Scooterotica

Anyone prepared to give a warts and all review on the electrex / readspeed / brolam type ignitions? There doesn't seem to be much info out there on these.

Do they require a special puller or do standard ones work?

What's the difference in the three?

Can any of them be run as full DC sets?

The CDIs seem different with each kit, and there's mention of wiring it different ways but no details to be found. One ad mentions variable ignition.

I'd be interested too although I suspect that DC would be no problem using a 3 phase regulator (Wassel do one) as I think they are based on bike systems.

Ive had two since 2009 . I wanted a reliable ignition with no iffy parts and the "russian roulette" experience you get with the indian parts, as this was for a rally scoot.

The first one was the single phase
On the return journey from IOW i had a terminal big end faliure after removing the flywheel the coils on the stator looked alot darker an almost burnt colour ? So i took it back and it was exchange, for another, this was the three phase version.

Unfortunately this left me with a little less faith in them, also if it did go on a rally i would have no chance of getting replacement parts, as most people/dealers have the indian type . So i fitted the indian type to my rally scoot and just carried spares.

The Electrex then went in to another scoot and just used locally, so ive only done 1000 ish miles on it since.

I have just fitted it into my rally scoot and im going to give it another go. So this is the three phase version (i dont think they sell the single version anymore ?) i asked the supplier re a wassell conversion, the Stator has two yellow wires and one needs to be earthed, so it is already " DC ready" and i fitted a single phase wassell as advised. I should say here ,i have no idea what the single/three phase is all about !

So i can give you any more info apart from it a nice quality kit, it starts easily and the light are nice and bright with a std car H4 bulb

So Pros
Light, single piece flywheel
UK made and including Japanese parts
Built in adv/retard, but fixed and only about 5deg

Cons
If it goes tits up not as easy to get parts quickly
Expensive

Indian type
Pros
Cheap
Readily available parts

Cons
Made in india and all the parts are a bit of a lottery

BGM
Pros
Light single piece flywheel
Better quality parts than Indian ?? debatable ?

Cons
Still made in the far east and still a bit of a lottery ?? Debatable ?
Expensive, about the same as electrex
no advance retard as std.

Russ

Forgot to say it uses a std italian puller , you just need a large spanner ( cant remember size) to hold the flywheel.
They do seem to have diff coils and i assume you would get a wiring diagram with the kit, no major alterations needed, just a couple of cable spade/ bullet ends .

Thanks Russ, very helpful.

I'm considering the options for a motor I'm building I know there's a few run them but none of the dealers or forums seem to give much info.

Points get over looked these days and they can be good in standard motors.

SIL stators and pick ups can be wayward. BGM stators and lightened SIL flywheels can work well and with an Agusto or one of the new MB/BGM electronic things they can be okay.

The Cam Lam ones are alright.

I fancy a BGM stator and new BGM flywheels but they are expensive,

I've had a Varitronic on my Avanti for 2 years with no problems......but...

I had a mis-firing problem and had no way of checking whether it was the Varitronic. Checking the coil resistance is ok but you are not checking under load. I only check to see if the readings are out which would mean coil u/s a "good" reading does not confirm everything is ok.

The problem was resolved (not the Varitronic) but as stated it did leave me concerned about replacement parts when you're away from home. As much as i like the set up i am considering a BGM stator, AF mid weight flywheel and an M-Tech. Looking at the costs of the individual parts the Varitronic isn't that much more than the individual parts.

The obvious beauty of the individual parts is they can easily be swapped to test or in the case of the M-Tech, easily disconnected.