Pay attention to the advance weights, maybe replace them if too worn. Too many ignore them and have terrible pinging after replacing the points. A timing gun will not fix that problem.

will do

thanks for the advice

Interestingly lads, we in the ukrainian DNEPR/Ural and chinese CJ750 fraternity refer to the points and weights as the "mixing bowl of doom" (granted that is because they do tend to fly apart, due to their dubious quality) ....but an apt name all the same......

Also a few lads I know with these bikes are running coils from 2cv and A series Citroens........Harley coils are also spoken of in hushed tones...

Of course citroen made the visa engine 652cc looks just like a 602cc it has the space for a points box but they decided to fit electronic ignition... why

Vf,
as far as I'm aware, the UK's "Classic 2CV Racing club" does not permit the use of ignition setups other than points & condenser or Lumenition.
It's also worth noting that 123 does benefit from the use of a strobe, in view of the fact that in the early days there were changes made to the amount of total advance programmed in.
However, this wasn't indicated on the casing, so there were instances where a unit with a greater amount of advance would cause pinking on a 9.0:1 engine, whereas units with less total advance wouldn't give quite enough advance to suit an 8.5:1 engine.

If you check on Albertronic's site, the latest version of their installation instructions recommends the use of a strobe to check the setup, whereas the original version did not.

Unfortunately, just like some other folk, they haven't quite got their heads round the fact that the most important point at which to check the timing is at full advance.

I did my best, having been asked for advice on which curve to use when the units were still in development, but Albert chose to ignore ( some of) my recommendations.
I also proof read the English version of the original instructions and for my troubles was sent a free 123 from one of the first batches.
It's got a strange trick whereby it advances the ignition timing at very low temperatures, so all I've ever used it for is running engines on the bench after a rebuild.

ken.

Almost forgot, the current set of points in the old Dyane, which uses a Boyer Bransden unit, have been in there since 1997, which is over 120,000 miles and counting.
All that's needed is to open the points box about every 10,000 miles, polish the surface of the points with some 240 grit, grease the points cam, check the timing and carry on as before...

Kevin,
so they could sell you replacement sensors and control boxes?

We've had a 652 Visa on the road for about 10 years/60,000 miles now, during which time it's needed 3 sensors and 1 control box replacing.

ken

Because it wasn't being put into one of those 2cv-things (which, let's not forget, need the kingpins greasing far more often than the points tickling). Instead, it went into one of those "proper car" things...

Which have all but vanished now, coincedence?

we should also do a blind test, a car on 123 a car on properly set up points and see if anyone can tell the difference

Sean

I actually thought about this on my way to work, trying to keep an open mind, I wondered about driving my car for a week with standard points and the next week, exactly the same journeys, with 123, measuring everything, fuel economy, and then top speed/accelleration, carrying the exact same load in the car etc, and seeing whether the 123 would pay for itself in the long run, compared to points.

Thing is, if i had a ton to buy a 123 purely to settle my curiosity, I'd go and spend it on something else... (and even if it wasn't any better, the pro 123 camp wouldn't believe me, just like if the 123 proved to give me another 4mpg and shave a second off the 0-60, I still wouldn't bother with it..)