Electronic Ignition Installation Instructions

Rawhide Cycles Verified independent store

→

Congratulations! You are now the owner of the most reliable, simple electronic ignition for a vintage Harley-Davidson on the market. Your new Rawhide Cycles unit is 100% Made in th e USA. We mean 100%, from the pickups manufactured by Charlie’s Place in Los Angeles, CA to the pickup plate and rotor manufactured by Rawhide in Boise, Idaho. This means, we are more concerned with the reliability of our bikes, as well as yours, than a massive profit margin. These bold claims are backed by years of hard miles, testing, tuning and hammering on the vintage bikes that we own and ride, and all of the bikes that we build and repair for our customers. Please take a few minutes to read the following, thoroughly. Setting the timing will be unlike any other ignition out there. Because of the magnet location on the rotor, in relation to the pickup(s), many of our customers that struggle with understanding the timing are the most experienced. With our ignition, the pickup triggers the coil AFTER the magnets pass the ignition, which is opposite of a “dyna s” for example. Please, thoroughly read the installation instructions, then the timing instructions. H-D Installation Instructions Remove the point cover. Remove the two standoff screws holding the point plate to the engine. Unplug the wire going to the points and remove point/plate assembly. Remove the bolt holding the spark advance assembly to the engine and remove the assembly. Remove the point cam from the advance assembly. Coat the advance assembly shaft lightly with oil. Slip the magnetic rotor over the shaft. Push the rotor down until it engages the weights on the advance assembly (it will only go on one way). Ensure that the rotor rotates freely·on the shaft as the advance weights move out and back. · Install your new advance/rotor assembly on the engine making sure the pin on the advance assembly is engaged in the slot on the engine. Install the bolt and tighten. Ensure that the rotor is still free to rotate. Remove the wires that connected the points and ignition coil. Install the new Rawhide Cycles ignition assembly using the two standoffs previously removed, and tighten. The plate should be oriented so that the large power module is at 12 o'clock or 3 o'clock, depending on the model. Route the wiring from the ignition assembly out of the hole in the engine case and over to the ignition coil, being careful to avoid the exhaust system. Use the supplied wires with the kit to extend to the coil from the ignition wires if needed. The 12 volt wire from the ignition/key switch is connected to one side of of the coil. Connect the black wire to that same end of the coil. Connect the blue or yellow wire (depending on your model) to the other end of the coil. This completes the wiring and installation. Make sure that all connections are secure. H-D Timing Instructions Do not attempt to set your timing using a dynamic timing light. It will damage the triggers if the ignition plate is loose/loosened while the bike is running. This will cause a ground failure that will short the capacitors inside the triggers. A dynamic timing light may be used to check advance only. If adjustment is necessary, turn power off before making any adjustments or loosening the screws that hold the ignition plate on. Remove the timing plug on the left side of the bike. Rotate the engine until the advance mark for front cylinder shows in the center of the hole. On most Shovelheads, this is a large horizontal dash. On most Evo’s, this is a dot after the dash. On Pre-1986 Sportsters (Ironheads), this is a large horizontal dash. On most Evo Sportsters, this is again a single dot after the dash. Plug in a test light with one end to ground, and one to the blue wire going to the coil. This must be connected directly to the coil so that the ignition always remains connected to the coil. Important; Never turn the bike on with the spark plug wires or wires from the ignition unplugged. This can easily cause a short that will burn out the pickup on the ignition. With your ignition fully installed, turn the key or power on to your bike. The light should be off or very dim with the ignition centered on the stand-off bolts. Rotate the rotor on the advancer with your hand all the way to the left, for full advance. The light should come on at the very end of this rotation. If it comes on earlier, or not at all, turn the key off and adjust the pickup until it comes on exactly at the full advance point. Do NOT adjust it with the power or key turned on. (For single fire ignitions, see below) Your initial timing is now set. Most bikes will run great with this timing setting and you can fine tune the bike if you want to slightly advance or retard your timing depending on your carb, cam, bore, flywheel etc. Fire up the bike and ride it! Single fire ignitions have an extra step after 5. Find your advance mark for your rear cylinder. If you do not have a mark for rear cylinder advance on the flywheel, you can purchase a degree wheel HERE to easily find the rear advance point. Once you have the degree wheel you can find rear TDC, set the degree wheel to 0 and mark your inner primary with a sharpie or use a piece of weld wire or coat hanger wire to fasten to a stationary part of the engine pointing at 0 on the degree wheel, then rotate 35 degrees before top dead center to find your advance mark. Then repeat steps 3-5 for the rear cylinder. XS650 Two Coil Installation Instructions Begin by removing existing points and condensers. Install the new rotor in place of