How much advance?

Hello, George, it's 38 degrees before top dead centre full advanced

yours anna j

All of the Maintenance Manuals I have (c1950, 55/56, 57/58) quote 5/8" BTDC for ES2. The earliest manual quotes 7/16" for 16H.

Ian McD

Hi George,

Yes you are right to question your ignition advance re.-modern fuels. Ethanol is an alcohol and if used in pure form you could run your ES2 up to 11 to 1 compression ratio. As for everyday petrol, the ethanol content isbetween5 to 10%. The general rule is the higher the anti-knock value of the fuel is, the slower it burns so the old 5star leaded petrol burned slower than the 1940s "pool" petrol. This seems at odds with Norton handbooks which through the years mostly quote 5/8ths inch BTDC fully advanced, points at.002". As petrol seems to change every year at the moment you need to be aware you may need to adjust to suit. Ideally the bike should run at both extremes of the ignition levermovement at just over tick-over speed and kick back if you try to start on full advance. If possible stick to one brand and grade of fuel.

Regards, Richard.

Set up your ignition with 5/8 advance or a little over, then when running at road speeds above 40 ish you should be on full advance. Then try retarding just a bit on the lever. If it improves performance then you need to retard a bit. Where it runs best, leave it there and measure how far advanced it is by doing the fag paper bit and a measure down the bore as with normal timing. Note the distance, this SHOULD be your optimum advance measurement. If it is too much advance you should feel it falter slightlyand if too much retard it will not pick up. Reset to this number and off you go. Woopee!

By some strange fluke, Anna, that's what it is currently set at. It works out at around 11mm or 7/16" before TDC. It just seems a bit retarded. George

I find it best to set up as per the manual.Go for a run then adjust the timing by ear if not happy with the performance..these are old bikes and wear inevitably sets in which changes the advance curve.

If it kicks back on starting then retard slightly until it stops doing so.

Works for me every time.

Hello George, is the inlet cam wheel magneto chain drive sprocket fitted on its woodruff key ok.

Barry

Double check you've timed it below TDC on the compression stroke and not the exhaust stroke. Very easy to do and makes for very big bangs now and then.

Seat of the pants should answer your original question, George.

For my 650SS it is recommended to retard from 32 deg to 30 deg, in order to compensate for lower octane fuel. It is way more highly tuned than yours of course, originally designed to run on 100 octane fuel, with a 9:1 CR, and lumpier cams.

If it runs ok, and sings up hills, I wouldn't alter it.

Glad you got it sorted. Ian

It's basically a prewar engine, isn't it? And before the war there were three grades: 68, 75 and 80. Nobody used 80 (unless presumably they had sporting pretensions). So what we have today is a good deal better than what it was originally designed to use. So we can probably all safely use a lot more advance than the figures in our books - until maybe later in the '50s and on into the 60s. I'd set it at least 1/16 more advanced and then I'd play with the lever. But it's your piston at risk and not mine so it's your call!

There is a great technical article about fuels on this very web site!

http://www.nortonownersclub.org/support/technical-support-general/leaded-unleaded