Its not quite a GS that is @ the center of this question. Its the worthless virago 1100 of mine. The virago forum got nothing too.
So its got a dead ignition box.
Now I'd throw in a virago ignition box from a 750 or some such and call it a day. Been there done that on a virago 535, but - there's always a but isn't there.
The 1100 has a vacuum advance in addition to the centrifugal advance.
I know that vacuum advance is generally considered bad. Emissions are the only reason they are used. Also in this bike the hoses to the vacuum module were not ever connected up well/correct ever since I yanked the emissions crap and tossed it and the bike ran just fine.
So 2 questions.
1. What is really the function of vacuum in the advance curve. As in, when vacuum is high it retards the timing, and when vacuum drops, it reduces the retard. That's the only way it makes sense to me.
2. The virago's crank trigger operates like this. There is a metal tab on the alternator rotor. When that passes by the pickup coil it fires the plug.
The alternator rotor is magnetic. Does that affect anything. Cos as usual I am thinking of cannibalising a GS ignition box (and sorry gregvhen this box isn't useable it was chewed by a dog and wire plugs are all gone) and wiring it into the virago. If the impedance of the GS coil and the virago coil are close both when the tab is facing and when away, is there a reason it wont work.
Yea the virago has a fuel level sensor which probably needs the ignition box to work. So big deal, maybe I'll wire the oil light section to that sending unit ... anyway trivial problem that.
So anyone ?
Cool.
Buddha.
OK new question.
What is the output from a inductive pickup Voltage or current or resistance change or ???
Thanks.
Cool.
Buddha.
Quote from: The Buddha on March 08, 2011, 10:30:48 AM
Its not quite a GS that is @ the center of this question. Its the worthless virago 1100 of mine. The virago forum got nothing too.
So its got a dead ignition box.
Now I'd throw in a virago ignition box from a 750 or some such and call it a day. Been there done that on a virago 535, but - there's always a but isn't there.
The 1100 has a vacuum advance in addition to the centrifugal advance.
I know that vacuum advance is generally considered bad. Emissions are the only reason they are used. Also in this bike the hoses to the vacuum module were not ever connected up well/correct ever since I yanked the emissions crap and tossed it and the bike ran just fine.
So 2 questions.
1. What is really the function of vacuum in the advance curve. As in, when vacuum is high it retards the timing, and when vacuum drops, it reduces the retard. That's the only way it makes sense to me.
If the vacuum 'advance' is set up to retard with vacuum applied to it, then you probably need ported vacuum from the carb(s) to the vacuum can. This confuses some people who mistakenly connect such a setup to direct inlet manifold vacuum, which is backwards because you want to retard the timing when inlet manifold pressure is low ie open throttle/high engine load.
2. The virago's crank trigger operates like this. There is a metal tab on the alternator rotor. When that passes by the pickup coil it fires the plug.
The alternator rotor is magnetic. Does that affect anything. Cos as usual I am thinking of cannibalising a GS ignition box (and sorry gregvhen this box isn't useable it was chewed by a dog and wire plugs are all gone) and wiring it into the virago. If the impedance of the GS coil and the virago coil are close both when the tab is facing and when away, is there a reason it wont work.
The gs is simple battery powered inductive ignition; if the virago has true cdi then that would be a problem.
Yea the virago has a fuel level sensor which probably needs the ignition box to work. So big deal, maybe I'll wire the oil light section to that sending unit ... anyway trivial problem that.
So anyone ?
Cool.
Buddha.
Thanks bigfatcat.
Yea I found out about the ported vacuum part by googling, apparently ported vacuum is same as manifold vacuum except @ idle, where its 0.
So this is what I know about virago 11.
It has something that is described best as a TCI.
The second thing I found out is that the pickup triggers are the same as a 750 virago from 84-90 and only slightly different from 90-00. That means the ideal candidate for my swap is a 700/750 virago from 84-00. That is a huge parts pool and I should have no issue finding it.
No real need to get the GS one used, I got plans for it. I could pick up the 700/750 one for a few $ and ride off happy.
The other thing is the 750 and 920 pre 84 also used a very close BB, so did most years of the 535, the old type I modded and put in my 535 and it worked great. The thing is well made, but unfortunately it is huge. So big, that it occupied almost all the area on my 87 535 under the dummy fuel tank. Yea, huge, 1/2 the size of a lap top. Heck its bigger than the notebook/tablets by atleast 50%. WTF ...
Cool.
Buddha.
'BB', you mean brain box ? If it's so big might be possible to open it up and reverse engineer a home made tci.
Unlike the gs tci which is of course encased in rubber epoxy ...
Found this on the virago out of curiosity : http://www.drpiston.com/Ignition.html