Hi,
I recently bought a 1970 starfire. It's in pretty good condition but has enough things to do to keep me busy over winter.
The model I have has a single speed but I have noticed that some Starfire's also have a tachometer. I thought this might be a nice addition but when checked my bike there is no connection point.
Looking at some pictures of Starfires online I can see a connection point just above to the right of the oil pressure relief valve but on mine there's nothing (see attached picture).
My question is, should there be one or was it only on some models?
Cheers
Phil
Oops forgot the picture
There should be a little diamond shaped cover sealing the hole into which the drive spindle and its housing fits, on bikes suppled less a tachometer.
Maybe yours has the wrong cover fitted.
Mine doesn't have one of those. From the pictures I've seen it is part of the engine casing. I've since found pictures of others that are like mine so wondered why some have feature and some don't.
Didn't know if it was something added or removed at some point in the manufacturing run.
According to the engine number my bike was made in May 1970.
Phil
Hi Starphil.
The earlier Starfires didn't have the tacho drive facility but a 1970 should have it fitted into the RH crankcase. What is your engine number?
One of the new Smiths electronic tachos would do the job, look about the same as the magnetic original. No need for mechanical drive.
http://shop.srmclassicbikes.com/product-category/smiths-genuine-instruments
The engine number is ED11089B25s
I'll check out the electronic option. Thanks.
The engine decodes as May 1970 build, E = May, D= 1970 season.
Quite late in the season, so would have expected it to have the port for the drive, but who knows!
Yes would have thought that.
Also, If you look at that part of the engine in the picture there's a seam just above where the port would be. I'm not sure if this is a normal part of the casting or indicates that there's been a repair. Not been able to look up close at another one to tell.
I suppose it's part of the fun of owning an old bike. I'm certainly enjoying it so. Plenty to fiddle with but nothing too major so far.
Thanks for responding.
Cheers
Phil
Phil
Not sure about your crankcase.
The 1970 engine would have had a pressure valve with enclosed spring and plunger and 2 parts, the outer hex being domed. Yours looks like the much simpler up to and including 1969 type which had a small diameter thread just one part plus a ball and spring.
Above your PRV looks like the poishing may be covering some weld repair caused by an engine blow up where the rod went into the cases - which happened to Starfires when thrashed by riders when they were new.
First photo is from the 1970 parts book.
Second from the 1969 book.
Quote from: Starphil on 18 Dec, 2017, 09:58
Yes would have thought that.
Also, If you look at that part of the engine in the picture there's a seam just above where the port would be. I'm not sure if this is a normal part of the casting or indicates that there's been a repair. Not been able to look up close at another one to tell.
The casting looks perfectly normal as is the horizontal seam above where the tacho output would be. Since the engine number appears to be legit, it looks as though you have a set of crankcases fitted from the previous year's model. It may be that a spare set of crankcases had to be fitted because the previous engine had blown up and the crankcases available where from the previous year. If new, they might well have been able to stamp the original number back on to them.
There are very cheap electronic tachos available. about 2 inch long box. A single wire wraps around you HT lead for the signal.
Work perfectly, cost about £5 on ebay.
Mick
I've ordered a cheapy from China to try out. I'll let you know how i get on.
Well it came very quickly and matches the after market speedo that's on my bike already.
I tried setting it up but with no luck so far. I found a set of instructions on the net which shows the contact signal wire connected to the positive side of the coil but this doesn't seem correct because that side of the coil on my bike connects to ground (+ve) .
I also tried the -ve side of the coil but that didn't work either.
The bike has Boyer ignition but didn't think that should make any difference.
The earlier reply mentioned wrapping it round the ht lead. Won't that deliver too much voltage?
Cheers
Phil
This tacho is probably designed for a -ve ground wiring system rather than the standard one on a B25 which is +ve ground. You need to connect the supply wires the correct way round. What I don't know is whether the signal wire will detect the ignition pulses correctly (wrong polarity) but you may have use the HT cable as the source.
Quote from: Starphil on 02 Jan, 2018, 11:58
Well it came very quickly and matches the after market speedo that's on my bike already.
I tried setting it up but with no luck so far. I found a set of instructions on the net which shows the contact signal wire connected to the positive side of the coil but this doesn't seem correct because that side of the coil on my bike connects to ground (+ve) .
I also tried the -ve side of the coil but that didn't work either.
The bike has Boyer ignition but didn't think that should make any difference.
The earlier reply mentioned wrapping it round the ht lead. Won't that deliver too much voltage?
Cheers
Phil
I have a Wassell electronic ignition and found the place to take the feed was the pulse output from the sender to the magic box (if that makes sense). If you connect direct to the HT output the bike won't run as the spark will shoot from the plug cap into your taco and blue it up. Trust me on this, I've done the research! But wrapping it round the outside of the HT lead like in a coil may work.
Thanks for that info. I'll give that a try and let you know how I get on.
Just looking at this again. Which wire is the pulse output wire?
There are two, Black/White and Black /Yellow. I think it's the same on the Wassell system.
Fitting instructions - Grin Triumph
PDFwww.grintriumph.com › WasselIgnition
If you Google the above it'll give you the PDF manual of the wassell system. I could have sworn blind it was a white wire, but that can't be right. I'll have a look tomorrow night if that's any good for you?
I contacted Boyer about it and they said the pick up would be from the black wire out of the ignition box. I tried it this afternoon but unfortunately it didn't work. Possibly just a duff tacho.
I must admit that I didn't expect much for £7 delivered from China but it was worth a try. I might have another fiddle with it later in the week.
Thanks for your help.
Phil