[Tishabet]

Originally Posted by Jeff Higgins

Nope, not even available back then. Points, condenser, coil. As primitive as they came.

Mine, however, has been dragged kicking and screaming (just like me) into the late 20th century - I fitted it with a nifty Crane fully programmable ignition unit some time ago. It fits inside the stock points cover so no one can even tell it's there. Beyond how well it makes the bike run, its biggest advantage is how easy it has made it to start. Lots more spark. Oh, and the other piece of modern whiz-bang technology i installed is an electronic voltage regulator. The original had points, just like the ignition. They open and close via current sent through electromagnetic coils. Or, just for the hell of it, whenever they feel like it, because well, old Harleys vibrate a bit. The electronic unit is soooo much better.

Aaaah, that makes more sense... I was trying to imagine some sort of centrifugal advance kind of limiter mechanism! I've done the pointless/electronic (but not programmable) upgrade as well as voltage reg upgrade on a few older vehicles, definitely worthwhile... cannot tell you how much time I've spent trouble shooting and especially re-polarizing old voltage regulators.