Had to share

[malber]

The electronic ignition is definately a weak point as our bikes age. When it goes and there is no replacement, you're stuck with a parts bike even if everything else is in tip-top shape.

[81xsproject]

Yeah, and to think it only lasted 30 years before it crapped out

[malber]

Well certainly they were designed well, but they're not going to last forever. Most other things on our bike can be fabricated for a reasonable cost if a replacement part can't be found. Who's going to spring for a fabricated electronics board when it ends up DOA due to a hairline fracture in one of the lines?

[81xsproject]

I looked hard to find it, but couldn't. Somewhere deep in the bowels of the site there is a write up on building your own. Plus, we have Randy

[Just In Case]

There are options about to replace the TCI, a Microsquirt module in ignition only mode would do the trick. Even the vacuum and centrifugal advances can be programmed in, so you can do away with all those mechanical bits

Dave

[randy]

I thought I heard someone offer up my services? Of course, I would do almost anything for one of those snazzy hydro clutch backplates!

I said ALMOST

[malber]

Oh I know we have options now. But it's not like this will be available forever. Whereas there will probably always be an available source for points. It's not like this is an item we can just swap out for something off the shelf like new shocks or carbs.

Oh, and another downside: no pushstart if you kill the battery. Experienced this yesterday.

[JWSanders]

From the Writer's Edge website:

Space Pen to the Rescue!

How a Fisher Space Pen Helped Armstrong and Aldrin Return from the Moon

It's a story that for many weeks was not circulated outside the inner circles of the U.S. Space Program: the Fisher Space Pen helped the original Moon-landing astronauts, Neil Armstrong and Edwin (Buzz) Aldrin, get back to Earth.

A spokesman for NASA recounted the story to Paul C. Fisher, whose company manufactured the pen.

When about to leave the moon, and the astronauts were climbing back into the Lunar Module, the life support backpack on one of the astronauts brushed against the plastic arming switch and broke it. The switch was to have activated the LM's engines for the module's rendezvous with the mother spacecraft.

Aldrin informed Houston's Space Center by radio. A Scientist went to work on the problem immediately by breaking the plastic switch on a duplicate module and then studying the possibility of reaching a tiny metal strip inside the switch.

The AG7E is the exact model that Aldrin used to activate the inner switch which lighted the engines. AG7 = Anti-Gravity Apollo 7 maiden voyage.

The strip had to be flipped over to one side to activate the LM engine, but Ground Control knew the astronauts had dispensed with practically all tools in the interest of less weight. But the astronauts still had their Space Pens, so they were advised to retract the point and use the hollow end of the pen to activate the inside switch. Then, Aldrin used his Space Pen to flick the switch's inner workings. He and Armstrong were lifted from the moon to the Apollo Space Ship for return to earth.

http://thewritersedge.com/story.main.cfm

Try that with a pencil!

By the way, Fisher developed the pen on his own, and cost over 1 million to develop, not to manufacture. In the 60's they cost NASA $2.95(!) apiece...now they're around $50 (Their executive pens can cost thousands). Simpler versions can be had for $20, and refills are under 10 bucks. It can write on wet paper, and even underwater. The ink is a special compound and is functional from -50°F all the way to 400°F. Try using a pencil at 400°! The ink was was so well developed it's still used today, for the harshest earth environments....as well as in space. Without the safety problems that a pencil presented.

And guess what, the Russians have been using them since the early 70's. Apparently they saw the need for innovation as well.

Here's another interesting link: Snopes - Nasa Space Pen

I think that says it all.

As far as the TCI goes, I'd be willing to bet that the components in the TCI unit in well over 75% of the bikes we own now will outlast us, and likely even the next owner. Might need a solder job every blue moon or so, but that's about it.

Fred, no offense man, but if it makes you feel better, just keep believing that. I ask for nothing from my government except to leave me alone....