Electronic ignition

[Vic.Araujo]

1946 VG500. After a full rebuild, I want to convert over to electronic ignition. Dragonfly appears to be on BO plus they mention the switch and coil aren't included. Where can I get a complete kit for my bike? Thanks all. Vic

[nevhunter]

Do you feel a compelling need to do that? You can still rebuild the Originals and what if the MOD. becomes an orphan? Nev

[Roger Gwynn]

Ministry of Defence??
I agree, there is nowt wrong with a good mag and are more reliable than the dynamo that an electronic will be relying on.

[cmfalco]

there is nowt wrong with a good mag and are more reliable than the dynamo that an electronic will be relying on.

Other than relying on the dynamo, voltage regulator, and battery, what could possibly go wrong with an aftermarket ignition system?...

[cmfalco]

Semi-(un)related to this thread, several Ariel club members attend the Irish Rally so, FYI, at the upcoming event I'll be giving an evening talk on "Troubleshooting, and Maximizing the Performance of Your Magneto."

[Mike Nash]

I hesitate to criticize the opinion of m’Learned Friend, Professor Falco, but his favouring the magneto and his gentle mockery of the use of “the dynamo, voltage regulator, and battery” all necessary to support an “aftermarket ignition system” must not go unchallenged. For when disguised as “Magnetoman” on the Britbike website he said “that I’ve never looked inside a restored one that was functioning properly” and then over many pages went on to describe the complicated “steps […] necessary to return a magneto to its original performance”.
The complexity of restoration and the high level of skills necessary to achieve it made me think that such work was beyond my reach, and the costs asked for such work would not be sufficient for the claims that are made. So at the moment I’m going the aftermarket electronic ignition route. But that said, I’d favour the path demonstrated by Bob Brassington (of happy memory) of converting a dead magneto to drive a coil. I have the article taken from an old Cheval magazine (of the early 2000s I think – alas, the issue dates weren’t printed on each page then), a path which I believe to be much more satisfactory. Has anyone done this recently?
Finally, I’ll say that in many decades of classic cars I’ve never known anyone want or propose to replace their coil systems with a magneto. I rest my case, MikeN.

[cmfalco]

when disguised as “Magnetoman” on the Britbike website he said ...

How dare you use my words against me! Sigh...

On the subject of magnetos and old cars, as a result of questions asked of me when I participated in a 2023 cross-Arabian-Peninsula rally for pre-1975 cars (some as old as pre-1910), I expanded my "master" magneto talk to include more material specific to cars, allowing me to tweak the content for that audience. If it's any consolation, the magneto-powered car people on that rally had the same issues with rebuilders as motorcycle people do.