How to use an Ignitor from a different GS Model

[Declan_Berkeley]

I would like to use an ignitor from a different year & model than the Original ignitor that came with my 1980 GS1000GLT. Has anyone done this before? I can't find any threads addressing this subject here in thegsresources.com. I would prefer to use a sealed solid state Suzuki GS OEM ignitor for my 1980 GS1000GLT instead of the soldered circuit board in a leaky housing my bike comes with (Part No. 32900-45110). My gut says that a solid-state ignitor would be more reliable than the 32900-45110. Ebay has several Suzuki GS ignitor's for sale and I think I have found some years/models that will work. I have looked-up the relevant electrical components in Suzuki manuals spanning several GS models and spanning several years. I would appreciate any suggestions/criticisms/gotcha's on the following reasoning and testing methodologies I have come up with.

Premises:
1. All Suzuki ignitors from that era which use similiar Signal Coils Resistances specifications, coil primary & secondary resistance specifications and similiar spark advance curves should be interchangeable if all of these three items have similiar specifications.
2. Any differences in wiring inputs/outputs between my original Ignitor and an alternative ignitor are simple to do and have simple wiring logic guiding the wiring modifications. IE... Wiring changes are obviously correct.

Model of GS Signal Coil Ohms Coil_Pri Coil_Sec Spark_Advances
1980 GS1000GLT 290-360Ohms 5Ohms 31K-33K 17* Below1500
37* Above2350
1980 GS850GLT .....All Specs exactly the same.................................
1981 GS850GLX/GX .....All Specs exactly the same.................................

I think that the only differnce in wiring between these years of ignitors is my 1980 GS1000GLT's Signal Coils power comes from the main wiring harness whereas the newer, transistorized ignitors send power to the signal coils through their connectors, not the main wiring harness. The only issue I haven't resolved is if the solid-state ignitors from the newer GS's have their own spark advance or do they rely on the mechanical spark advance that my 1980 GS1000GLT uses? Does anyone have any opinions or suggestions? Happy Summer.

[Suzuki mad]

Never done this mod so I am guessing here.

If you have points ignition a CDI/ignitor box will not work from an electronic ignition bike.

Suzuki mad.

[t3rmin]

It would come down to the timing advance: whether or not the other bike and your bike both have the mech advance or the electronic advance and whether the curve is the same. If you can verify that, I think it'd work.

[Declan_Berkeley]

Additional Info for switching Ignitors between Models

I believe that During the 78-83 years Suzuki used both mechanical and electronic spark advance in their GS bikes. At first glance I am inclined to think that the majority of the GS bikes had mechanical advance until 81 or so. After 81, some of the bigger GS's had electronic spark advance but I haven't been able to find a chart of which models/years had electronic and which had mechanical. I would think that an accurate and comprehensive table with this information would be valuable to TheGSResources.com community. At the end of this effort of mine I will post to this thread the beginnings of a chart of ignition systems/models/years. I think what would be most relevant is compatable Suzuki OEM ignitor part numbers and a description of any harness modifications.

Here is my text thread so far:
80 GS1100 Ignition Details R-n-D July 2007.txt // ND denotes NIPPONDENSO!!!!

Purpose of this file: To determine suitability of using a Suzuki OEM used Ignitor from Ebay for my GS1000GLT (1980).

Model Year Designations:
A=76 B=77 C=78 N=79 T=1980 X=81 Z=82 D=83 E=84 F=85

MECHANICAL-VS-ELECTRICAL SPARK ADVANCING:
1980 & 1981 USE MECHANICAL
1982 & 1983 USE ELECTRICAL ADVANCE IN A MUCH LARGER IGNITOR BOX (1983 part numbers - 32900-49410)
1100G,GL,GK got the trick electronic advance in 82, the 750 and 1100E still had MECHANICAL ADVANCE

OEM Ignitor for GS1000GLT is 3

Bike Signal Coil Ohm's Tested
1980 GS1000GL 290-360 Ohms 320 Ohms June 2007
1980 GS1100ES 290-360 Ohms

--------------------------------------------
OEM Part Numbers & Updated Part Numbers:
OEM 32900-45110 -->45120_or_45411
Fits GS750 GS 1980-1983
GS850 GS 1980-1983
GS1000GS 1980-1982
GS1100GS 1980-1983
--------------------------------------------

================================================== ==================
Bike Wires
--------------------------------------------------------------------
1980 GS1000GL | 1 Black/white Main Ground-> "-" Out
| 2 Orange/White Main Power--> "+" In // Hot with Ignition 100% of time along with Coils
main | 3 White Fires One/Four Cly
4-plug conn | 4 Black/Yellow Fires Two/Three Cly MY BIKE

Secondary ||| 1 Blue or Green Signal For One/Four Cly
2-plug Conn ||| 2 Blue or Green Signal for Two/Three Cly

Timing
---------------------------------------------------------------------
1980 GS850GLT
1981 GS850GLX/GX (SAME AS GLT!!!!)
1981 1100EX // uses 45110
GENUINE SUZUKI CDI IGNITOR OEM # 32900-45120 FIT'S


Spark Advance 17*BTDC Below 1500
37*BTDC Above 2350
Signal Coil 290-360 Ohms

---------------------------------------------------------------------
1980 GS1100ES | 1 Black/White Main Ground
| 2 Orange/White Main Power In
Main | 3 White Fires One/Four Coil MY MANUAL SAYS SO
4-Plug Conn | 4 Black/Yellow Fires Two/Three Coil

| 1 YYYY Signal Coil "1-4" Power
Secondary | 2 xxxx Signal Coil "2-3" Power
4-Plug Conn | 3 Green Signal Coil to Ignitor for "either 1-4 or 2-3 TBD
| 8 Blue Signal Coil to Ignitor for "either 1-4 or 2-3 TBD

************************************************** ********************
******* ONLY DIFFERENCE IN 45110-VS-<SOLID-STATE> IS *****************
******* SIGNAL GENERATOR FEEDS COME THRU IGNITOR NOT LUM *************
************************************************** ********************

TIming Specs: 12*BTDC Below 1500+/-150 RPM
32*BTDC Above 3250+/-150 RPM
Firing Order 1-2-4-3
SPark Plug NGK D8EA or ND X24ES-U
Spark Plug Gap .6-.7mm ( 0.024" - 0.028") //(.6-.8mm = 0.024-0.031inches)
Spark Stregnth Over 8mm
Coil Pri 3-5 Ohms
Coil Secondary 31K-33K Ohms
Signal Coil 290-360 Ohms

--------------------------------------------------------------------
1983 GS850GLD
************************************************** ***************************************
Signal Coil 140-180 Ohms ************************ Different SYSTEM!!! **************
************************************************** ***************************************



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