78 Twinstar

I own a 78 Honda Twinstar with about 29000 miles on it and I love it so far. It's not the most powerful bike but it's a lot of fun to ride on nice days which is why I got it in the first place. Anyways I'm wondering what your opinions are of these bikes, particularly from guys that know about motorcycles in the first place. Any information I should know so I can keep it running for awhile?

Also, I live in Kansas City and want to take it on a camping trip to Colorado Springs but I want to be sure it can actually make the trip there and back. The guy I bought it from said he took it to Arkansas and back with no problems so at least I know it can handle some road trips but I don't want to get stuck in the mountains with a broken down bike...Thanks and any info will be appreciated...

I am getting a Dyna Electronic ignition for my 1974 CB 550 Honda - more reliable than points

What does that do and how much are they?

they eliminate the points, the kits start at about $150-200 and if you replace coil pack and everything, you will spend $250-300 total. This is what I am working on buying right now. It would be like converting your 1970s muscle car from rotor and coil to a MSD race ignition.

Dyna ignitions are the vintage riders friend.

Twinstars are great. That thing will go and go with proper care, and most of the consumables i.e. filters, brake pads and the like, are available from the aftermarket for less than factory prices with comparable performance. Enjoy your bike, and ride it everywhere.

they eliminate the points, the kits start at about $150-200 and if you replace coil pack and everything, you will spend $250-300 total. This is what I am working on buying right now. It would be like converting your 1970s muscle car from rotor and coil to a MSD race ignition.

Mr, I don't want to argue this point because I would take electronic ignition over points given the choice, but I don't think you're being fair to the benefits of points. All you need is to carry a spare condenser, business card, gapper and small file and you can always get those sparkles to come forth.

If that black box takes a dump (on in a billion odds I know), then brother you are stuck unless you keep another $100 box handy with you.

I'd leave the stock ignition on it - otherwise where would the point be? :D Couldn't resist. I'd still leave it alone, or put it off as a project for the distant future. Just my opinion though

what are points I still don't understand them.

On an overly simple level think of it this way (correct me anybody if I'm wrong here):

Your stator probably has 3 coils like most bikes - a magneto coil, a primary lighting coil and a secondary lighting coil. The lighting coils charge the battery, the magneto coil is responsible for the ignition system. You could have a battery coil ignition system but we won't go there for simplicity's sake.

Now think in terms of anatomy here - the magneto coil is connected to the primary ignition coil, the primary coil to the points, the points to the secondary igintition coil, and the secondary ignition coil is connected to the spark plug.

Now that you have this drawn out, here is what happens:

The magneto coil "charges" the primary ignition coil with 12 volts at say 1 amp for our example. The points briefly lose contact with each other during engine rotation - they're timed so that this is usually a few degrees before the piston hits top dead center. Once the points lose contact, the current stored in the primary ignition coil jumps to the secondary coil, which converts that 12 volts at 1 amp to 40,000 volts at just a few milliamps. The high voltage secondary coil is of course is connected to the spark plug and jumps across the plug gap as the spark in the ignition system.

How is it different from electronic ignition?

Electronic ignition uses a crankshaft position sensor of some kind and a "black box" that stores the ignition charge in a series of capacitors. When the sensor comes around on the crankshaft, the black box has a tiny microprocessor in it that gives the signal for the system to fire the plug. It sounds more complicated at first on paper, but the black box typically lasts longer and is more reliable than a points type ignition. The simple reason is no moving parts! That's also it's only real shortcomming. When the black box does break, there is no fixing it. That argument doesn't hold much water if you're going to seriously argue in favor of points.

Honestly in my opinion though, there are a lot of points out there, and many of them remain serviciable for years and years - many thousands of miles before they really need severe service. I'd only convert it if the old breaker points die and you can't find an economical replacement. :)

points or no points, I have had nothing but trouble out of mine. Everytime my bike wouldn't work... points. Everytime I would get stranded at a light... points. Everytime !!! so, I decided, point or no points, I wasn't gonna fight that battle anymore. Hail to all you guys who want to tinker with "getting" them right. But even my buddy, a certified Harley mechanic, couldn't get them to hit right. Had him stumped too.

I have no problem with the old school guys that want to use them. Heck, TRAIN ME! I want to use them. But I am not going to have the headache anymore. Besides, my retro custom 70's Honda is so over the top, what's another $100. To me, this bike is everything I have always wanted it to be, and no of the headaches.

The 78 - Twinstar, I say do what suits your budget and you are comfortable doing. I agree with CDG, do what is best for you.

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Hail to all you guys who want to tinker with "getting" them right. But even my buddy, a certified Harley mechanic, couldn't get them to hit right. Had him stumped too.

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I have no problem with the old school guys that want to use them. Heck, TRAIN ME! I want to use them. But I am not going to have the headache anymore. Besides, my retro custom 70's Honda is so over the top, what's another $100. To me, this bike is everything I have always wanted it to be, and no of the headaches.

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You sound like my brother. He's probably a better mechanic, but I have the "aura" that just makes old equipment work better.

Might I also say that the old battery coil hondas have a reputation for being a real pain in the a$$ to get going properly. Even my dad's SL 125 oils the points about every other time you ride it, so always have a screwdriver and a business card handy when you're on it.

Ultimately it's more of an art than a science, and you have to be with somebody who's really good at deciphering the vintage hardware in order to pick up on it yourself.

No offense to your friend man, but Harleys have been using electronic ignition for a really long time now, and most of the ones that didn't are long since off the highway.

At 20 years old, I don't consider myself to be "an old timer" either.