Help understanding what ignition I have.

[sharptailhunter]

I have a new to me '80 GS550. I haven't had it running just yet but while waiting on other things decided to look at the points as I was under the impression this year and model has points ignition. However, this is what I found:



Any thoughts or pointers with this?

Thanks, Alex

[Guest]

Typical early 80's ignitor box and pick up. Make sure all your connections are clean and good, because unless I am mistaken the 1980 box is the same as the 250 one and are pretty hard to come by and for some reason are not that durable.

[sharptailhunter]

Ok. Do you feel it's worth it to upgrade to a different brand of electronic ignition, such as the Dyna?

Alex

[Steve]

No need to spend money before it breaks, unless you have a bunch of extra money lying around.

However, if you do feel the need to upgrade, pay attention to the Kokusan brand, as there are also Nippon Denso units installed on various bikes. Dyna makes systems that will replace either one, but you need to know which one you have now.

By the way, points stopped with the '79 bikes in the US market, not sure about the rest of the world.

.

[Brendan W]

My 80 Z650 was points. Everything pretty much went electronic in 81.

[JTGS850GL]

Street Suzies all went electronic in 1980.

[Guest]

Street Suzies all went electronic in 1980.

May well be true for the States - over here we were one year behind you.

[sharptailhunter]

Cool, I'm gonna rebuild the carbs, adjust the valves, and clean (maybe rebuild) the fuel petcock and see how she runs. I might as well test the coils and the rest of the electrical system while it's kinda torn apart. I'd like to go to a sealed battery to place under the seat since we're building a cafe. Anybody have any good suggestions on which to use? LiPo??

[JTGS850GL]

Don't bother rebuilding the petcock. It either works or you need to replace it. The rebuild kits have proven to be very unreliable.

After the carb rebuild you need to do a vacuum sync. If you don't have the gauges then buy/beg/borrow them. You'll need to resync the carbs after every valve adjustment anyway so I'd recommend a purchase.

[Brendan W]

post 10 looks like the same as yours

http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/showthread.php?207128-Question-about-the-CDI-GS450