Charlie's Place Ignition

Vince Lupo · Post by **Vince Lupo** » Sat Sep 23, 2017 12:00 pm

Does anyone here have the Charlie's Place electronic ignition? Reason I ask is that we discovered a little problem. It seems the ignition unit moved, or at least the left magnet seems to have moved. Everything is tight - all screws etc, but the left magnet is the equivalent of a Post-It Note folded in half away from the gold-anodised collar that goes around the shaft. I noticed that the idle jumped up to 2000rpm, and John thought that maybe something moved, and it seems it did. The gold-anodised collar even had a little wear ring right down the center of it (fortunately it didn't etch into the metal).

Has anyone had any trouble keeping things tight in there? It's only using really one screw to hold the entire unit in there.

Thanks!

moondoggers · Post by **moondoggers** » Sun Sep 24, 2017 4:35 pm

I had a second generation Charlies e-ignition where the left sensor moved close enough to rub against the magnet causing the motor to run erratically. I called Charlie and was told some of he older units were defective so another was sent to me at a discount, whether that discount is still offered I have no idea. The third gen units so far operate as they should. That sensor can be re-positioned with an Allen wrench and there is a Charlies Place how-to video on youtube : http://www.charlies-place.com/installat ... tructions/

Vince Lupo · Post by **Vince Lupo** » Mon Sep 25, 2017 4:58 am

The issue might be more with that single screw which is used to hold the plate down. With the points and even with the Probe electronic ignition, it uses two Phillips screws to hold the plate down; with the Charlie's ignition it only uses one. It appears to me that if that screw allows the assembly to shift in that channel, it might move one magnet closer to that anodized collar. Not sure why they made that design decision.

jambretta · Post by **jambretta** » Tue Sep 26, 2017 4:55 pm

That's disappointing to hear. So much for "trouble free" electronic ignitions. I"m sticking with my points until they fail.

Vince Lupo · Post by **Vince Lupo** » Tue Sep 26, 2017 7:38 pm

All seems okay now - the timing was in fact slightly advanced, so it's been adjusted and tightened down. We went a step further and installed two collars over the retaining screws for the points/ignition cover that press against the Charlie's Place plate, plus John added some gasket material around the edge of the plate as a bit of a cushion. So everything should now be good. Bike has great power and pull now.

Despite these little adjustments, John still prefers this setup to the Probe system.