Go electronic?

The AJS magneto has gone off to the Magneto Guys in Sussex for an overhaul. I am not expecting it back for 6 months because they have such a backlog. This is somewhat frustrating as I would like to ride it.

In a moment of wild optimism I bought a 2nd hand magneto on Ebay. It was not a lot of money but...guess what?.... it does not spark. I thought I might have a go myself. It is reasonably straight forward to dismantle down to the armature but after that you start needing special tools. Rough costings look like around £250 to get this magneto going....on the other hand I could spend £115 and get an electronic conversion. I found this thing called Thorspark sold by Sussex Motorcycles. Basically it is coil ignition with a little electronic timing jobbie that sits in the points area of your old duff magneto. The picture shows the kit for a twin but they do one for a single.

Advantages

• Cost
• Probably better starting and running
• Possibly greater reliability, certainly less/no maintenance.
• Could be up and running within a week

Disadvantages

• Relies on the battery, so dynamo needs to work (I have had it overhauled).
• Some sort of ignition switch would have to be wired in
• Detracts from the authenticity of the bike.

Ponder, ponder, ponder. I will probably go for it, just to get the bike back on the road. I can always revert back to a magneto when the original one finally gets back from the Magneto Guys.