Poll - would a new TCI/Igniter for the XS11 be worth it?

[mainlylinux]

I’m still working on it – basically I’ve had a few other priority items that came up to spend money on, which has prevented me from purchasing the microcontroller development kit and some books. It is still a very high priority for me though, it’s something I think about almost daily. I’m really excited about it, and Stan (Shutchis from this board) and I have talked on the phone about it. Stan already has his XJ TCI and carbs replaced with Megasquirt; I was looking to do the ignition controller separate from Megasquirt (more as a challenge I guess), and he’s working on tuning it up and what not this week or next. My bike has been in my basement under surgery (new wiring harness) for the past 3 weeks so I haven’t even been able to ride.

I’d like to see others do the fuel injection stuff too. The main problems right now as I see it is the cost and the size. Neither of those is a terrible problem, and someone on the board here is looking at putting injectors inside a set of stock carbs to keep the stock looking appearance. I’ve modified the heck out of my bike and there’s no way it would ever pass as stock. A lot of people want to keep the stock appearance (I think with some ingenuity this is very possible to do).

My bike is running with the fuel injection right now, and my goal is to find a nice dyno later this summer and do some serious tuning and post the results.

Cheers,

Dan

[mainlylinux]

The only dyno I know of around the area belongs to a Harley dealership...not sure if they will do a "Jap" bike. You know it might ruin their rep or something.

Dan

[shutchis]

Yo Mr. Hawkins ... Dan and I have been very busy turtles.

As of last week (5/14/06), I got my '82 XJ1100 running on a GM DIS ignition system and a MegaSquirt fuel injection computer (CPU). I replaced the Yamaha stock ignition system and their carbs.

Wow, it works! ...started on the second crank!!!!!!!

I can relate to your carb and ignition system problems; I replaced mine for the exact same reasons.

I need a few more days to complete a few loose ends and tune the injectors. Then some test trials and a road trip.

You can find a GM DIS system on a lot of cars; Ebay sales them all the time. I removed the stock pickup coils and sensors and built a slotted induction wheel using basic shop tools, a bench grinder, and a drill press to fabricate the parts.

Now that I have a prototype, it would be easy to build additional units. I should build a kit and send it to Dan for quality assurance testing?

You plug the GM coils into the top of the GM DIS unit so you get a very nice HOT spark. I mounted the whole unit in the same location as the original coils (after removing the stock mounting brackets.) I'm using the MegaSquirt CPU to control the spark advance.

I know...show me some pictures.

My goal is to document this project by June 30th, my birthday (but who's counting). If you need something sooner, send me an email at stan@hutchgroup.org

This has been a fun project, and a learning experience. If anyone else is interested, I'll help.

When the TeXSive group gets together this fall near Austin/Fredricksburg ,TX, I hope to bring a slide show.

[JWSanders]

Have you guys seen this?

http://www.mini-ms.com

It's a mini verion of the MS PCB. It looks like it's based on a Ver. 2.2 MegaSquirt controller. Having a smaller controller would be nice. Would that revision be able to do the ignition as well?

You guys are really getting my attention up for this, damn you. I need another project like I need a hole in the head. Adding EFI and replacing the ignition too? Damn appealing.

[81xsproject]

I looked into the mini and the feedback I got on the MS forum was basically 'go ahead if you like, but basically, your on your own for support.' So I decided to just stick with the regular MS.

[mainlylinux]

Yeah I've seen the mini megasquirt. It's quite cool, but also quite a bit more expensive (double or so the regular price).

One big plus besides it being so small is that it's already assembled.

Dan

[79XS11F]

I would like to See a fully transistorized ignition system that makes use of NO moving parts under the timing cover. That would be the cats A**. No little wires to break, no bob weights to work or not work, No vacuum advance. Being that the tack is already electronic you would think this would be easy for someone to do but i KNOW nothing about electronics at this level.
Rob

[TopCatGr58]

Hey Rob,

It's been done, it's called the XJ1100 Maxim! Yamaha incorporated both the centrifugal and vacuum advance curves into the XJ's TCI, but with the help of a little black vacuum sensor unit. The need for the vacuum sensor is to help adjust the timing dependent on the load on the engine. At cruising rpm but little load, the timing actually works better being very advanced for fuel economy. But under load, the optimal power timing point is actually a bit more retarded, hence the vacuum modules role, cause under stronger throttle input, the vacuum actually drops to the sensor, which retards the timing until the rpms increase and the engine catches up.

The aftermarket substitutes are a compromise, providing for programmed timing curves, but mostly centrifugal type curves, with no available input from vacuum changes.
T.C.

[79XS11F]

Originally posted by TopCatGr58
Hey Rob,

It's been done, it's called the XJ1100 Maxim! Yamaha incorporated both the centrifugal and vacuum advance curves into the XJ's TCI, but with the help of a little black vacuum sensor unit. The need for the vacuum sensor is to help adjust the timing dependent on the load on the engine. At cruising rpm but little load, the timing actually works better being very advanced for fuel economy. But under load, the optimal power timing point is actually a bit more retarded, hence the vacuum modules role, cause under stronger throttle input, the vacuum actually drops to the sensor, which retards the timing until the rpms increase and the engine catches up.

The aftermarket substitutes are a compromise, providing for programmed timing curves, but mostly centrifugal type curves, with no available input from vacuum changes.
T.C.

Well that's the sort of thing I am talking about. Can one of those TCIs not be made to fit and work on our older bikes? Is it possible to do? I would be real interested if so.
Rob

[tommystinson]

I'm posting a link to a Velleman transistor ignition kit. Two would be required, but $18 each is pretty cheap. It's designed to be used with points, so I've e-mailed Velleman to see if the inductive pickups would work. If it does, the total outlay with enclosures would be less than $50

http://store.qkits.com/moreinfo.cfm/K2543

[randy]

Tommy,

The Velleman unit is designed to work with points. To fire it with inductive pickups, you would need to add at least a one-transistor switching circuit to amplify the pickup signal. A darlington would probably do the trick.

[tommystinson]

I wouldn't think that would be overly difficult. What do you think?

[randy]

No, it's not overly difficult. The question is and has always been - is it worth it? There are plenty of used TCI's out there for under 50 bucks. Go get yourself a spare TCI and go riding instead of tinkering!

[tommystinson]

I hear you on that one! I'm all set with my TCI, I just happened across that kit on-line a while back and thought it looked interesting. I think kits are fun, but I've never built one that is "useful" in a practical way.

[randy]

And I hear you on that one!.

Some of the guys have built iggy's from (2) GM HEI modules. The GM HEI uses a 600 ohm inductive pickup just like ours, and it's a self-contained unit, just add coils!