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Another observation, the Boyer ignition is very, very competent in it's delivery. I've no problem working with the std system, believing it to be mechanically almost peerless in it's design, application and component specification .... the Boyer i can see by comparison does offer tangible benefits if that's chosen by the owner though.
Among those benefit appears the ability to fire more adverse mixture range more of the time with exceptional repeatability. This seems to support a more optimum idle mixture that may give benefit in any residual unburnt component/fuel that may be affecting the fouling determination this topic is about.
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The advantage you attribute to B#B, is valid for any EI that has a transitor doing the switching. Realise that even in stock configuration, coils will be fully saturated. Only in border situations a transistor has the advantage of more reserve as there's no loss due to mechanical breakers (tiny sparks can be seen in stock set up). The steeper rise time a transistor ignition provides, will also offer some reserve in border situations. That's all to it, I'm afraid. There's no shortage of spark duration because @ idle initial peak voltage will be relatively low (estimation around 7kV). An EI will NOT give a higher voltage. Why should it, if the circumstances are thus, that already 7kV is enough to bridge the plug gap. Ergo: lots of energy available.
It's the gap that determines a higher or lower initial peak voltage and the atmospheric circumstances in the combustion chamber ofcourse.
In my personal situation, I'm experimenting (you guys know me
) by following what is advised in a American Honda booklet. Needles are now raised one notch (and thus in 4th) and the airscrews are two turns out.
Here is something I have never communicated before. In the very first year I owned my CB500 (1980), I travelled as far as Greece. On a camping in the Peloponnessus I decided to open the Haynes manual. Being completely ignorant I followed the data in forsaid manual and have set the airscrews at one turn out. To this day I wish I had never touched them. I should at least have made a note what they were in before. Immediately the next day I noticed a difference: a negative one and never thereafter in 44 years have I been able to regain that perfect utterly smoothly accelerating CB500 again. Don't take me wrong. It has always been good thereafter, but never so perfectly accelerating as before. Later the properties of gasolines changed which made it even more difficult. That's why I am always curious to know what position other CB500 owners have their airscrews in. If my plugs stay clean at idle, driveability in acceleration suffers. My understanding is that even 1/8 of a turn can make a big difference and at least one Honda mechanic has told me that the position of the airscrews of all 4 can individually differ in position
more than just 1/4 of a turn. Soon I hope to use my restaurated CO gas analyzer and see what an initial 4% CO at idle will bring.
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