New to me Strada

[Papa Lazarou]

It must be so frustrating, but there are good knowledgeable people on here that hopefully will help.
I'm guessing the bike must have to least been ridden to the MOT station, so any problems should have been apparent then?

One advisory on a rust on the disc-otherwise, nothing I'm aware of. Mind you, it passed with a front brake that wouldn't even hold it at standstill on a hill...

[fatnfast]

And the brake had been fully overhauled with new Caliper seals etc. Hmmm.
Get yourself a coffee and watch Paul Compton's YouTube vids for some inspiration .

[JonD]

Not sure how much of the ignition system you have replaced. If you have fitted the NLM Pickup the rotor / coil airgap is critical. My recent experience is that at 0.1mm (4 thou) gap the spark is intermittent and the engine difficult to start. With the air gap set at 0.05mm (2 thou) it starts fairly easily and runs well. The NLM instructions say less than 0.1mm. I purchased some brass feeler gauges because I found it very difficult to judge the gap with steel feelers as they stick to the magnets. It is a fiddle to get it right.

Hope this helps getting the bike running again.

[Papa Lazarou]

Not sure how much of the ignition system you have replaced. If you have fitted the NLM Pickup the rotor / coil airgap is critical. My recent experience is that at 0.1mm (4 thou) gap the spark is intermittent and the engine difficult to start. With the air gap set at 0.05mm (2 thou) it starts fairly easily and runs well. The NLM instructions say less than 0.1mm. I purchased some brass feeler gauges because I found it very difficult to judge the gap with steel feelers as they stick to the magnets. It is a fiddle to get it right.

Hope this helps getting the bike running again.

I'd be very grateful of an idjut's guide on how to do this.

[JonD]

First of all, did you changed the pickup on the end of the camshaft to the new NLM type when you fitted the NLM transducer? If not then ignore my previous post, it only applies to the NLM pickup.

[Papa Lazarou]

First of all, did you changed the pickup on the end of the camshaft to the new NLM type when you fitted the NLM transducer? If not then ignore my previous post, it only applies to the NLM pickup.

No.

[Papa Lazarou]

Removed and checked flywheel is positioned correctly. Checked wiring to NLM transducer replacement. All seems good. No spark.

I think I'll put the old transducers back on and see what happens.

[72degrees]

Removed and checked flywheel is positioned correctly. Checked wiring to NLM transducer replacement. All seems good. No spark.

I think I'll put the old transducers back on and see what happens.

I'd put a suitable 'known good' OEM transducer back with the NLM 'transducers' on if you have one. I never did get my 375 to start with an NLM pickup, but it goes very well with a series 2 red pickup and the first generation NLM ignition module and conventional coils.

[Papa Lazarou]

Another 6 hours work-nothing. Dead.

[72degrees]

Removed and checked flywheel is positioned correctly. Checked wiring to NLM transducer replacement. All seems good. No spark.

I think I'll put the old transducers back on and see what happens.

I'd put a suitable 'known good' OEM transducer back with the NLM 'transducers' on if you have one. I never did get my 375 to start with an NLM pickup, but it goes very well with a series 2 red pickup and the first generation NLM ignition module and conventional coils.

D'oh. Known good OEM *pickup*.

[Papa Lazarou]

it's back together with the old transducers but no joy.

Flywheel has good magnetism. Stator seems okay. Transducers/ NLM "transducers"-no idea.

Could a new pick up work?

I think this will have to go to a garage.

I've restored a couple of old Guzzis, a Velocette Venom, a Norton Atlas and a little Suzuki but I'm flummoxed and not happy.

[EVguru]

Some of my oldest videos are on bench testing transducers.

Soren has also made some videos on how the ignition functions.

Poking around without understanding is likely to be frustrating. It's a simple ignition system, but unlike many others.

Many a Morini ignition transducer has been destroyed by autoelectrical 'experts' and botchers alike.

[72degrees]

Try eliminating the ignition switch from the system by unhooking the wire that leads to the switch from the stator green wire (leaving that connected to the module or a transducer) and see if you get a spark at all. The switch essentially earths out the AC supply from the stator, so any bad insulation leading to a short on the loom between there and the switch will kill the spark. Otherwise, it sounds like a duff pickup as it's reasonably rare for both transducers to fail simultaneously (assuming there is no spark at both plugs).

[Papa Lazarou]

Thanks both. I've watched the online videos and read up on the system before doing anything-and what I did was a simple swap, then putting it back to how it was.

Can't do more work on it for the next few days-very ill dog and the builders are arriving. I have an excellent local mechanic and I'll ask him to diagnose the problem and go0 from there.

[Papa Lazarou]

It runs again.

The NLM coils and box instructions were incorrect-or the diodes in the box were wired the wrong way round. The ignition now advances well. There was the odd loose connection in the wiring as well and the timing was too advanced.

Carbs synchronised-on throttle cable was too short and wouldn't allow the slide to fully close.

The jets in the carbs were also pretty gummed up. They've been cleaned but I have ordered a complete new set of innards, partly to be sure and partly because the pilot jets (no sizes on them) seem a bit small. It idles but is lumpy on the rear cylinder. The tappets seem a bit "tappety" so may need adjustment.

More power but it's now missing on one cylinder at higher speeds.

Compression is good. Ignition is good (timing sorted). The plugs indicate it is running very rich-very quick carbon build up.

The tacho now reads about twice as many revs as it should-perhaps a side effect of the NLM replacement ignition? The speedo still needs an overhaul.

So, the main issue is now the running.