The bike is 12 volt everywhere except the ignition.
It uses a ballast resistor to drop the 12 volt down to 6.
Norton Commandos had this same setup, 12 volt lighting/charging, ballast resistor and 6 volt ignition.
In fact the ballast resistor is also a Commando item, as are the 6 volt coils.
It was an easy start system on the Commando too, but the Commando ATD was poor.
I'm not sure how Triumph and BSA points equipped bikes were set up.
The thinking with the Commando ignition was that 6 volts was easier on the points than 12v.
They certainly last and last. The lifespan is way beyond what was normal with 12 volt North American distributor/ points.
Nigel, that is correct, the voltage theft with less than 20 thou gap is a peculiarity of this system for the Vincent. This doesn't occur on a 360 crank parallel twin.
I thought perhaps my system was a home made one off but John said no, it once was a manufactured item for Vincents. Apparently it was quite popular as these units keep showing up.
It uses a ballast resistor to drop the 12 volt down to 6.
Norton Commandos had this same setup, 12 volt lighting/charging, ballast resistor and 6 volt ignition.
In fact the ballast resistor is also a Commando item, as are the 6 volt coils.
It was an easy start system on the Commando too, but the Commando ATD was poor.
I'm not sure how Triumph and BSA points equipped bikes were set up.
The thinking with the Commando ignition was that 6 volts was easier on the points than 12v.
They certainly last and last. The lifespan is way beyond what was normal with 12 volt North American distributor/ points.
Nigel, that is correct, the voltage theft with less than 20 thou gap is a peculiarity of this system for the Vincent. This doesn't occur on a 360 crank parallel twin.
I thought perhaps my system was a home made one off but John said no, it once was a manufactured item for Vincents. Apparently it was quite popular as these units keep showing up.
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