Ben,
I have the same setup on my racer. I did not say anything because I start my bike with rollers. My first BTH had electronic advance and retard, the second one was fixed ignition. I ran my BTH ignition that had the electronic advance and retard at 19 degrees full advance. It was a very good starter on the rollers.
But this is exactly the problem that Greg is talking about. My bike makes the best power at 19 degrees, so if the retard/advance is working as it should, it would be a 19 BTC when fully retarded. That does not sound good for easy kicking. Because I am racing and running mostly at 4500-7000 RPM, fixed ignition is fine.
The advance/retard problem is caused because most ignition makers use inexpensive chips from the automotive industry. These have very limited adjustment. As the efficiency of the combustion chamber goes up, so does BHP, but to get that power you have to run with the ignition in the most retarded position with maximum torque. When the total range of the advance/retard from TDC excedes the ignition setting from TDC you may have problems.
BTH will not be much help because they build ignitions for one or the other Street or race, not street and race.
BTH could make it fixed ignition. This would make the starting hard.
You could run one plug. This makes some sense, because a one plug racing setup is almost as good as two plugs. Unless you are flowing heads and testing cams and exhaust systems you may not be able to get all the power out of the engine. You could always convert it back.
You could change ignition and go to a programmable ignition. A small group of Vincent owners over here have been working on Power Arc Ignition to provide programmable ignitions. That could be an option in the future if you feel it is worthwhile.
I have the same setup on my racer. I did not say anything because I start my bike with rollers. My first BTH had electronic advance and retard, the second one was fixed ignition. I ran my BTH ignition that had the electronic advance and retard at 19 degrees full advance. It was a very good starter on the rollers.
But this is exactly the problem that Greg is talking about. My bike makes the best power at 19 degrees, so if the retard/advance is working as it should, it would be a 19 BTC when fully retarded. That does not sound good for easy kicking. Because I am racing and running mostly at 4500-7000 RPM, fixed ignition is fine.
The advance/retard problem is caused because most ignition makers use inexpensive chips from the automotive industry. These have very limited adjustment. As the efficiency of the combustion chamber goes up, so does BHP, but to get that power you have to run with the ignition in the most retarded position with maximum torque. When the total range of the advance/retard from TDC excedes the ignition setting from TDC you may have problems.
BTH will not be much help because they build ignitions for one or the other Street or race, not street and race.
BTH could make it fixed ignition. This would make the starting hard.
You could run one plug. This makes some sense, because a one plug racing setup is almost as good as two plugs. Unless you are flowing heads and testing cams and exhaust systems you may not be able to get all the power out of the engine. You could always convert it back.
You could change ignition and go to a programmable ignition. A small group of Vincent owners over here have been working on Power Arc Ignition to provide programmable ignitions. That could be an option in the future if you feel it is worthwhile.
