What's This For?

[Kurt in S.A.]

I've been meaning to ask this...what's this dohickey doing on the outside of my bike?  My wiring diagram doesn't really show anything other than wire coming in/out of this area.  I presume it is some kind of condensor or suppressor but there is already a condensor inside the timing/generator cover.  It doesn't look factory...can't tell what kind of splice affair that is in the black wire.

Thanks...Kurt

[Kurt in S.A.]

[schraubenkoenig]

where does the cable lead to?
funny place to mount something...
that terminal block is definitely "non factory".

[Kurt in S.A.]

where does the cable lead to?

It's been a while since I've been in there, but I just checked.  It goes to Terminal 51 on the board inside the timing cover.  It's just the one wire from the cylinder device...maybe the body of it is grounded??

Kurt in S.A. 

[berndr253]

Hi Kurt,

this tin is a transmission-capacitor from BERU with the capacity of 3 µF. It is mounted for interference elimination and you do not need it. Clear up the cables as it is discribed in your wiring diagram and forget about that thing.

Regards

Bernd

[† Knut]

Kurt,

is there another capacitor behind the timing cover? It is known so far that these dohickeys are quite sensitive to higher temperature. It could be that one of the pre-owner wanted to get the cap to the better ventilated area outside the cover.

So - there is a need for at least one cap for the ignition!

Knut

[berndr253]

Hi Knut,

Kurt wrote, that the condensator is fitted to the terminal 51. If you size up the picture Kurt presented you can get some information about the the used tool. The condensator is a (BERU) SK 211, this one was used in old cars for dejamming.
In addition with the fact that there is a connection to the terminal 51 it is surely not the condensator which is need for ignition.

Bernd

[† Knut]

Kurz mal auf Deutsch, Bernd...

Du meinst, dass ist ein Entstörungs-Kondensator (anti-interference capacitor), damit's im Radio nicht so jault und knackt??

Knut

[Rütz]

That would have been my first tip too.
The green frame hints, that the bike is ex-police.

I hav'nt seen it on singles yet, but the "Behörden Boxers" had this plus other special equipment (shielded Sparkplug wire, shielded killswitch wire, etc...) to reduce noise in the police radio gadgets.

Ruetz

[Kurt in S.A.]

The green frame hints, that the bike is ex-police.

Yes, good catch.  The bike was a police bike in Montabaur back in the '50s and '60s.  I wonder if that's the reason for the additonal capacitor.

As for the internal condensor, here's a picture of the other components "under the hood".

Kurt in S.A.

[berndr253]

Kurz mal auf Deutsch, Bernd...
Du meinst, dass ist ein Entstörungs-Kondensator (anti-interference capacitor), damit's im Radio nicht so jault und knackt??
Knut

Hallo Knut,

kurz mal auf Deutsch zurück - diese Information habe ich aus einem Mercedes thread, in dem dieser Sachverhalt mit dem gleichen Kondensator und dem Anschluß an die Klemme 51 so dargestellt war. Diese Information KANN eine Fehlinformation sein MUSS es aber nicht. Wenn es Dich interessiert such ich den Link mal raus - muss aber vielleicht auch nicht sein.

Übrigens schreibt Kurt in seinem einleitenden Beitrag zu diesem Thema, dass der Zündungskondensator installiert ist.

So, besten Grusz und dem Wunsch auf besseres Wetter auch für den Norden

Bernd E(lektrisch motiviert, aber kein Experte nicht)

[Kurt in S.A.]

OK, so it sounds like the dohickey might not be needed.  Any chance that it could be hindering the bike's performance?  On a past thread many moons ago, I lamented that I was only getting around 55mpg (US).  I think I have the bike tuned well, even measuring with a degree wheel where the full-advance mark is and adjusting timing so that I very nearly get the full-advance mark in the window at elevated RPM.  I can usually get up to 55mph but haven't tried to find the top end speed.  I have not done any swapping of jets in the carb to see if I'm restricted at the top end.  But going to a bigger main jet will only reduce the miles per gallon since I'm sure most of the time, the engine is running in the top 1/3 of the throttle range.

Sorry to highjack the thread, but wanted to see if there might be a connection between the external capacitor and the engine performance.

Kurt

[berndr253]

Hi Kurt,

I am sure, that this condensator has nothing to do with the performance of the bike. If there is a enough power to get the engine up to 100 km/h - please feel free to calculate that value into a unit which is usual in the U.S. (we should try to find a solution to a world wide "standard unit" - may be Angstrom per fortnight or so  ) and the force in the lower nouns is on a good level forget everything should be fine.

And never forget - we are driving bikes with an history - but indeed we are not "living in the past"

Best regards

Bernd

[Kurt in S.A.]

If there is a enough power to get the engine up to 100 km/h - please feel free to calculate that value into a unit which is usual in the U.S. (we should try to find a solution to a world wide "standard unit" - may be Angstrom per fortnight or so  ) and the force in the lower nouns is on a good level forget everything should be fine.

Bernd -

I have my convertor right here!  Actually, with the KM speedo, I'm getting pretty good at doing the conversion.  I've been to 95 kph before...I've never had the pelotas (Spanish!) to push it higher than that.  I feel that it has another 5 in her but haven't gone that far just yet.  I'm also wondering about the higher gas mileage.  I figure I'll be tearing it down this winter to do the slingers...I have no knowledge of the past history...it shows about 14KM on the odometer.  If/when I make it to Montabaur, maybe the police records will give some idea of how many miles are on it.  Of course it was retired from police duty in 1970, and that is a long time from then to when I got it!!

Kurt

[BenW]

I've been to 95 kph before...I've never had the pelotas (Spanish!) to push it higher than that.

¿Y ningún cojones? ¡Qué pena!