Swapping points ignition to electronic

[Anonymous]

Can I use the electronic ignition from a 82 850 to replace the points ignition
on a 79 850.
If this is possible what is involved ?
The points are working fine now but I would like to go to a low maintenance system.
Also when does one perform valve shimming and what is used as an indicator for the need of such ?
As always any suggestions and tips are appreciated. I must say thanks for all previous help as it has allowed me and my bike to have an excellent summer. :P
Thanks in advance....

[Anonymous]

im sure it will work but you would need every part from the newer gs to convert

[earlfor]

Re: Swapping points ignition to electronic

The indicator is when you check the valve clearances with a feeler guage and clearances are outside of specifications. Excessive valve clearances are noticably noisy, but they do no damage other than cause a loss in performance. Insuffient valve clearances can/will result in burned valves. If in doubt, better to adjust too loose rather than too tight. I just checked valves on the 750 last week and with 19000 miles, all valves were within specs. No adjust ments were needed, or possible as none of the clearances were large enough to go to the next thickness shim. I would guess I will get another 10,000 miles before any adjustments will be possible and probably 20,000 more miles before they are mandatory.

Earl


[quote="Rev'n Kevin"
Also when does one perform valve shimming and what is used as an indicator for the need of such ?
As always any suggestions and tips are appreciated. I must say thanks for all previous help as it has allowed me and my bike to have an excellent summer. :P
Thanks in advance....[/quote]

[Anonymous]

Valves

Sound like I just ride till I notice a loss in performance.
I am glad that to much clearance will not harm anything.
As I am not the original owner of this 79 850 I am not sure what has been
done to it in terms of maintenance. I will be the last owner as this bike is staying with me.
Having cut my teeth on older Triumphs and Harleys this GS 850 is far from suffering in the performance area and is exceptionally quite mechanically.
It was good to hear from you again...
Kevin

[earlfor]

Re: Valves

Kevin
Noisy valves are pretty difficult to not notice. :-) If you have some free time and want to tweak on the bike a bit, you can always pull the valve cover and check valve clearances with a feeler guage just so you know what the clearances are and can reasonably guesstimate about when you can expect to need to adjust them.

Earl

Sound like I just ride till I notice a loss in performance.
I am glad that to much clearance will not harm anything.
As I am not the original owner of this 79 850 I am not sure what has been
done to it in terms of maintenance. I will be the last owner as this bike is staying with me.
Having cut my teeth on older Triumphs and Harleys this GS 850 is far from suffering in the performance area and is exceptionally quite mechanically.
It was good to hear from you again...
Kevin

[SqDancerLynn1]

Ihave 79GS850 also I think it is a great bike, It will break 100MPH without working hard And yes i still have the points in mine. If you want to put a elect ign. Check with www.DennisKirk.com
for Dyna S ign Would be a lot less trouble and cheeper in the long run than trying to adapt the 82/850 system

[Anonymous]

Ignition and valves

Definitely go with the Dyna S. I replaced a stock electronic ignition with this setup on my '82 1100 and it is wonderful as well as very simple to install. As far as valves I would go ahead and adjust them as this is the one area that is almost always ignored in terms of basic maintenence by previous owners. Normally the valve lash gets loose over time so there's probably no danger to your engine but check it anyway just in case. Don't forget to order a new valve cover gasket.

[Anonymous]

79 Gs 850

I suspect that you are right on the money in terms of swapping parts vs replacing them.

I guess that is what Canadian winters are for.

[Anonymous]

electronic ignition

I put in a Dyno S on my '79 GS850 and it was pretty easy to do. I'm not sure I ever got the adjustment right though. At some point, I put in the electronic signal generator from an '81 and I'm very happy with it. You'll need to get an ignitor unit, splice it in and rewire some things, and get a different set of coils (you'll need different coils even with the Dyna S). It can be done.
KD

[Anonymous]

points

do points/condensors use coils and where are the condensors located in 1979 gs425 because there isn't one with the points and the bike has only been running on one cylinder also.

[Anonymous]

I installed a dyna S in my gs 1000 E a few years ago,, best thing I'd done in a long time,, It was easy,, althought the directions could use a little help,, but I used the stock coils and only had to run 1 wire if I remember it correctly and then it's not visible and It gets hooked up to a 12V source. I'd recommed it to anyone who still runs points..

Matt

[Anonymous]

I installed a dyna S in my gs 1000 E a few years ago,, best thing I'd done in a long time,, It was easy,, althought the directions could use a little help,, but I used the stock coils and only had to run 1 wire if I remember it correctly and then it's not visible and It gets hooked up to a 12V source. I'd recommed it to anyone who still runs points..

Matt

[mcycle-nut]

I put a Boyer Bransden electronic ignition in my bike before I even rode it home! I hate farting around with points! 8)

[earlfor]

Re: electronic ignition

Tkhe current instructions that come with the Dyna S state that you may use the stock coils with the installation. I did and everything works just fine.

Earl

I put in a Dyno S on my '79 GS850 and it was pretty easy to do. I'm not sure I ever got the adjustment right though. At some point, I put in the electronic signal generator from an '81 and I'm very happy with it. You'll need to get an ignitor unit, splice it in and rewire some things, and get a different set of coils (you'll need different coils even with the Dyna S). It can be done.
KD