timing lights

[johnduke]

Hi all,need to buy a timing light ,so which are good ?.Bikes non battery but i have a 12v battery i could use to power strobe ,thanks John

[mick1]

I have a draper one (about £20) that does the job.........which i'd spent a bit more (£50 ?) and got one with a built in tacho'.

[dapper]

Most of us use these. Only a tenner.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Draper-timing ... 19ffeca0d0

[mick1]

Yup, that's the one I paid over £20 for

[B-Race Tuning]

Several years ago now (2005 ish), Harry Barlow put me on to a battery operated timing light. He mentioned that it was a top performer in an American automotive publication. I tracked it down from the article where they'd tested some 30 timing lights. Anyone who knows American attitude to testing/ analysis will know that they tend to nail it in an unbiased way that gives a genuine result. They can't afford to be seen to be sponsored/ biased as they lose too much credibility. I ordered and tested two of the same to compare against each other, then against my normal usage Snap-on tacho version (which was a very poor contender in the article test), the Draper versions (2 types), and a mickey mouse home brand type (Big automotive "High Street" store that also sell push-bikes). The others, as was described in the article, were out by up to 10 degrees either way (READ; I want to set at 17* and my timing light is saying 17* but is actually running up to 27*). I instantly checked verification on an oscilliscope to confirm, and then sold the others as confirmed working as described in magazine articles
I will check, and get back to confirm the brand / make that came out top in the article, and if I can retrieve it, post a link to the whole article. VERY interesting reading, backed up with my own findings.
Do not always believe your timing light!
As a caveat- if you've set all your timing with a particular light and no issues- crack on. I had no issues with my snap-on light for ten years before reading , then checking. Now I won't use it!
Oh, I think the lights came in at approx £60 each + got caught for import duty (bummer).
In real terms you are trusting a £1000-2000 build on the cheapest method of checking the most critical static part of the build to a £10-20 bit of chinese tat. ????????????????????????

[Grumpy225]

I use a super cheap one. It was about $10 from a local place called Harbor Freight (mostly cheap Chinese tools). Dead on with no drift. Works better than my $80 adjustable gun.

[B-Race Tuning]

'Ere Grumps, my yank battery job is some 5X cheaper than the snap-on version but proved to do a better job. I'm not knocking cheap. I'm knocking over stated "Branding" to do a job that most are not designed to do, and "generic' super cheap, made to a price, re-branded Chinese tat knocked out in repackaged plastic promising the world with in-accurate claims from branding you should be able (READ; used to) trust to do the job.
Have you checked yours v an oscilloscope?

[Grumpy225]

'Ere Grumps, my yank battery job is some 5X cheaper than the snap-on version but proved to do a better job. I'm not knocking cheap. I'm knocking over stated "Branding" to do a job that most are not designed to do, and "generic' super cheap, made to a price, re-branded Chinese tat knocked out in repackaged plastic promising the world with in-accurate claims from branding you should be able (READ; used to) trust to do the job.
Have you checked yours v an oscilloscope?

Not yet but I have a scope just waiting for it. Typically, I set my marks with a dial indicator and degree wheel. Then follow up with the gun to set the stator fire point (ignoring the flywheel hash marks). Haven't holed a piston yet.

I agree with you, branding isn't everything.

[Architecten]

I'm after a strobe as well and have my eye on a used one on ebay. I've never used one before but does the lead to the to the HT need to be connected before the lamp comes on?

[dapper]

The Draper one has a spring loaded clamp which goes round the HT lead and the clamp has an arrow on it to show which way round it goes, ie. --> is the direction of the electricity from the CDi to the spark plug.