CB550F ELECTRONIC IGNITION

[Bryanj]

In the original  Honda handbook it said something like. " Do not run the engine out of the top of the red band"

[Oddjob]

When racing I used to run it well through the red, never missed a beat. I wouldn't advise it for regular everyday use but it's well possible to do it.

[Nurse Julie]

When racing I used to run it well through the red, never missed a beat. I wouldn't advise it for regular everyday use but it's well possible to do it.

That's why I only go into the red and not out the other side, because Honda says it's OK for me to do this 😊😊😊

[McCabe-Thiele (Ted)]

I’m betting you just turned them round?

They do fit, must do as I’ve fitted them backwards but I didn’t just turn them, leave the mounting brackets in the same place, dismount the coils only by removing the 2 screws and turn them round, leaving 1 and 4 still on the left. Try that.

I tried that but no joy.

[Oddjob]

Shot of my 500 after over 40 years of storage, you can clearly see the coils mounted backwards Ted, you're clearly doing something wrong if you can't get them to mount like that.



The advantages are that the coil leads face backwards, this avoids any water being driven into the coils (where the leads exit) by wind force, it looks tidier, it avoids the droop over the exhausts so no chance of them melting on them, they can be clamped to the top of the rocker box so less movement due to vibration and wind. Before I did this I had shorts from the leads whenever it rained hard, after nothing.

I'm not 100% sure the coils aren't mounted with 1-4 on the right instead of the left, might have done that due to lead lengths.

[SPR]

I tried when I first got mine after you suggested it Ken - and failed miserably

[Oddjob]

Those are standard brackets with standard coils, if I can do it so can you. I think it's the positioning of the brackets that is critical..

[SPR]

Those are standard brackets with standard coils, if I can do it so can you. I think it's the positioning of the brackets that is critical..

I'll try again tomorrow

[Oddjob]

If you get them to fit but find that say the lead from 4 is needed to go to number 1 cylinder and that bugs you then you can swap over the coil lead markers, they just slide off the leads. I didn't do that as I wasn't ware they were removeable, I thought it was some sort of stamping.

As you can see in the pic, I found that a long 90 degree NGK plug cap was perfect for the outside cylinders, the inner ones used a long straight cap. I'll be seeing if I can change them to the same as the outer cylinders when I rebuild my current bike.