Swap Igniters For Performance?

[dearborn]

On another thread here, I wondered that since igniters controlled spark, dwell, timing, etc, whether there might be a performance gain from swapping the Thunderbird/Adventurer/Legend/Sport unit for one from, say a Trophy or a Speed Triple of the same series. Well, maybe not- from the official factory dealer service manual; "On Thunderbird, Thunderbird Sport & Adventurer, (no mention of Legend), the side stand switch is connected to the igniter in a different way to all other models as no side stand relay is fitted. In place of the relay, there are 2 "enable" lines to the igniter. One goes directly to the side stand switch and one directly to the neutral switch. The engine will run if either are switched to earth." And further; "The igniter evaluates information from the crankshaft sensor which is received in the form of electronic pulses. From the received pulses, the igniter calculates the output required from the coils. The basis for the calculations come from the pre-programmed ignition parameters inside the igniter unit. The calculations include; dwell angle, ignition timing, (and) firing order" So, we know the different igniters from different models are wired differently, at least for the side stand switch and neutral switch. There may, (or may NOT), be other wiring differences. And, we know that dwell and timing curves are also different. So, we can say that disregarding the side stand and neutral switch issues in an igniter from a higher performance model using the "GILL" components may possibly result in performance gains, or may lead to a slobbery, horrible running bike. And who knows if swapping igniters could result in internal circuitry damage in the ridiculously expensive igniters. There is an aftermarket igniter available from "Vectriq" at www.regulatorrectifier.com for about $375 USD which promises better performance for Thunderbird/Sport/Adventurer, (Legend?).

 

[sikatri]

Did you come to any conclusion?

 

[dearborn]

Yes. The igniters are really not interchangeable seeing the wiring differences and how bloody expensive they are. The early Thunderbird, Legend and Adventurer all use the same one, and unclear, (as yet), about the "Sport" Later production, apparently, used a different igniter. The "Gill" igniter from the local USA Triumph dealer for these models is listed at $761, IF it is available. Since the igniter controls timing, etc, and this would tend to vary based on compression, camshafts, it would seem that it could feasibly be possible to achieve performance gains by swapping them from other models, but this could get really expensive, really fast. There is an aftermarket item from Vectriq for these models, (and it is listed for the "Sport" as well), that promises better performance, but at about $375. In my case, stupidly, and yes, I know better, I repeatedly checked the pick up coil, (crank position sensor) when cold and it checked OK. But let run until hot and it died, the coil checked BAD, so $150 and about 7 days later, new pick up arrived from UK- result: starts, runs OK. Took opportunity while waiting to up main jets to 120s, (TOR exhaust/more open Speed Triple carb boots/ cat delete/"green" cams/Dynojet), A bit of stumble at WOT and high rpm, so a switch to 110s- much better, but since coils check at 1.1-1.6 ohms, and "stumble" feels like it could be a spark issue, they are next on list at around $300