Installing a digital ignition.

[trolle]

It has been a long time since I last visited this forum and after reading up on the postings it strikes me that the r65 is a very robust construction, a little like the Russian WWII planes: Flying on anything,  taking off and landing on any surface and repairable with a knife and a spanner.

And now to the subject of this posting: I have just invested $620 in a digital ignition, a new diodeboard with regulator in one unit and a new high performance double ignition coil.

Not because the wh8la2 has been acting up, but she has occasionally lost her breath after going at high speed (80-85 mph) for an hour or so, and as one of the joys of having  a bike is the tinkering, I thought that my economy could bear the expense.

I will keep you posted on the results as soon as I get the new system installed.

greetings from a cold, damp and dark north

trolle

[Bob_Roller]

trolle

Good to hear from you again, from what I can remember of your last post, you were building a summer cottage, and had very little free time.

What year R65 do you have ?

I was under the impression that you had the factory electronic ingition !

Just curious what ignition system you installed, also what replacement ignition coil you have.

These bikes are pretty tough, how many 23-29 year old bikes do you see on the road these days, still being used as daily transportation .

I just hope BMW still supports the old bikes with parts, and not abandon us, to try and get us to purchase a new model.

Weather in the south central low deserts of Arizona: clear, sunny 80 F. ( 27 C.), 16 % humidity.

Another perfect day to ride !!!

[trolle]

The cottage is finished and I have time on my hands again.

The factory fitted ignition control module on the post '80 r65 is transistorized or electronic, that's correct. I am changing that to a digitalized control module, which computes the exact right moment of the ignition based on the position of the crankshaft and an advance curve, just like the Omega ignition module, see http://www.indian.no/omega.htm. From everything I have read, it has a very positive effect on the engine's behaviour.

The parts will arrive during the coming week and then you will hear more about it.

To avoid destroying anything, I have been studying the wiring diagrammes and have made my own working diagramme: http://picasaweb.google.com/petertrolle/BmwR65Wiring

greetings from a cold, windy and damp north

trolle

[Semper Gumby]

Hi Trolle,

Good to hear from you.  Good luck with the Omega.  Mine works great!  Keep us posted.

TTFN,

[trolle]

Hi
The Omega is now installed and works   Unfortunately the rev. counter does not work. Any suggestions?

greetings from a windy north

trolle

[Bob_Roller]

I'm not real familiar with the points set-up and wiring on the on the pre-81 bikes .

From what I can see from the wiring diagram, there should be a .75 sq. mm solid black wire from one of the ignition coils, that wire goes to 'pin 5' of the connector on the back of the tachometer.

You may want to check this wire from the coil to the indicator, to see if you have continuity on it. ( Or if it's connected . )

I just re-read your posts, and from what I understand, that you had the OEM electronic ingition installed on your bike already.

If that is the case, 'pin 7' on the OEM ICU ( ignition control unit), is the signal to the tachometer , I don't have a wiring diagram of the factory electronic ignition, so I can't give you a wire color.



Clear, sunny, 55 F. (13 C.) in the northern Sonoran desert of Arizona.

[trolle]

According to the wiring diagram from the "on Board Book" there is a black 1.5 sq. mm connection from the OEM ICU to pin 1 on the coil. Pin 1 on the coil is then connected to the rev. counter pin 5 with a black .75 sq. mm wire. This pin leads to a transistor, whose function I do not know but the negative lead from the transistor goes to frame. The transistor is also fed from a blue-green .75 sq. mm wire connecting to pin 6 of the rev. counter and coming from pin 15 of the coil.

To install the Omega I have connected the positive pin on the Omega booster to the live wire (the 1.5 sq. mm  green-blue connection from the ig. lock to pin 15 on the coil) by soldering the wire from the Omega to the female connector of the green-blue wire. The ignition impulse pin on the Omega booster is connected to pin 1 on the coil and the negative lead from the booster to frame.

see http://picasaweb.google.dk/petertrolle/BmwR65Wiring

Maybe I should try to connect pin 1 on the coil with pin 5 on the rev. counter and thus leading the ignition pulse from the Omega booster to the rev. counter. At present there is no connection which may be the cause of the malfunction of the rev. counter.

I hope I am on the right track here.

I am! Everything works as it should. The OEM ICU connects to the coil and the rev. counter through a connector (#46) on the wiring diagramme). As the ICU is disconnected the socket of the connector  to pin 1 on the coil and pin 5 on the rev. counter (black wire) is free. By connecting the wire from the ignition impulse pin of the Omega using this socket  both coil and rev. counter will be connected to the Omega DICU.

greetings from a sunny and relatively warm (40 F) north, perfect weather for a ride on the r65
just watching the weather report which says temp. up to 45 F and no rain. I am definitely going for a ride this weekend!

trolle

[Bob_Roller]

I'd give that a try, to see if you have any better results .

I was doing an on-line search about tachometers and how they work, and found a little tidbit of information that may be applicable to troubleshooting ignition problems.

If the tachometer fails in a shorted mode, it can render the ignition inoperable, something to keep in mind !

[Justin B.]

I seem to remember the first two year Mercury Cougars (and probably the same year Mustangs) wouldn't run if the tach opened up as it was in series!!  So much for having a better idea...  

[trolle]

She's on the street!

New diodeboard and regulator, new digital ignition control and new brake shoes. And everything works!

see http://picasaweb.google.com/petertrolle/BmwR65Wiring

After standing still for  two months she started on a low battery at 40 F and no choke. A short run around the block and she purred like a kitten, the idling was rock steady at 1100 rpm. Tomorrow I will take her for a long spin and adjust the carbs. I can't hardly wait.

greetings from a quiet north with some sun

trolle

[trolle]

Due to foggy weather in the weekend I could not go for a drive but today the weather was better and I drove the wh8la2 to work (20 miles).

What a difference, more power, a steadier drive and the vibrations I had between 3500 and 4500 rpm are almost gone. I can hardly get my arms down.

My new rectifier and regulator means that the battery charging starts at 1100 rpm, before at 1250 rpm, and that the charging voltage is .5-.8 volts higher at maximum charge, around 4500 rpm.

Why did I not do this before.

greetings from a grey and quiet north

trolle