E: Engine BTH Electronic Mag Timing Comet -Q?

[TouringGodet]

Not really, fuel octane is what determines timing. Imagine two fuels with the same octane rating, one branded and one from a supermarket, both will have additives in small percentages. The branded or premium fuel will have more types of compounds which are said to preserve engine efficiency longer by cleaning the fuel systems, which is probably true in strictly controlled test conditions but this is difficult to demonstrate in real world driving conditions. The difference in octane ratings is due to the blend of hydrocarbons in the fuel.

I didn't think so, wanted to ask anyway to get confirmation. Thanks.

 

[Jez Nemeth]

So with all engines having slight differences with each machine -carb set up, flowed heads, piston compression, wear, cams and fuel -would seem the only truly accurate way of getting best performance with the timing is a rolling road scenario as Vibrac suggested -and a tank full of the most accessible tipple commonly available at the pumps.

Set the timing to 36 deg, but put the mag on the edge of the 3 slots, so when adjusting will only rotate as far as 30 deg BTDC on the full rotation of the Mag body in those slots counter-clockwise, halfway on the slots seems to be about 33 deg, can move it with a modicum of accuracy to find 34 and 32 deg. Happy with this as it allows for adjustment on the roadside so to speak.

 

[Bill Thomas]

I worked in Garages, And was told sometimes the Driver had a bit of Extra left in the Tanker,
So putting a bit of Cheap down Expensive hole ??.

 

[vibrac]

Supermarket petrol is crap in another sense. a count of all the car wash facilities in abandoned filling stations tells you that and after the current riding interruption finding petrol will be even more difficult as many independent garages will have gone under
And could somebody tell me why the two times I have been forced to go to a supermarket for petrol the pump was locked while a desperate voice told me to take my helmet off? Never happens at a garage
Anyway if lockdown is eased a full face seems like good protection on the street.

 

[Nulli Secundus]

And could somebody tell me why the two times I have been forced to go to a supermarket for petrol the pump was locked while a desperate voice told me to take my helmet off? Never happens at a garage

It has happened to me several times at a Texaco garage on a main road in a small village near my home town. In the end your just get into the habit of taking it off automatically. I have never bought supermarket fuel for a bike, so have not experienced it.

 

[ClassicBiker]

I do remember about 30 years ago when the "PCB in transformer oil" was a major environmental matter that one of the local "cheaper" fuel suppliers was adding a small amount (I am sure for a large fee) of the waste into his supply chain. Got caught, and punished, although I suspect not nearly as much as he would be today. I think that was probably one of the better sales tool for the big oil companies.

I can't imagine how anyone could think adding PCB to gasoline was a good idea. It has to be along the same line as adding to cow feed, which is what happened here in Michigan in the 1970s and 1980s. All sorts of health issues linked to that. Calves being born with two heads and five legs all sorts of non-sense. Made it into the food supply. I used to date a woman whose father and her ex-husband lost their dairy cows when the state came around and checked the cows. Found traces in blood samples taken from the cows. Destroyed the lot. Fortunately in those two cases it was a side line business not their main source of income. Loads of folks lost the lively hood, all because someone got greedy and put PCB in as a filler in cow feed.
Steven

 

[Robert Watson]

I'm not convinced any illegal money making schemes are a good idea, however the ingenuity of greedy people is never ending.

 

[timetraveller]

They should have also made the people who did the polluting of the cattle feed eat it.

 

[BigEd]

OK. Let us get back to the magneto question, cattle feed might warrant a whole new exciting thread.

 

[Paul T]

Sorry but this is only partly right. Each company has its own additives package which is dosed later in the chain. All gasoline has to conform to en228 the fuel companies then have their own additives to help ignition, cleanliness etc.