[jammer415]

Anyone running the Pamco ignition with the E-advancer?

have you found that it is impossible to kickstart the bike when engine cold, and damn near impossible when warm?

I’m thinking the kickstarter just doesn’t crank out enough juice to power the Pamco unit?

Anyone else experience this?

 

[WintrSol]

Mine starts fine when warm with the kickstart and Pamco. While it will fire on kick when cold, I usually use my jumpstart battery to spin up the starter motor to save my old leg. If it hasn't been run for a few weeks, sometimes that's the only way.

BTW, all the juice comes from the battery until the engine is at, or above, idle.

 

[jammer415]

Ahh right, okay. Then what could some possible culprits be which would result in poor kickstarting?

First thing obviously would be a low battery, but in this case the batter has plenty of juice to crank the motor over until it starts.

 

[mike in idaho]

Valve adjustment too tight, wrong fuel mixture from dirty or mis-adjusted carbs bad spark plugs, timing set wrong. Since it's worse when it's hot, I would start with a valve adjustment.

 

[76TWIN]

start with the basics.

1. Check battery. Fully charge it and then let it sit for 30 minutes to an hour and take a voltage reading. Anything below 12.6V is suspect.
2. Check and adjust valve clearance.
3. Reconnect the original points if you still have them then check and adjust ignition timing. If it won't start with points it won't start with the Pamco either.
4. Check carbs. Clean and sync/adjust as needed.

We need to know a bit more about what bike you are working on and what you have running on it (OEM airbox or pods? OEM exhaust or? Original jets in the carbs?)

 

[HondaPete89]

Technique. With old things it is not always as simple as gas on, power on, kick kick kick. You may need to prime the cylinders, little throttle, bit of choke, compression etc... Find out what works for you.

That said, I have only ever had problems with PAMCO cold starts. But I always get them going, need a bit of a twist and kick.

 

[76TWIN]

FWIW I never had an issue kick starting my bike when I had the Pamco installed. I actually like the Pamco a lot while it worked.

 

[jammer415]

Good to hear it’s not the Pamco, I really like it too.

I’m running pods and a baffled Mac 2 into 1 exhaust.

Adjusted valves and reset cam tensioner.

I’m about to install CB500T carbs on it to be able to sync using vac ports

 

[HondaPete89]

Pods ...

 

[76TWIN]

Some red flags right off - pods.
What carbs are on the bike now if not the 500T carbs?

 

[jammer415]

Currently have the stock CB450 carbs on it.

Indeed I’m a fan of the stock air box too. The bike came with pods and de-tabbed when I got her 8yrs ago, and have just ran it that way.

I installed 3” silicone hoses, so the pods wouldn’t sit directly on the carbs, this helped a whole lot with how the bike ran and started.

Any suggestions of which jetting I can start with to dial in the CB500T carbs, given the exhaust and intake situation?

 

[76TWIN]

start with the stock jet size and go up from there.

How does the bike run without any air filters at all?

 

[jammer415]

Aside from trouble kickstarting, it actually runs pretty well. It has some trouble idling and will die after a couple mins unless revved. It seems like it only runs on one cylinder when idling (one pipe much hotter than the other).

However, when given throttle, both cylinders fire and the bike is a rocket (even without any filters).

 

[Nick James]

FWIW I never had an issue kick starting my bike when I had the Pamco installed. I actually like the Pamco a lot while it worked.

Hey I was hoping you could help me with a question. I'm new to posting on this forum but always find good info, seem to see you a lot and you seem knowledgeable. anyway, I installed the pamco with e-advancer on my cl350, got the LF and F marks lined up nicely at idle (1000 rpms) but when revving to 3000 or more, could not reach full advance. the advance lines were not getting close to the mark. the bike was slow and sluggish would not get above fifty mph. I read a comment saying focus more on getting the advance to line up right and don't worry so much about the LF F marks. so I did adjust the sensor plate and got it to advance correctly the bike is running very strong and accelerating better than ever but my left and right fire marks are not timed where they should be (Im using a timing light to know). I would be happy to leave it like this but don't want to ruin the engine. Is this a stupid thing to do? am I setting myself up for future damage or problems?
Thanks
Nick

 

[mike in idaho]

Just set it so it hits the marks at full advance. A few extra degrees of spark advance at idle won't hurt a thing, it will just help it to idle a little faster(adjust the carb to suit), probably give it a little better off-idle response too.

 

[Nick James]

Hell yeah!
Thanks for the reply.

 

[WintrSol]

Just so you know, Nick, this seems to be a common feature of the Pamco e-advancer. You should also know the e-advancer retards the spark more at cranking rpm, so it doesn't make it any harder to start.

 

[Nick James]

Just so you know, Nick, this seems to be a common feature of the Pamco e-advancer. You should also know the e-advancer retards the spark more at cranking rpm, so it doesn't make it any harder to start.

I know ths is late but Thanks for the response. I ended up going back to the points. I was happy with the pamco for one day of great riding but theyn it stopped working. IDK if something inside the unit cam unsoldered or something but I didnt feel like tracking it down. i still have the unit and may try and repair it but. for now my 350 is riding great with the points.

 

[WintrSol]

Mine stopped firing one cylinder. One of the wires broke off the circuit board inside the plastic box, because of tension in the wire routing and lack of strain relief. I made sure the wires had more slack and added some strain relief, and my Pamco has worked for years, now.

 

[jammer415]

I know ths is late but Thanks for the response. I ended up going back to the points. I was happy with the pamco for one day of great riding but theyn it stopped working. IDK if something inside the unit cam unsoldered or something but I didnt feel like tracking it down. i still have the unit and may try and repair it but. for now my 350 is riding great with the points.

If you are inclined to stay with points, I highly recommend getting the Hondaman ignition (transistorized ignition). It uses less voltage, makes starting easier, and best of all... Once you set your points/timing, you never have to set them again (Just check timing every few years).

Hondaman has been making these for 4 cylinder engines for a while, and finally released a unit that fits our twins. It is awesome.

Transistorized Ignition for Dual Points, SOHC4shop.com

SOHC4shop - Hondamans online store

sohc4shop.com