“I can make up any stupid fucking shit I want…..”. I can’t exactly put my finger on any one reason why I like ya so much, Gary😂. Thanks for what ya do, Sir
A quiet early Sunday morning, coffee, check in on the best early Sportster site on the net and see Magstravganza!! The magneto is probably my favorite feature on my '69 XLCH. To 99% of the bikers I know the magneto is mysterious black magic voodoo. I have found that they are simple and when set up properly and maintained they are VERY reliable and stay that way for a long time. I really enjoyed your testing and focus on the coils and magnets. The Morris guys know their stuff. Rudy Calin is also a good source of parts and knowledge. Good work IronHeadCycle.
Wow , over an hour long video from one of my favorite channels Mr Ironhead Cycle , what a treat 😁👍👍 Gary , what an awesome video , man o man , SUPER informative, great filming as well!! Thanks for taking the time to make such a detailed, very well made, and definitely the best and honestly only one of seen on TH-cam about magnetos 😊👌
I have a much better understanding and respect for magnetos after watching your video. Thank you for putting in the time and effort! I have yet to own a Sportster with a mag but if ever do, I will be sending it to you so I will be sure it will function at its best.
Thank you for your work and detailed demonstrations. It's great to see actual research that shows why the XLCH mags can be so hard to start. I have a 1960 so I have no retard control and kicking back is an issue. I really appreciate your effort to show what works and how to check it. Back when Harley was still selling magneto Sportsters they had a reputation for being hard starting machines.
Hey,for your personal build Hunt makes a single fire rotor for their mags. It installs with a small rotor button and a single fire mag cap. Really a neat setup and because its a single fire, all the coil voltage is going to only one plug. So you get a much hotter spark at any rpm. I installed a couple of the single fire Hunt mags and they are amazing. Big advantages for high compression engines,that are hard to produce a spark at low rpm. Hopefully Hunt still makes these, you should check it out. And thanks for all your testing. Only disadvantage to the single fire cap is it limits carb clearance. I used an S/S shorty with a 2 inch spacer block to move the carb out a bit to clear the top of the new mag design.
I wasn't impressed with Joe Hunt mag performance or the strength of their magnets. I was recently told that Hunt was bought out and basically they are selling out their inventory. Don't know if that is true or not. There are electronic gizmos that trick Morris Magnetos into thinking they are single fire.
Oh well,just a suggestion, but the Hunt single fire top is not an electronic gizmo, like Morris sells. It's a true single fire top cap design. It's a shame if you don't look into it for your personal build because you would be amazed at how well it works. Dealers choice,it's your bike , it's your build. But if it's still available you would be impressed. Have fun.
By chance TH-cam picked it. I usually don't put a lot of thought into the thumbnails. Every once in a while I will grab a frame out of a video that I really like.
Gary, definitely a very interesting video. I was very surprised at the huge differences in the magnet measurements. I like that little test jig you made, but it always makes me wonder if you could use it to do some spot welding on very thin metal (I do not think there is enough amps, but I just wonder.). Anyways another very good video.
The original capacitors, are they electrolytic or mica type? I’ve never cut one open. Electrolytic caps have a 15, maybe 20 year expectancy, whether in service or in a box on the shelf. I’ve cut olds ones open and whereas they should be full of oil, it had deteriorated to be 20% full of tar. Ford and Dodge ECMs are notorious for the caps failing and throwing every engine code under the sun
I have a bike that is getting a brand new Morris mag, I'll be testing it and installing it and videoing the process in a few weeks. Here is a spoiler, it will part of an upcoming series "Rat Rod No More"
@@IronHeadCycle So good!!!! Thank you thank you!! I have set it up but for some reason, either the fly wheel marks are off or im doing it wrong. Can you show it if no timing marks where on there? Seems my flywheel is for 1000cc and the rest is a 900cc. would that be making a difference much?
Lastly, I cant wait for the video for magneto installing! My question is, can you show in the video, when you rotate around to the compression stroke, and get the flywheel timing mark in the window, where should the front piston be?? should it be TDC? or 40degrees before TDC? or?
I didn't do any testing on the Burkhart. They are the cheapest option in terms of a new magneto. If you have one you'd like to have tested, I'd like to do it, free of charge of course.
@@IronHeadCycle Send me a address that I can ship it to; I purchased it earlier this year in preparation of restoring my 1966 Sportster. I believe it was through "Sporty Parts" located in CA. I was surprised at the quality of the unit; I don't where they are built but on the surface it looks like a accurate reproduction.
“I can make up any stupid fucking shit I want…..”. I can’t exactly put my finger on any one reason why I like ya so much, Gary😂. Thanks for what ya do, Sir
I'm glad you like the vids, I'll keep them coming...
A quiet early Sunday morning, coffee, check in on the best early Sportster site on the net and see Magstravganza!! The magneto is probably my favorite feature on my '69 XLCH. To 99% of the bikers I know the magneto is mysterious black magic voodoo. I have found that they are simple and when set up properly and maintained they are VERY reliable and stay that way for a long time.
