There’s more than one kind of “mag replacement,” but I don’t know what problem could occur putting the gear wheel on it.

 

This is the replacement mag

 

That’s similar to mine.

I fixed the housing in place with a gasket and the nuts on the three studs.

Then I think I followed the Wassell instructions.

No more difficult than fitting and timing a magneto, except you have to make marks and a pointer and use a strobe.

 

Right, I have a gasket coming. I have to replace one of the three nuts, since one was missing.

I was told that I have to replace the auto advance unit with a fixed gear. That is what I am most curious about and want to make sure it's done correctly.

Was positioning the Wassell unit in the housing complicated, to produce the proper spark at the correct time?

 

Going by memory here, so I advise reading instructions.

Unlike with the magneto, you fully tighten the pinion to the tapered end of the shaft once the housing is fitted to the casing, before looking at timing.

Rough and ready timing is done by rotating the trigger rotor to the recommended mark on the stator, then tightening the rotor onto the end of the shaft. That is with the screws holding the stator in the middle of the curved slots.

On my bike, the rotor/stator marks were hard to see straight on. When I checked by strobe, the timing was miles off. Actually had to reposition the rotor on its taper and try again.

 

Thank you. I am a bit nervous on that set up to get the correct timing since that was the nightmare I had with the Thorspark. This seems like a little bit more updated EI setup, though.

 

Don’t know if I’d say the Wassell kit is much updated. It behaves like analogue Boyer.

I find it robust and dependable though.

I wouldn’t fancy using the original magneto bearings and auto-advance on an EI though. I see them as poorly engineered.

 

Definitely.

Seeing as I was getting no spark anymore to the plugs with the stock magneto and the Thorspark EI, that's why I elected to do the mag replacement which will also need a solid drive gear in place of the stock auto-advance gear. I am replacing the stock Lucas reg/rectifier as well.

 

Thanks for sharing all these details—really helpful to read through your experience. I’ve been considering switching to the Wassell Vape setup myself since my old magneto has become unreliable, and your notes about timing and fitting the solid drive gear are exactly the kind of info I was looking for.

Interesting you mentioned how tricky it can be to see the timing marks—reminds me of setting up my adjustable standing desk at home, where you think everything adjustable standing desk is square and lined up until you look from a different angle and realize it’s way off. Same principle here, I guess: double-check everything before tightening it down.

Hope the install goes smoothly for you—would love to hear how it runs once it’s sorted!

 

I run a Trispark set-up in the Superflash. Same as pictured above. All I needed to do was fit a solid ali drive gear to replace the ATD. Then find whatever it was BTDC before fitting the sensor plate. I like the Trispark as it has a little red light that tells you you're on the money. Have got a Wassel unit on the Bonnie, and that hasn't missed a beat either. Just bought another Wassel to go into the Thunderbolt.

 

@santiago45, @Superflash,

Note the thread is nearly a year old ...

Regards,

 

Oh. Right. Old news then. Moving on.....
Bonnie is still going like a cut cat. Although she's a hard start in this kiwi winter weather. Might have to look at putting the chokes back in. First few kicks are really heavy too. Must be the 20W50 going like treacle in the cold. 🥶