ECU with IQ? Or points?

Back in the day – before say the early 1970s – motorcycles had carburetors and contact points. That was simple and sufficient. But in the meantime, years have passed and carburetors and those old faithful battery ignition coils are already a distant memory for many people.

Fortunately, you can look up how this works with such a conventional ignition on Tinternet. JameyTech explains: The current flows from the battery to the contact points. From there the current goes to the ignition coil, where the current is compressed. The spark goes to the spark plug...

I remember it differently and go into the garage where the bully is without a spark after his last ride. The E diagram of such an old rocking horse is so basic that it can be checked even by a drunken resident of an ex-Soviet republic:

6 Volts available?
Ignition (lock) okay?
6 Volts on the + of the 6V ignition coil?
Is there a ground string going from the ignition coil to the capacitor and ground?
Does the capacitor still look fresh?
Do the points open?
Do they do that 0,3-0,4 mm?
Are there no algae and mushrooms growing in the distributor cap (on a KMZ, IMZ, Chang Jiang, Guzzi V7, etc.)?
Are the carbon markers still the right size and moveable?

Once you have checked and approved, you kick the crankshaft a few times and you have... No spark. That's weird. My Love calls out that there is a visitor and coffee is coming...

That spark problem with my Dnept/Ural bastard? I'll figure that out. I understand what needs to be done and can loosen and tighten the components, examine them, poke them with the universal meter and replace them piece by piece. “No sweat!”

No, then we are lucky since the eighties when electronics found their way into our two-wheelers. Electronic ignitions were already admittedly tricky. But then came the ECUs, EFIs and ECMs. That started in the 2000s and after the year XNUMX, fuel injection and the associated electronics became the norm. And then you consider the fact that electronics consist of small things and thin wires that come from a closed, often sealed 'box' and end up in all kinds of plugs with thin legs. The biggest enemy of electronics is moisture. And when we think of electronics and problems and moisture, we usually think of Italian engines. That's correct. But these brands not only use Magneti Minarelli products, but also electronics from Siemens and Bosch. And in practice this all turns out to be a waste of old electronics.

Because to keep it in the abbreviation sphere: ECUs and the like are often sensitive to TIAs.

Some simple fitting and measuring usually does not yield results with such ingenuity. You can learn something with a four-gas meter, but then you just have to have one of those. Often the only thing you can do is check the fuse box if you suspect your moped's E-brain. Indications of discomfort in those dark boxes are often speed fluctuations at no load, irregular engine running, enthusiastic fuel use, too little power, strange things... When switching on the ignition, the horn may sound. The tachometer and speedometer hands can take on a life of their own... Add to that the fact that the electronic controller gets its information via sensors and thin wires hidden everywhere. And shudder.

All that smart stuff dates back to the time when manufacturers adjusted their production quite closely to demand and realized how pointless it is to continue supplying products after the statutory period for that product compared to the end of the model run of that product. That period is 10 years.

Between WWII and the 750s, production was so rampant that you can now find – less and less, but still – NOS stocks, new old stock – for everything between Harley XNUMX cc side valves and Kawasaki two-strokes from the XNUMXs.

But electronics for 'old' motorcycles? Things are starting to get pretty scarce for that. But the demand from the market is not yet so great that such stuff can easily be found as a replica. The products from our Chinese takeaway Ali were left out in the margins. Very carefully, companies are now opening up where they can have dead ECUs reborn. We have two experiments running in that corner. ECU repair in Mierlo took care of the magic box of the haunted editorial cigar smoker, the Kangoo 1600-16, which is now famous in Renault circles. Or infamous. Or waddannook.

Fine. When the visitors are gone, I'll just continue with that side valve. In any case, I have already cut a few new high-voltage cables to length. Because that could also be the reason.