the old with the locating pin in the slot of the rotor. Install your new ignition by centering the unit in place of the points plate and lightly fastening it into place. Hook up all wires for the ignition: Yellow into left side coil (orange dual female), blue into right side coil (gray dual female). Disconnect red lead from the left coil where it plugs into the wiring harness. Plug the red power wire (coming from the left coil) into the female "pig tail" coupler on the wire branching from the ignition. This is a black wire. Plug the male coupler of this same wire (coming from the ignition) into the red female coupler coming from the wiring harness. XS650 Timing Instructions Do not attempt to set your timing using a dynamic timing light. It will damage the triggers if the ignition plate is loose/loosened while the bike is running. This will cause a ground failure that will short the capacitors inside the triggers. A dynamic timing light may be used to check advance only. If adjustment is necessary, turn power off before making any adjustments or loosening the screws that hold the ignition plate on. With the power still off, connect a test light into the now vacant side of the dual female coupler coming from the left coil. Ground the other side of test light to motor or unpainted surface. Check to ensure the magnet on the rotor is not facing either pick up before turning power on. Turn the power on. Note: At this point, you will see a light come on - this is normal. Rotate the rotor that's on the end of a crank shaft with a wrench to check the timing. The rotor has one timing mark. Do NOT turn the bolt on the end of the cam shaft to do this. The test light will stay on until just before the magnet reaches the trigger on the ignition. Then, the light will go off or very dim. When the light comes on bright again, check the position of your rotor mark in comparison to the stator marks. The stock stator for ‘79 and earlier has four marks. The middle marks with the letter F in between is the point at which you should set your timing on both cylinders. The light should come on in between these two marks. If adjustment is necessary, rotate the entire ignition plate to set the timing for the left side (yellow wire) pick up. Check the timing for the right side (blue wire) pick up using the same method. The test light now plugs into the right side, and the light should come on in between the same marks. If adjustment is necessary, loosen the pick up with the provided allen wrench and carefully reposition it. After your timing is set, carefully reinstall your points cover. If it does not seem to be fitting well, don't force it. Breaking the trigger cover will compromise the integrity of the unit and void any warranty. XS650 Single Coil Installation Instructions Begin by removing existing point and condenser. Install the new rotor in place of the old with the locating pin in the slot of the rotor. Install your new ignition by centering the unit in place of the points plate and lightly fastening it into place. Hook up the wires for the ignition: Blue wire into dual female coil wire. Disconnect red lead from the coil where it plugs into the wiring harness. Plug the red power wire (coming from the coil) into the female "pig tail" coupler on the wire branching from the ignition. This is a black wire. Plug the male coupler of this same wire (coming from the ignition) into the red female coupler coming from the wiring harness. XS650 Single Coil Timing Instructions Do not attempt to set your timing using a dynamic timing light. It will damage the triggers if the ignition plate is loose/loosened while the bike is running. This will cause a ground failure that will short the capacitors inside the triggers. A dynamic timing light may be used to check advance only. If adjustment is necessary, turn power off before making any adjustments or loosening the screws that hold the ignition plate on. With the power still off, connect a test light into the now vacant side of the dual female coupler coming from the left coil. Ground the other side of test light to motor or unpainted surface. Check to ensure the magnet on the rotor is not facing either pick up before turning power on. Turn the power on. Note: At this point, you will see a light come on - this is normal. Rotate the rotor that's on the end of a crank shaft with a wrench to check the timing. The rotor has one timing mark. Do NOT turn the bolt on the end of the cam shaft to do this. The test light will stay on until just before the magnet reaches the trigger on the ignition. Then, the light will go off or very dim. When the light comes on bright again, check the position of your rotor mark in comparison to the stator marks. The stock stator for ‘79 and earlier has four marks. The middle marks with the letter F in between is the point at which you should set your timing on both cylinders. The light should come on in between these two marks. If adjustment is necessary, rotate the entire ignition plate to set the timing for the left side. Check the timing for the right side using the same method. The light should come on in between the same marks. If adjustment is necessary for the right side, loosen the pick up with the provided allen wrench and carefully reposition it to break the difference between the left side cylinder so that they are both firing as close to the middle of the F timing marks. After your timing is set, carefully reinstall your points cover. If it does not seem to be fitting well, don't force it. Breaking the trigger cover will compromise the integrity of the unit and void any warranty. Show more