Subject: Re: Coil, Regulator and Points (Recap)

Author: guzz-@comcast.net

Date: Oct 31, 2003, 8:06 AM

Post ID: 1715059062

John,
The shotgun approach to solving such problems usually just does not
work all that well and you end up spending lots of money on parts you
don't need. Can you describe the failures you've had on the bike ?
Many times it is quite difficult discerning between ignition and fuel
related causes for the same problem...even for the experts. And even if
you have the esteemed EBT mechanical abilities, diagnosing the problem
is a skill that requires a thinking brain and knowledge of how things
are supposed to work. All this expertise will let your systematically
test the various systems (fuel, ignition, charging, etc.) which will
lead you to a successful fix. Guzziology is a great book for these
bikes along with the Official repair manual (which assumes lots of
mechanical knowledge but does explain quite a few things).

As to the items you want to change; coils rarely go bad but if you have
a new coil, go ahead and replace it (draw a picture of the wire
connections in case your memory isn't all that great). Regulator can go
bad (at a slightly higher frequency than coils) and can be replaced by
just putting the same wires on the same connectors.

Now, points do wear out because of use. Here you need to pull the cap
and rotor off, remove the points from the distributor (one screw holds
it down, I think), put in new points, and set the gap (rotate the engine
until the points' rubbing block is on one of the high points of the
distributor cam, with a .018" feeler blade set the gap and then tighten
down the screw. rotate the engine a few more times and check gap again).
Then you will have to set the engine timing since the point gap affects
the timing.

If you have 148k miles on it, I'd also check the condition of the
plugs, the plug caps (should fit tight on the plugs and a resistance of
5k ohms or less), the plug wires (are they old, brittle, cracked? Can
be replaced with Packard 440 wire which any good auto should should have
and Moto International sells new end connectors), distributor rotor and cap.

Bruce

'72 Eldo

John, Ooohhhh, now I see. 148k would concern me as well. I have already

been in your predicament with just 20k on my bike. Just from

changing things, tweaking things, according to some advise here, and

continuing to look over the Ambo periodically I have been able to have a

reliable bike, finally. These puppies do take a lot of patience and

committment but they reward you handsomely. Bob

----- Original Message -----
From: John Sutton
To: Loopfram-@topica.com
Sent: Thursday, October 30, 2003 1:03 PM
Subject: Re: Coil, Regulator and Points (Recap)

Bob,
I am having symptoms of failure in both ignition and carburation so I

am going to replace parts throughout these systems in order to get the bike in a
reliable situation. Frankly I can't trust the

machine for any rides beyond my neighborhood at present. Also, the

bike has 148,000 on the ticker so I feel that some of these are destined to fail
so while everything is apart it seemed like a

good time to replace these items since they have been sitting around

in their boxes brand new.

3haw-@bluefrog.biz wrote:

John,
First of all, why do you want to replace any of these parts?

Have they failed? Are they about to fail? Bob

----- Original Message -----
From: John Sutton
To: Loopfram-@topica.com
Sent: Monday, October 27, 2003 8:42 AM
Subject: Coil, Regulator and Points

I have the mechanical abilities of an Eastern Box

Turtle. Should I attempt to replace my Coil, Regulator and Points myself and if
I attempt to what red

flags must I be aware of.
Thanks