POINTS AND CONDENSERS

Ah! It’s good old Scoop with his workshop guide to points and condensers

Scoop with a workshop masterclass

It would be entirely reasonable in 2020 to state that modern micro-electronics are now so reliable that the longstanding set up of points and condensers are officially old hat.

If you can fit a 21st century ignition system to an old motorcycle you will, without question, reap manifold rewards. However, there’re several caveats to that. Firstly the cost. You may very well feel that modern sparks are too expensive if you only ride that particular bike limited distances. Secondly, there’s the issue of finding a suitable system – manufacturers only make systems for popular models. Third is authenticity – if you are a purist you may genuinely feel microprocessors are the very invention of Satan himself.

Project Yamaha CS3C has progressed to the point where the ignition requires sorting. Given that everything else on the bike exhibited abominable levels of maintenance/care/empathy, the decision was made to renew all the consumables on the ignition system with the exception of the coils which, for the moment at least, I’ll hope are ok. If you’ve followed the series then you’ll know the bike runs the much rarer Mitsubishi ignition system, which has made sourcing parts something of a challenge. Yet, finally, I have two sets of points and a pair of suitable condensers so it’s time to remove the spark plugs, then pick up some weapons ready to renew, replace and adjust.

Although simple in elemental form, points and condensers can come over as something of a nightmare when everything is nailed in tightly under the outer cover. Taking the opportunity to study what’s there, dealing with just one cylinder’s worth at a time and not rushing are key skills to be employing on jobs like this. Taking some digital images (use your smartphone) before you break out the tools can make a lot of difference. Printing the pictures off and labelling stuff can be the difference between a successful swap out and a panicked call to a good mate. Swap stuff out logically, compare new against old and take your time if you’ve not done it before.

6/ The felt pads often found attached are there to lubricate the interface between the heel of the points and the cam. You’ll need to remove and reattach them to the new back plate. 7/ The new, complete units have been installed but when you change points by default you also disturb the ignition timing as you’ll have undone the back plate screws during the swap over. The left back-plate is held via the screws at 7 and 11 o’clock, the right by the screws at 2 and 5 o’clock. Some easily grasped identification might be a good idea here! If you study the image you can see the points assemblies are silver coloured against the yellow of the back plates. The points are held by similar screws which are inboard to the back plate fixings.

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