Dyna-S trigger units misalignment


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Kool_Biker
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Re: Dyna-S trigger units misalignment

Post by Kool_Biker »

Ride Report:

1. The good news:
The engine is crispier, tauter and definitely pulls (in the all important midrange) considerably better. Feels smoother too. A very satisfying improvement, no two words about it. And I guess there are good reasons for it, in fact all 3 below:
a. Addition of the ignition circuit relay (see viewtopic.php?f=21&t=9104) now makes all battery voltage available to the coils.
b. All 3 ignitors are now aligned to +/- 0.5'
c. Because of b. above, ignition timing was retarded by perhaps 6', to ~4' BTDC. It is now spot-on at 10' BTDC. Advance mechanism was checked and observed to operate within spec.
Not sure if any one of the above, alone, could be responsible for these improvements. However I am happy to believe that all 3 combined, very well could.

2. The not so good news:
Well, not really, let me explain. I have an electronic Amps meter installed on my Z and lately, due to my alternator adventures (happy ending here), I've been paying a lot of attention to bike load currents, (charging / discharging), under various conditions. I could do a write up about this, interesting stuff.

For the purposes of this thread, suffice to say that at a steady 900 RPM (idle) with main lights on, my Z used to discharge the battery at around 8 Amps. The above ignition circuit relay mod, expectedly, has increased this to around 10.5 Amps!

So please do take note: The 2.5V gained across the ignition coils, due to the relay circuit, obviously increases the load on the alternator, which as we all know, is not the most stellar part of our bikes. In fact I wonder by how much this situation worsens with hi performance coils (very low primary coil resistance).

In my case (OEM coils, lights always on), the alternator will charge the battery at anything over 2,500 RPM. Even better, riding with only parking lights on, charging begins at ~2,000 RPM. I therefore envisage no problems. Of course, only time will tell.

Bottom line, very happy with all this work, now I need a good reason to do ~1,000 Km to really enjoy my bike and verify alternator reliability, while summer is still with us.
Aris Hadjiaslanis
ICOA # 6309
Berkshire, Windsor

Larry Zimmer
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Re: Dyna-S trigger units misalignment

Post by Larry Zimmer »

Thank you Aris for all your great work. Greatest thanks is for the superb posting of the work and results!! Regarding your quest for a reason to do a 1k ride, I think you answered yourself: "... to really enjoy my bike..."!! That would be the best of all reasons!
Larry Zimmer
cbxlarry@sbcglobal.net

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Re: Dyna-S trigger units misalignment

Post by Kool_Biker »

Thanks Larry, it is a pleasure.
We all learn from each other and I for one would be nowhere had I not discovered the treasure trove that is ICOA.
Aris Hadjiaslanis
ICOA # 6309
Berkshire, Windsor

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Re: Dyna-S trigger units misalignment

Post by herdygerdy »

Great post Aris, lovely work and thank you for sharing this info' so clearly.

The improvements in smoothness, happier idle, crisper response to throttle and more torque across the range was my experience as well - quite literally like chalk & cheese when comparing the 'before' and 'after' - it doesn't even feel like my bike!

LIke you, I am not 100 % sure which one of the 4 changes I made (Iridium plugs, new igniters, ignition coil relay, and all wiring replaced from brown kill switch connector up to the coils), but from what I read, the only change that is common between the excellent, considered and very scientifically measured work you have done and the changes made to mine is the addition of the ignition coil relay.

I have a set of Dyna coils to go on, and will also check the pulser unit position for being 120 degrees apart and timing to 10 deg. BTDC. Prior to this work done by you, I had simply lined it up on the marks and figured I was good to go. Over the next few weeks, I may "back out" those changes to try and find out which one gave the major change in engine performance.

The heads up about the charging issue at low rpm is also enlightening, thank you. That's another reason to seriously consider putting a CBX-tras alternator upgrade on. After reading Mike Nixon's article on use of an ammeter and now your direct experience of charging (or lack of) at low rpm, I will do a search here to see how that could be done.

Thanks again Aris and enjoy your newly refreshed ride.

Cheers...Tony

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Re: Dyna-S trigger units misalignment

Post by daves79x »

Just excellent Aris. I'm so glad you see some noticeable results. Thanks again.

Dave

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Re: Dyna-S trigger units misalignment

Post by asacuta »

Any data on how well the factory sensors are aligned? I haven't touched mine, so I have no idea how accurately they were placed at the factory. I suppose I could get out the scopemeter and measure. I assume if I trigger on one coil and display the two others, I'd be able to measure the relative timing. I also assume I'd need to use a timing light to measure the absolute timing of one coil wrt the crank. I guess the other option would be to use a degree wheel, but I might be too lazy for that.
Al

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Re: Dyna-S trigger units misalignment

Post by super jim »

This is great information. I was digging for information as I was installing the Dyna ignition on my CBX but it was during the time when this forum was down (maybe in was in a COVID-19 lockdown:). I was able to read some of the info without the pictures and it was all very helpful.

I was lucky that mine was almost dead on in regards to phase timing. 120 degrees from 1-2 and 119 from 2-3.

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Re: Dyna-S trigger units misalignment

Post by daves79x »

Thanks for hanging in there Jim, and posting your update!

Dave

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