Motoplat

[CWilson]

The motoplat on my 1975 125 six days no longer supplies power for my headlight and tail light.  The ignition still works fine just no electricity for my lights.  My brake light functions normally.  When I wire a battery into the circuit the head and tail lights work properly.  Ideas?  Thanks.

Craig Wilson

[Don Roth]

Craig,
I am sure the experts will chime in, sounds like a open lighting coil,
The motoplats output four wires, one for brake, two for
spark and one for head/tail light. There is a fellow in Texas ( I think) that has successfully rebuilt a few units, Dane from Penton Imports would know for sure the validity of a rewire. From what
I read it amounted to chipping away the red 'potting' compound and
replacing the faulty coil. Have you measured the output w/ voltmeter?
Old color coding was as follows, Blue(and black) for coil, Yellow for Head/Tail light and White for the stoplight. Yellow is 35W and White 17W ,both 6 volts ac.
-don

PS- May I suggest the MzB unit, provides 12 volts (ac) and a nice spark, I have been running one for about a year, no problems and BRIGHT lights.

[CWilson]

Thanks for your reply Don. The schematic in my manual shows a green wire from the motoplat which provides electricity to the brake light switch. When the brake pedal is applied the brake like comes on.  There is zero voltage coming out of the motoplat from the yellow wire.  The MzB sounds good but will it blow the bulb in my CEV headlight?

Craig Wilson

[Rain Man]

Craig The MZB is a great ignition, I installed one not to long ago in my 6 day, and all my problems were gone, zapp  in an instant.[8D]
   Don can help us out here.  YOu need a "zistor" of some sorts,   the MZB's 12 volts and the Motosplats 6 volts.
   Myself,I found a similar headlight from a Honda (not a purest) that was 12 volts and it looks like the real McCoy. and 100 bucks cheaper ta boot
 There is also some "dooflicky" out there to install in series to keep your headlight from smoking.

Raymond
 Down East Pentons

[firstturn]

Raymond,
  I thought you were from New England???  I actually saw a Dooflicky the other day:).  I had to look up the definition (Texas style) and sure enough the word(noun) zistor was in there too?  The funny part are these are exact words that are associated with motorcycles[8D].  Great post:D.

Ron Carbaugh

[OUCWBOY]

Rain Man,
Shouldn't that be Too frozen Penton?


Donny Smith

[Rain Man]

I'm not sure how Maine got the name "Down East"  I believe that the New York and Michigan tourists started calling Maine that awhile ago..
  Now frozen,[^] ya Donny, it made it all the way to 62f today.  great riding weather, never get dehydrated, and the bikes just rip.  Just don't hit the water holes too fast  early in the day...

Raymond
 Down East Pentons

[TGTech]

The MZ-B systems that we sell, are indeed all 12 volt systems, but usually, you can find 12 volt bulbs to replace the 6 volt models on older machines.

Our systems also come with a voltage regulator, that keeps the system from toasting the bulbs, because without them, the voltage will go well beyond 12 volts.

The Motoplat ignitions were rated at 6 volts, but that is only if you didn't take them beyond 6K RPM. At 10K, the magneto's output, was actually nearly 9 volts.

What we would do with out bikes, was to run everything off the yellow wire, and even then, we'd use 12 lights.

The Yellow wire on all of the Mini 6 magnetos, were all 35W. On the magnetos that had a Red wire, the Green wire, put out 18W. On those with a White wire, the Green wire put out 21W.

If you're not getting an AC voltage reading out of the lighting wires, then you probably have a toasted lighting circuit.

Jeff Nolen, the fellow in Texas that was repairing Motoplats, I don't believe is still in business. We've referred a few people to him, with no luck. The numbers have been discontinued, so I don't know what's up.

The repair process, was just as stated: remove the necessary potting material, and replace the faulty coil.

Dane