Result of Tri Spark

Uh Dave,

For question number one I would like them to say "yes" or "no"

For question number two it would be like an essay answer. In that case I would like them to say "the truth"

Anyone producing deplorably poor quality products is not likely to answer those questions!

Carbonfibre, I am beginning to think you have a personal issue with Steve Kelley and not necessarily his products. What's the real story here? No one hates something as much as you have shown w/o an underlying reason.

Carbonfibre said:

Anyone producing deplorably poor quality products is not likely to answer those questions!

Click to expand...

OK first off WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO GIVE SOME POSITIVE INPUT. SECOND I have several bikes with the trispark twin WITH NO ISSUES and they do large miles so as most have asked WHAT IS YOUR BEEF with an EI that apparently you have NO personal experience with and for you to label it as deplorably poor quality proves it. does this forum have an ignore feature???

Carbonfibre said:

Anyone producing deplorably poor quality products is not likely to answer those questions!

Click to expand...

Carbonfibre, it is time that you start to grow up and use this forum for what it is intended for. Sharing information and advice. Please take your sarcasm and negativity else where. I'm sure I am not the only person that feels this way.

Hey,

As part of the Tri Spark Team (since I do sell them) it appears that I am due to answer a couple of questions. Just to make sure you understand, I only sell these units. I dont have anything to do with the development even though I am absolutely certain that Steve Kelly would listen and make changes if I had some serious concerns about his product. Its most important to him to offer a product that works for our customers out there.

I, since starting to offer the Tri Spark 2 years ago, have sold 195 of them. I have during this time replaced 5 units that customers had problems with. 2 of those units, when I got them back to the shop, were installed in bikes here and worked without any issues whatsoever ( and are still running as we speak). The replacement units for those 2 worked trouble free for the customers, so what the problem was there, I am not sure. I have no equipment in the shop to test any of the Tri Spark parts. I just send them back to Steve Kelly so that he can check them out to determine what may have been wrong.

So with that said. 3 (1.5%) failed units out of 195 sold. I do not consider this an alarming amount of units at all. Answer to question #1...... No.

I can not answer the second question since I dont do any testing in house.

I also want to mention, and this is obvious to those that have dealt with CNW over the years, that if I had any reservations or thought this ignition was in fact plagued with issues, I would most definitely not offer it any longer. It would not be worth selling them if my reputation for offering products that are of great quality, was at stake. I have nothing invested with Tri Spark other than selling their product.

Also understand that nobody is getting rich selling these units. Sure we are in the business to be profitable, but with the AU $ exchange right now, most retailers wouldnt even consider offer these units at the available margins.

I had the pleasure of meeting Steve Kelly last year since he stopped by my shop while visiting the US. He is a top notch guy that is doing something that he is very passionate about. If he was just in it to make a buck, with his electronic knowledge and ability, I am sure that he wouldnt bother with making parts for Vintage Motorcycles.

As far as the vented ignition cover, this is something I decided to move forward on (no input from Steve Kelly) myself since I wanted to CNC some billet ignition covers anyway due to the poor quality of "new" ones available. It was of some concern to some people that the cavity was to hot and I though that this would easy their mind. I am not saying that one of these covers are needed to when using a Tri Spark ignition. Just an option if somebody feels like it would be better and besides the finish is really nice, so it makes that part of the timing cover look much better.

....and to wrap it up........'Commando 75', you should not have any issues with the Choppers any longer as I aborted their mission this morning. I sent them in a different direction ! (you would never guess where....)

Matt
Colorado Norton Works

The fact that ignition modules being housed inside the distributor in early car electronic ignition systems (which did make parts more liable to fail), was not a fantastic success, may have been worth considering before opting to house critical ignition parts inside the points cavity of air cooled MC applications, which gets a lot hotter than the inside of a distributor?

Matt, I appreciate your frankness and can't fault the logic. I think that I'd still prefer to have the electronics cossetted in a cool dry place, neat and tidy as the Tri Spark is....Mounted on the drive side of the crank would be nice though...

Commando75 said:

And still, not a single word from Trispark or CNW that there is actually a problem with the Trispark unit.

Click to expand...

That is because there are no real problems with the Tri-Spark. There was or is a problem with the odd unit. That's it.

What all of you seem to forget is nothing is beyond failure. Look how much testing went into the space shuttle. Kaboom x 2! I'd say Nasa has a higher failure rate than Tri-Spark does.

