Points Ignition Upgrade

[Guest]

I'm hoping to do some longer trips this summer on my GS750 and have been thinking of some mods for more fuel economy for a while now. I'm still running the stock points ignition, my idea was to run a Ignitech CDI unit with a throttle position sensor and the Dyna S as a crank trigger. This would allow me to switch over to something like a GM distributorless coil like the AC Delco D555.

It's a pretty common mod for the Honda 360 Degree twins, I used to have this setup on my CM400 and it was generally good for a smoother idle, more mid-range power, and a pretty substantial gain in fuel economy with the right tuning. I did some searching but haven't been able to find any similar setups done on a GS750 but I figure maybe some of the racing guys might know a thing or two. Has anyone used the Dyna S as a crank trigger for a ignition controller? Any thoughts on coil selection?

[GregT]

IMO. that's unneccessarily complcated. The 2V per cylinder engines aren't very sophisticated but do burn mixture well with only minor upgrades.
I recommend the straight Dyna S - centrifugal advance and all - with the correct Dyna coils.
We've used programmable ignitions on the race GS1000 - and the plain Dyna S - and found no effective difference.

[Nessism]

Well stated GregT. New ignition systems rarely add appreciably to increased performance unless the original is malfunctioning.

[Big T]

Dyna S is the way to go. Mines 36 years old and still perfect. COPS and a sensor are needless overkill

[Guest]

IMO. that's unneccessarily complcated. The 2V per cylinder engines aren't very sophisticated but do burn mixture well with only minor upgrades.
I recommend the straight Dyna S - centrifugal advance and all - with the correct Dyna coils.
We've used programmable ignitions on the race GS1000 - and the plain Dyna S - and found no effective difference.

I don't think I wrote it very well in the original post but this was my main question. I know the upgraded coil does wonders for the Honda twins, I wasn't too sure on the GS. I could see how the programmable advance may not make much of a difference when you're racing as you're full throttle the whole time. I figured there may be some benefit of an extra advance during part throttle cruise. My GS runs exceptionally well even with the stock points...I just really like to fine tune things

[GregT]

On short, tight street circuits, you're definitely not on full throttle all the time. Strong progressive midrange is what's wanted.
That's achieved with cam timing and carburation. The 8V Gs fours are relatively insensitive to ignition timing.

I've built at last count four race CB350 Honda twins. They are very sensitive to ignition timing.
Whether it's the intake swirl - or lack of, the squish - or lack of - I haven't bothered to establish but they can be a pain to set up.
They're pipe sensitive - badly pipe sensitive. A large part of the problem is the single cam. You can only advance or retard it as a unit.
For lobe separation you're at the mercy of your cam grinder.

If you want to do it, go ahead. Keep us iin the loop please.

[Guest]

Properly maintained and gapped points are just fine for these old timers. They’re so easy to replace and get going again by the side of the road if something goes wrong. Maybe carry a couple sets of points and condensers with you? My experience with the Dyna S a few months ago was pretty lame. It worked great for about a week and then lost all spark. Needless to say I wasn’t impressed. Mine could’ve been a lemon but having points really isn’t that bad IMO

[Blower]

I have Ignitech TCIP4 ignition in my 1300cc GS1150. It?s not with tps-sensor but map-sensor. It?s using Suzuki original pick ups and trigger rotor.
I have nothing bad to say about Ignitech. It have rev limiter what Dyna S don?t have. Ignition timing is computer programmable, etc.