I have tried to check ign timing on stock evo and had a hell of a time seeing a timing dot through the glass plug. I put a couple of marks on the rotor and inner primary case but cant get marks to line up, even with sensor plate rotated fully clockwise.

Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated

 

Is the marks hard to see due to the oil being black? I always changed the oil first. You can also take a small paint brush and white paint and put a dot over the marks. This will give you a reference point. I have done it with the glass plug out. Lay rags on the floor and use a face shield.

 

thanks for that, but I,m looking more for info on why my marks can't line up. If I was still looking through the view plug I wouldn' be able to see the dot. It's as if the slots in the sensor plate are too short. The oil is brand new castrol 20w50 which is really clear as oils go.

 

Check you are hooked up to the correct cylinder first off and that doesn't improve things then you have a coupla options.

One is to pull the timing cover and check the cam is timed correctly with the marks and the other is to find a mate who has his timing correct and use a pencil to find how far before TDC the piston is when the timing marks line up in the hole.

Transfer this measurement to your bike and you will be able to check where the marks come in the hole. the advantage here is being able to check things in relation to each other, without the motor running.

The timing plug hole is about 10 timing degrees across.

You may be chasing the wrong mark or the cam timing may be off or the timing rotor(behind the pick up plate) could be in wrong but until you have a positive reference point you can't really make any progress with this issue.

Let us know what gives once you find the problem.

 

thanks spanners39 that's the kind of info I'm trying to get into. My bike is an 85 fxrt that has only 52000km canada is mostly metric like you guys, anyway this thing has never been apart I've owned it for about 20 years and it has worked flawlessly until a couple years ago when it started getting hard to start on and off with the choke feather the gas and take an abnormaly long time to warm up. I just thought a couple of plugs and wires would take care of things,not. replaced compliance fittings and ccleaned and adjusted carb. Tried to check timing and couldn't see any timing mark so I moved the plate.Should have put a dot of whiteout onbefore I loosened the hold down screws but I didn't and when I loosened the screws the plate jumped a little on the tension from the wire harness on the sensor plate. Thats where I am now.I think the original problem was a weak battery.I think I've gotten myself into a pickle over plain stupidity but I can't figure why I can't get the full 35degrees of timing. I transferred marks over to alt rotor cover and inner primary cover to avoid having to look at the stupid glass plug the timing light is telling me that I have only 30 degrees of total timing and I have run out of adjustment on the plate I din't think I should have to elongate the slots. The thing worked so well for the past 17 or 18 years

Again, thanks for info, anyone else have any ideas?

 

Look for the scratch marks on the back plate where the posts screws hold it in place....its alloy and scratches easily....if the bike has been running OK for years and years there should only be one set of marks, line them up with the post screws and see how she runs.