Coco said:

Commando75 said:

What all of you seem to forget is nothing is beyond failure. Look how much testing went into the space shuttle. Kaboom x 2! I'd say Nasa has a higher failure rate than Tri-Spark does.

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

...You wouldn't get me up in one of those... I like a windmill on the front and two magnetos.

Quote:
....and to wrap it up........'Commando 75', you should not have any issues with the Choppers any longer as I aborted their mission this morning. I sent them in a different direction ! (you would never guess where....)

Matt
Colorado Norton Works

Uh Oh. Is that what that noise was this morning? Jim

Carbonfibre said:

In regard to modern options for ignition for Brit twins, singles, and triples originally equipped with points, a specialist manufacturer in the UK is currently working on a programmable inductive system, triggered by a simple and almost bulletproof hall switch which fits in place of the stock points.

This also has the facility for a MAP or TPS switch, but the main advantage is longer spark duration, and obviously also the fact that the advance curve can be tailored to work perfectly with any type of engine modifications. Guy that makes these is an ex F1 race engine builder, and prototype system should be working early part of next year.

Click to expand...

Carbonfire - your first post explains your later posts.

Who is this new entrant into the E ignition for old bikes business?
We all would welcome a long spark, programmable, fuel injection capable ECU.

And, BTW, CNW's numbers on returns close the discussion for me.
2 out of almost 200 is not a problem, especially when you consider that installation errors might account for both of those.

Thanks Matt. I finally feel I understand where you are comming from. I hope I have made it clear throughout this super fun discussion that I am a FAN of the Trispark and even after the problems I encountered with it, I believe in the concept enough to want to hang in there and even assist in working out the bugs that a few of the units have suffered from. As far as I am concerned. Nuff said. Actually maybe more than nuff said.

Now lets talk about vented points covers. I will PM you : )


Thanks Matt.
Andy

P.S. The choppers are no longer on station above my house. They were last seen heading North.

I am hoping down the road there is a report on what caused the few failures reported and as time goes on those that have these units report on their stress testing. I am interested in those that ride longer distances and in different weather conditions, stop and start traffic riding mainly heat of summer when most of us ride. I may someday buy one when I am confident there isn't an issue or of course if the price is reduced to a competitive level. :|

britbike220 said:

I am hoping down the road there is a report on what caused the few failures reported and as time goes on those that have these units report on their stress testing. I am interested in those that ride longer distances and in different weather conditions, stop and start traffic riding mainly heat of summer when most of us ride. I may someday buy one when I am confident there isn't an issue or of course if the price is reduced to a competitive level. :|

Click to expand...

Does it make a difference as to what caused the problems, isn't it good enough that they say that when they find a problem they update the parts? It's not like you can update an existing unit.

Doesn't make a difference, but after all of the controversy it would be interesting to just know........

The failures of this unit are likely to have resulted from housing the amplifier components in the points cavity, which is something that can be addressed pretty easily by moving them to a more suitable location. Its also worth looking at using modern type epoxy encapsulated ignition coils, as these will improve performance very noticeably over the old 1960s type coils, with far higher spark KV's, and at the same time being lighter and more compact.

...and they rode happily ever after,



The End

rvich wrote:

...and they rode happily ever after,



The End

Click to expand...

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

rvich said:

...and they rode happily ever after,



The End

Click to expand...

NO,no,no WAIT. ........
I would just like to thank all of our contributors for this fine thread including,
Rvich britbike220 swooshdave Commando75 xbacksideslider comnoz 79x100 Coco CNW Steve Kelly mikegray660 prmurat bill bwolfie. Hortons Norton possum mike996 ludwig highdesert JimC rvich plj850 B+Bogus maylar pelican marinecommando Reggie nortonspeed bpatton dave M Foxy aries Ken Graham MexicoMike 69750S cash batrider comnoz splatt hobot rick in seattle Madnorton travelerjerry DogT geo46er jseng1 AntrimMan prmurat ML GRM 450 cash marinatlas Seeley920 Webby03 bluto and last but not least the star of our show Carbonfibre, for whom which I can somehow relate.

Goodnight everone, thanks for coming, goodnight,........


If their is anybody that I missed, it wasn't for the lack of trying. I'm cold and bored and I want to work on my bike. At least the days are getting longer now.