I've been looking at electronic ignition options for my '51 Pan-Shovel, but the commercially available ones are... well, stupidly expensive. Basically, these kits amount to a sensor that detects the passage of ferrous metal inserts or prongs sweeping by, and which correspond to the cam lobes mechanically actuating the points and thus triggering the coil. That's all there is to them.

The sensor, or pickup, and arguably the rotor (but not necessarily - more on this in a moment) are the only things a DIYer can't easily make him or herself. The pictured version is a Standard Motor Products LX-110 Distributor Pickup, which is $10.99 most anywhere. Chrysler makes a virtually identical one for about the same money (Autozone, et al.), which was used in 1980s OBD-I style ignition systems. Toyota, too. Inexplicably, Pertronix, et al., as well as the outfits that sell pickups to retrofit various motorcycles, charge well over $100 for a pickup that apparently costs a few dollars to manufacture. With Harleys, they typically sell for a little more than $200 to $400 and even more--and we're just talking a pickup riveted to a stamped or laser-cut plate and a rotor.

Remarkably, no one has undertaken to provide a DIY solution that is inexpensive, competent, and designed to help people upgrade their bikes, rather than line their pockets. Or have they? If anyone knows of someone who has done this--and laid out the parts needed and step-by-step instructions for DIYers--please let me know, so I don't reinvent the DIYer wheel.

If not, I am going to see if I can develop a DIY solution for 'generator' Panheads and Pan-Shovels that use the old-style, auto-advance distributor, like my bike does. If I can modify the SMP LX-110 to fit the distributor, all I'd need to design would be a CNC-machined rotor. I won't know until I design one and talk to my machinist about the cost of an initial production run, but would assume an aluminum rotor to replace the existing points cam, fitted with ferrous metal inserts to trigger the pickup, would be extremely inexpensive.

But we'll see...

 

I put the e-beyond 2000 in my 62. I plan to buy more of them.

 

I've gone down the labour of love path before in the car world, one of my ventures continues to be profitable but the other small things I did, I did to help others more than line my pockets. You'll find this is a labour of love. If you want to make a kit I'm sure some will buy it but for $195 from Ebeyond with a life time warranty and a proven product that $195 is pretty much equal to a rounding error when it comes to the cost of the bike.

 

EBeyond is an excellent product, no reason to reinvent the wheel. It is super clean, easy to install and impossible to notice when done. Not sure you are going to able to do much better.

http://www.ebeyond2000.net/

Now if you want to start make cheap and reliable coils that look stock, that is a different conversation.

 

Thanks for this, guys. I wasn't aware of this particular product, which is half the cost of Rawhide's fancier version, but still looks well done.

What I was envisioning was a DIYer modifying the above Standard Motor plate to fit the auto-advance distributor (for instance), so we're talking drilling and tapping a couple of holes, maybe some minor grinding or trimming to fit under the auto-advance cap. Then they'd pop on a rotor--either handmade from extruded aluminum pipe or bought from me if I decided to take this project on--and they'd be done.

As for cost, I'm purely spitballing (based on my R&D of such parts for my side business, Creative Spridgets) but a CNC-machined rotor with a couple of steel set screws for triggers would sell for... I dunno... $30? So, total cost of conversion less than $50.

However, that said, I have finally embarked on remodeling the master bathroom for a wonderfully patient wife, so helping folks save $145 would be nice but in view of your positive experience with this more reasonably priced kit, I may default to it, too. Also, nice to support someone who's not a giant corporation and has a competitively priced product. (That's why folks in 11 countries have bought my DIY-enabling parts for MGs and Austin Healeys.)

Thanks again for cluing me in!

 

So, the troubleshooting page for Ed's EBeyond kit seems to suggest that it will not work with an aftermarket, auto-advance distributor like mine. He mentions points cams secured by a bolt or circlip, and I've got the latter (see pic):

"If the rotor does not fit properly DO NOT FORCE IT ON as you may have ordered the wrong unit! . . . If your distributer has a bolt or a "C" clip holding down the points cam it is an after-market distributor not made by Harley Davidson. If you have ordered the wrong unit it can be returned and exchanged as long as it has not been modified or damaged in any way[.]"

I've emailed him and would expect to hear back after the holiday weekend. If it will work and I've misread his language on that page, I'll likely buy his kit. If it won't fit, I'll press ahead with my DIY solution. I see no reason to ditch a perfectly good distributor--which means R&Ring the front head to get it out. (I can lift it high enough to revolve the gear for proper meshing, but it hits the head before I can completely extract it.) Also, presumably lots of people have a similar distributor, so that would be motivation enough for me to produce a DIY solution.

We'll see what he says.

 

Yeah, that'd be nice but I don't have the economy of scale to produce ignition coils, nor the electronic engineering expertise to improve on what's available.

That said, I checked my coil today--bought new when I was refurbishing the bike--and it reads 5.4 ohms. Ed at EBeyond says that, at least with his systems, "[c]oils over 4.7 will cause a high speed miss."

On the off chance that lower resistance will improve my points-managed ignition, I ordered a 3 ohm coil (free shipping and sales going on this weekend). Regardless, it'll be better whenever I convert to electronic ignition...

 

Looks to me that your distributor will come out without removong the head. Just means a bit of disassembly work on the distributor before removing the shaft from the case.

Running the e-beyond in my 49 EL along with a 12 volt conversion to my generator and a solid state regulator. Hard to tell from the finish that it is not still a 6-volt system.

 

Is that right? I had thought the lower part of the housing containing the weights was pressed onto the tube containing the shaft, making it impossible to get the unit past the fins. But in the event that this aftermarket auto-advance unit ends up foiling my plans, I'll give that a try.

Thanks very much for weighing in.

 

Give Ed a call, very knowledgeable and he will walk you through your application.