Scooterotica

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

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'.

Most of us use these. Only a tenner.

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

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

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. ????????????????????????

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.

'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?

B-Race Tuning wrote:'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.

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?

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.