Static timing 1991 evo ..

just curious

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neilw
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Bikes: 1995 Roadking(still brand new)
1991 HD springer
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1991 BMW 75RT.
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Static timing 1991 evo ..

#1

Post by neilw »

Thanks for the help with me checking my lifters and problems I encountered along the way..
Now I have my bike running nice , I have a question..
Back in the day points ignitions timing could be set by watching the spark.
So on my 91 evo with it's oem stuff, I brought the dot to the center of the inspection hole , with no spark plugs in ,and hooked up the front spark plug, grounded it, turned the ignition on and in 5th gear moved the rear wheel , no spark, Hmmm . I checked that everything was how I thought it should be .tried again and nothing .. I put the spark plugs back in and fired the bike up. it ran but horrible.
I remembered a timing light I had stashed away and tried static timing it again, but this time with the timing light hooked up. I took the spark plugs back out and again rolled the rear wheel , no light from the timing light .
I started it back up and the timing light was working as the bike ran. ( after a few adjustments the dot was in the center of the hole and the bike ran smooth) .
My question is ... why wouldn't the spark jump across the sparkplug electrode, or the timing light blink when I rotated the rear wheel ? but with the plugs back in they got spark ?

If I ever have to pull the lifters or cam again, I'm going back to points , at least you don't need a tow truck if you have a spare . At my age all I do is putt along at the speed limit or less ,and hi performance is not important . I'll trade relability for performance any day !
RooDog
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Re: Static timing 1991 evo ..

#2

Post by RooDog »

Late model Harleys, and many AM iggys, have a dead spark feature which allows the engine to turn over a rev or two before activating the spark. Works well with electric start but sucks if you try to kick or bump start one....
....RooDog....
neilw
Member
Posts: 352
Joined: Sat Dec 20, 2008 3:24 am
Bikes: 1995 Roadking(still brand new)
1991 HD springer
1959 pan (I'm reassembling)
1991 BMW 75RT.
Location: Calgary
Has thanked: 91 times
Been thanked: 18 times

Re: Static timing 1991 evo ..

#3

Post by neilw »

RooDog wrote: Sun Aug 08, 2021 6:44 pm Late model Harleys, and many AM iggys, have a dead spark feature which allows the engine to turn over a rev or two before activating the spark. Works well with electric start but sucks if you try to kick or bump start one....
....RooDog....
Thanks RooDog, I remember reading that somewhere, I never thought about it until you mentioned it .
RooDog
Senior Member
Posts: 5327
Joined: Tue Oct 31, 2017 1:00 pm
Bikes: 1950 Panhead, Resto-Mod
1968 90", 5 Speed Shovelhead,
1984 Home Built Custom Evo 100" Bagger
Location: Knoxville, Tennessee
Has thanked: 2801 times
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Re: Static timing 1991 evo ..

#4

Post by RooDog »

It's kinda like "prime kicks" for a Panny. LOL.... My old Crane Hi-4s have a "Kick or Elec Start" dip switch for that reason....
....RD.....
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