Thorspark Magneto 'replacement'

Just came across this on t'interweb...

http://www.sussexmotorcycles.com/thorspark.html

Keeps the mag, but only as a housing.
Anybody familiar with this?

Keeps the auto advance too, which is slightly crappy.

Yeah, I've seen those before. Some guys seem to love them. I'm just not much a fan of running a battery if you don't have to. Seems to overcomplicate things to hang coils etc etc.
Plus I sort of feel that it's kind of cheesy to keep the mag body just for the "look" of it feeling original.
Personal preference I suppose.
It just seems that a nicely set up magneto on a bike that originally had one, is plenty good.

I agree with Wilkey113:

A well set up mag is a joy....and with a regulator/rectifier such as a Podtronics, no battery either!

There are several good mag rebuilders around, so if you are thinking of going electronic just because your maggie is weak, consider having it professionally rebuilt. Mine came back looking like it came out of the Lucas box!

Slick

I'll circle back and 2nd what Slick said in regards to a rebuild. Fairly inexpensive to do, considering the cost of the electron ignition, coils, battery etc.

The magneto seems to be an instrument of mystery in some regards, but it's a simple unit, and when properly built, will give decades of reliable service. I run mine with no battery and a solid state regulator / rectifier. The set up is originally and the regulated / rectifier is very small and simply bolts under the tool tray.

No battery, no key, no charging or trickle charging. Just a simple set up, and with the originality of it, I find it to be a very solid set up.

In my mind, the electronic ignition simply over complicates things.