Ariel Owners Motorcycle Club

Hi all, what is your general experience with the Thorspark electronic ignition? As a replacement for the classic magneto. Is it worth using? For example in terms of reliability, engine startability etc.

Cheaply made and poor instructions but they work. I wouldn't bother on a single as there is nothing wrong with a magneto in good condition and it is original.

As Roger said, it is a very cheap quality. At the end it did what it should.
I fit it to my panther.
The mounting plate was too thin for the lucas magneto.
They promised to supply a packing piece but they never did.
So did it by myself.
Meanwhile i switched back to the magneto restored.
At least i have a backup.
Ralf

I fitted it to my Sq4 and it works well, however I had to ring them as the back plate needed filing to fit ! To be fair he said send it back to them and they would do it and send it me back. The risk of something going missing in the post was too much so I fixed it myself. Not ideal.

I have a very similar experience to Colin. I fitted one to my square four and found that the backing plate was shorting out on the magneto and kept blowing the fuse as a result. I didn’t bother to contact them I just filed out the backing plate to have sufficient clearance and since then it’s been fine.

In terms of run ability, it’s great, bike starts first or second kick.

I've had one on my VB for 6000 miles now, I like it, reliable starting, once I sorted the carburation, easy timing adjustment ( I set it by feel, far to much bother timing it with a degree wheel )
Roger