearance. AhhAhhAhahhh...

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Se5JLYKQfDU&playnext=1&list=PL32A06EA509C837D2[/video]

swooshdave · Aug 8, 2011

Hortons Norton said:
I read that as early as 72 you could order bikes with an electronic ignition from the factory, It was a special order type of thing though. And it didn't say what type or who made it.

Where would you have read that?

comnoz · Aug 8, 2011

Rohan said:
What is in the Rita units ?
Suitable timing chip suppliers back then would have been rather few and far between ?

There were no timing chips in the early analogue ignitions. They simply fired when the voltage from the VR sensor reached a threshold voltage and the faster the engine was going the sooner the VR voltage reached the threshold. That is why the timing curve was not a curve but just a line that was somewhere in the area. Jim

Hortons Norton · Aug 8, 2011

Second page first paragraph, I have posted this before, It's a story about what went wrong with the Combat engine. I may have posted this before you were a member on here Dave. :wink:

ZFD · Aug 9, 2011

Mr T.R.S. is not remembered by those who were in responsible positions at the time as somebody who had a say in anything, in fact it is fair to say most don't remember him at all, at least not those still around I spoke to. He then took his great technical expertise- far superior of that of all others in the industry if I interpret his drivel correctly- to Hesketh, where he was technical director. Need I say more.

No electronic ignition was ever offered by the factory until production ended. I seem to remember Andover Norton sold Lucas Rita ignitions later, i.e. in the late 1970s/early eighties, but would not swear on it.

lcrken · Aug 9, 2011

Norton did offer the Boyer electronic ignition as a factory installed option on the Commando Production Racer. I've never heard of it being available on any other models.

The PR I bought from Dan Gurney back in the early '70s had been ordered by him from the factory with the optional Boyer ignition and Quaife 5-speed.

Ken

Factory electronic ignition

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