Thorspark Electronic Conversion For a K2F

[Scottie J]

Hey everyone!  It's me again.

Turns out my armature windings are bad on my '58 Apache.  So, I'm left with 2 options.  Spend about $250 having the armature rewound, or spend a little more and convert it to an electronic ignition.

I found this conversion kit by Thorspark on Ebay shipped out for about $275.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/150976650798?_trksid=p5197.c0.m619

Does anyone have any experience or feedback on this kit?  They offer a 5 year unlimited warranty and it is a HELL of a lot cheaper than the BT-H magnetos.

Let me know what you guys think.  Thanks!

[ERC]

The only pain in the neck is setting the timing with a timing light. You have to remove the primary on Royal Enfields to set it up.  ERC

[Scottie J]

It still sounds like it's easier than tearing the mag apart?  Plus I like the fact that once it IS set up, it's completely maintenance free.  Unlike rebuilding the armature which will likely fail again within a few years.

[ERC]

That's true. Your best bet is to get ahold of the guy selling them on Ebay and make sure they send you one set up for R E's. They turn reverse of most of the mags on British bikes.   ERC

[skipsoldbikes]

Hi Scottie, sorry to hear about your arm. coil. I have mine rewound in the UK, for less than you were quoted, pm me directly for info.
Good & bad on both options for you, if your armature is properly rewound & the rest of your mag is set up correctly, other than points, you will probably never touch it again in your lifetime. When mags start to fail, it tends to be a gradual thing, when the new electronic models fail (and they do too) it tends to be a sudden & complete failure without warning. Most require a battery to operate, a mag does not.

For points bikes & love the electronic ignition, fo mag bikes I prefer a properly set up mag, more reliable IMHO.

Good luck either way, just get back on the road, thats whats really important

[Scottie J]

All right!  I got my Thorspark ignition last night!  They forgot to put the instructions in with the box, so that sucked, but they got back to me right away and emailed me the instructions this morning.  I'm going to go see if I can't get this thing installed today.  I should have it finished by tomorrow at the latest.  It looks pretty straight forward, now that I know how to wire it.   Wish me luck!

Scottie

[Scottie J]

I got the ignition installed this morning.  It was a piece of cake.  The hardest part was figuring out where to mount the coil.  Setting the timing was easy too.  Just had to loosen the rotor screw and turn the rotor either direction to advance or retard.  Need to change the jets in the carb but the bike is running great now!

Scottie

[Arizoni]

Glad to hear you got things working.
It's also nice when something works like it's supposed to.

[Scottie J]

Glad to hear you got things working.
It's also nice when something works like it's supposed to.

Yeah, it was a great relief that I was able to finally get the bike running on 2 cylinders.  Though I have to admit, I pulled a dumb ass move.  Get everything wrapped up and roll the bike outside and start kicking, AND... Nothing.  I go to pull the spark plug to see what's up, and I totally forgot to put the caps and boots on the wires.   

Now the instructions said to pull the primary cover and make white paint marks on the crank nut and stator and time it with a light blah blah blah.  I've always timed my cars by ear and feel and figured how hard can it be?  Pulled the plug and set the piston to 3/8" before TDC and then set the rotor slightly advanced before the pick up as stated in the instructions.  I just kept a reference point with the magnets on the rotor and an edge within the pick up ring and made small adjustments back and forth.  I think I pretty much nailed it, but I won't know for sure until I actually take it down the road.  Know what sucks about timing a bike?  When you move too far advanced and you find out by the bike kicking your knee into the handle bars.

Also, I forgot that I haven't run the bike really since I painted the motor.  I was getting a face full of chemical clouds when I was making my carb adjustments after the engine got to temp.   

Man does it feel great to actually have this bike running right.  Fuck Yeah!   

Scottie

[bullethead63]

Glad to hear the good news! I have 2 K2F magnetos for my '59 Chief,and was condidering restoring them...perhaps I'll go the electronic ignition route,instead...ride safe,and keep us posted!

[Scottie J]

Glad to hear the good news! I have 2 K2F magnetos for my '59 Chief,and was condidering restoring them...perhaps I'll go the electronic ignition route,instead...ride safe,and keep us posted!

You know bullethead, I looked into this for several months.  I only found 1 person in the US that knew about rebuilding Lucas mags, and he doesn't even do it himself.  Seems like EVERYONE sends them off to England, and you're looking at a 10 week turn around.  I knew about Boyers, but they are crazy expensive.  So I started looking on Ebay for already rebuilt K2F magnetos, and that's when I came across the Thorspark.  I started web searching for hits on it and found a bunch of people using them on their BSAs, Nortons and Triumphs and the only bad thing I could find on it was 1 person had the coil go bad, and it was replaced under warranty (speaking of which, this unit does have a 5 year unlimited warranty).

Everything I've read says that the Lucas mags (the K2F in particular) will fail again, eventually, even with the most experienced mag builders.  Lets face the facts, mags are very old technology and were sufficient in the day, but ignitions are so much more accurate and dependable now.  It would have cost at least $250 to rebuild the mag and pray and hope I'd have it back by the end of summer, OR spend $305 on an electronic conversion that is super easy to install, 5 year warranty and only has 4 parts, including the switch.  It was a no brainer for me and I'm glad I went with it.

Scottie

[bullethead63]

I'm going to rewire the Chief with all new wire,soldered connectors,heat-shrink,rubber boots,EXIDE battery box,with two 6 volt batteries,either in parallell,for 6V,with more current,or series,for 12 volts...instead of 6V+ground,can I rewire this for 12V- ground? I have a wiring diagram,but am unsure about changing the voltage and polarity,and don't want to smoke the wiring harness...

[Scottie J]

I upgraded to a 12v system but I kept it + ground.  I didn't wasn't to risk damaging the alternator by changing things to a - ground, plus at the mag is also + ground.  This was the first time I wired anything to + ground so it was new to me, but it was no different or more difficult than wiring up a -ground system.  Id keep it + ground to be on the safe side.  Just keep in mind as you're doing it, do it backwards, if that makes sense.  Hence, fuses on your - wires.  I have VERY few wires on my bike, just the bare necessities.

Scottie

[Scottie J]

Looks like my auto-advance system is sticking.  I set the timing about 5 degrees retarded to help with starting and seems to be running good, smooth acceleration and and no more backfires.  A little slow starting though, 4 or 5 kicks, but once started it runs fine.  I'm taking it to work today and see how it does (15 miles of city traffic each way).  First real ride!  Yay!

Scottie