I really enjoyed your testing and focus on the coils and magnets. The Morris guys know their stuff. Rudy Calin is also a good source of parts and knowledge. Good work IronHeadCycle.
I really appreciate the comments. Thank You. The Fairbanks Morse on my 61 is basically untouched and it still works great.
Wow , over an hour long video from one of my favorite channels Mr Ironhead Cycle , what a treat 😁👍👍 Gary , what an awesome video , man o man , SUPER informative, great filming as well!! Thanks for taking the time to make such a detailed, very well made, and definitely the best and honestly only one of seen on TH-cam about magnetos 😊👌
Thank you ever so much...
Thank you so much for your expertise and dedication.
My pleasure!
I have a much better understanding and respect for magnetos after watching your video. Thank you for putting in the time and effort! I have yet to own a Sportster with a mag but if ever do, I will be sending it to you so I will be sure it will function at its best.
Magneticly magical thanks from old New Orleans 😎🏁
Glad you enjoyed it
Thank you for your work and detailed demonstrations. It's great to see actual research that shows why the XLCH mags can be so hard to start. I have a 1960 so I have no retard control and kicking back is an issue. I really appreciate your effort to show what works and how to check it. Back when Harley was still selling magneto Sportsters they had a reputation for being hard starting machines.
You can probably retard the time a few degrees to ease the kick back and aid the starting without greatly hurting the performance.
The last one had the best spark
I thought so too
Hey,for your personal build Hunt makes a single fire rotor for their mags. It installs with a small rotor button and a single fire mag cap. Really a neat setup and because its a single fire, all the coil voltage is going to only one plug. So you get a much hotter spark at any rpm. I installed a couple of the single fire Hunt mags and they are amazing. Big advantages for high compression engines,that are hard to produce a spark at low rpm. Hopefully Hunt still makes these, you should check it out. And thanks for all your testing. Only disadvantage to the single fire cap is it limits carb clearance. I used an S/S shorty with a 2 inch spacer block to move the carb out a bit to clear the top of the new mag design.
I wasn't impressed with Joe Hunt mag performance or the strength of their magnets. I was recently told that Hunt was bought out and basically they are selling out their inventory. Don't know if that is true or not. There are electronic gizmos that trick Morris Magnetos into thinking they are single fire.
Oh well,just a suggestion, but the Hunt single fire top is not an electronic gizmo, like Morris sells. It's a true single fire top cap design. It's a shame if you don't look into it for your personal build because you would be amazed at how well it works. Dealers choice,it's your bike , it's your build. But if it's still available you would be impressed. Have fun.
Did you choose that photo to be your thumbnail??? Just curious
By chance TH-cam picked it. I usually don't put a lot of thought into the thumbnails. Every once in a while I will grab a frame out of a video that I really like.
😁👍
Excellent video.
Thank You
✌😎
Damn good information.
hope you find it useful.
Gary, definitely a very interesting video. I was very surprised at the huge differences in the magnet measurements. I like that little test jig you made, but it always makes me wonder if you could use it to do some spot welding on very thin metal (I do not think there is enough amps, but I just wonder.). Anyways another very good video.
I was surprised too. Those Morris magnetos magnets are very pricey... But worth every penny, in my opinion.
The original capacitors, are they electrolytic or mica type? I’ve never cut one open. Electrolytic caps have a 15, maybe 20 year expectancy, whether in service or in a box on the shelf. I’ve cut olds ones open and whereas they should be full of oil, it had deteriorated to be 20% full of tar. Ford and Dodge ECMs are notorious for the caps failing and throwing every engine code under the sun
I don't know, I haven't cut one open either. I do have a bad coil I'm going to open in an up coming video, maybe I'll look for a bad capacitor too.
Love it! Can you make a video on how to install and time the mag correctly?
I have a bike that is getting a brand new Morris mag, I'll be testing it and installing it and videoing the process in a few weeks. Here is a spoiler, it will part of an upcoming series "Rat Rod No More"
@@IronHeadCycle So good!!!! Thank you thank you!! I have set it up but for some reason, either the fly wheel marks are off or im doing it wrong. Can you show it if no timing marks where on there? Seems my flywheel is for 1000cc and the rest is a 900cc. would that be making a difference much?
Lastly, I cant wait for the video for magneto installing!
My question is, can you show in the video, when you rotate around to the compression stroke, and get the flywheel timing mark in the window, where should the front piston be?? should it be TDC? or 40degrees before TDC? or?
Burkhart magnetos anyone?
I didn't do any testing on the Burkhart. They are the cheapest option in terms of a new magneto. If you have one you'd like to have tested, I'd like to do it, free of charge of course.
@@IronHeadCycle Send me a address that I can ship it to; I purchased it earlier this year in preparation of restoring my 1966 Sportster. I believe it was through "Sporty Parts" located in CA. I was surprised at the quality of the unit; I don't where they are built but on the surface it looks like a accurate reproduction.
Contact me through my website www.ironheadcycle.com/pages/contact.html