I do not know how to add links to other websites but if you type in “printable timing tapes” and then “blocklayer.com “ they have templates for many degree wheels and timing tapes. It is pretty neat how you can adjust the length of the tape to fit around almost any flywheel with the proper 360 degree markings.
Best thing is you print a bunch off your own custom length & it could be either paper for a quick check or print onto decal material and leave on there. You’d have to fashion up some sort of pointer for reference

I should have used the dial indicator before any changes to the 400. I can see the marks from the bolts on the stator backing plate that I was at yesterday and I was probably at 0 BTDC. The bike seems to be starting better now that I am at 2.9mm BTDC. I can't explain why the light shows both bikes to be retarded but are timed advanced. From what the smart guys are saying it has something to do with no key way on the flywheel. Hopefully someday soon, sitting around the campfire with you guys at an Enduro event it will become clear. Fingers crossed

Are these pictures taken with the engine running and the strobe light illuminating the flywheel and marks?

Thanks in advance!

Rob, the key (pun not intended) is that the Powerdynamo SHOULD fire with the marks aligned. Yours don't and look different.

Unless they've changed them. there is no real "advance curve" built in. There's a "retard" at very low RPM and then the system retards a degree or two at very high RPM. This is all due to the characteristics of spinning magnets (low rpm retard) and the natural hysteresis (delay) in the circuitry which slightly retards the timing as the RPM increases.

Here's the the timing chart I got from Edgar, the original owner of Powerdynamo. The arrow points to where the timing marks are made on the flywheel and stator. One degree retarded from "max" which happens at about 2000 RPM.



Anyway, this stuff makes me dizzy... bottom line is with timing light the marks should be aligned... on mine, they are maybe slightly retarded... I mean very slightly like the width of the line stamped in the stator.

No, I put a reference mark while running then put the flywheel there for the picture.

So what I hear you saying is that your PD ignition flywheel mark lines up with the blue dot you made on the stator when you use the timing light? See photo below. (I added a red arrow to point to the blue mark)



If that's true, then there are two possibilities:

1) Timing light is inaccurate. VERY common especially on the "dial back to zero" lights. I have a very expensive Snap-On light... one of the first digital "dial back" lights... that is total crap. The basic problem is the inductive pickup senses the spark and then the electronics fire the light bulb. Just a very slight delay in the electronics will result in a retarded reading because the bulb is firing a fraction of a second late. On a V8 that idles at 600 RPM it's not a big deal if you have a one degree error... but at 1800 RPM that same delay in firing the bulb will result in a 3 degree error. Some lights even change timing if you flip over the inductive pickup.

2) Powerdynamo marked the flywheel/stator wrong.

Here's something important. With a timing light, the mark on the stator and the mark on the flywheel will always align exactly the same If you move the stator, the timing will change, but the marks when observed with the timing light will align the same.

That's why you want the marks to align when the piston is at 2.9mm BTDC.

If you had a keyed flywheel, you could then put a mark on the case once timed. Think of the mark on the case as the equivalent to a "stator key"... aligning the case mark and stator mark insures you install the stator in exactly the same rotation as before. Then key makes sure the flywheel goes on the crank exactly the same every time.

With a keyed flywheel you could install the stator lined up to the mark on the case. The key in the flywheel would make sure it goes on the crank the same way it did before. So if you got out your dial indicator, all three marks would still align at 2.9 mm BTDC.

Without a keyed flywheel, you have to use a dial indicator every time you take it apart and then align the stator and flywheel marks with the piston at 2.9 mm BTDC because without a key there's no good way to put the flywheel back on the crank in exactly the same place every time.

Hope the flywheel key makes sense now...

Dang Mark, that made me dizzy. Good explanation.

I'll be honest..... I had to read it twice.

Yeah, sorry guys. I was really tired. I'll try to re-write and simplify.

No no no.
It was well written.
That's why I read it twice.