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Ok so I mentioned something in the classifieds in response to someone asking to buy a morris buzz box and a bunch of people have PM’ed me so I figured I’d post pictures/schematics to easily build your own timing buzz box for next to nothing. Cobbled this thing together some time ago to time my volatile RD350 2-stroke and have used it on about 25 motorcycles since, from Hondas To Harleys and it works great with static timing as confirmed by a timing gun. This thing is 10x easier to use than a multimeter or light bulb, especially in the case that you’re by yourself cuz all your friends are out riding their evos..........Plus you save more than $100 by building your own tool that does the same exact job as the others save for the fact it's not as fancy.
Materials:
2 wires - 16 gauge red & black wires that I had laying around (I suggest something on the larger side as these are getting DC from the battery)
-2 aligator clips
-12v buzzer from RadioShack PN #2730794 (Works with 6v systems as well)
-Something to contain the guts. I use an Altoids tin because it is roomy enough to store my feeler gauge as well
-Wire nuts (if you’re lazy like me)
-Solder & glue
Total cost: $5
Directions:
1) drill a hole in your box of choice, feed your wires through the box (Note: I suggest that you tie them together in a knot so that they can't be pulled through)
2) solder or attach a wire nut from your red wire to the red wire on the buzzer
3) solder or attach a wire nut from your black wire to the black wire on the buzzer
4) glue the speaker to the inside of the box so that it's not all willy nilly
5) attach an alligator clip to each end of your red/black wire leads
Timing:
Once you've built the box,
-Simply clip the red wire to a part of the breaker point that moves, such as the upper arm of the breaker point
-Ground the other clip to the frame or engine case
First things first - SET YOUR POINT GAP ON BOTH LOBES! DON’T FORGET THIS IMPORTANT STEP.
-Turn the engine over by whatever means necessary and find the appropriate timing mark
-Turn your ignition ON
-Loosen the points plate bolts slightly and swivel in either direction to retard/advance your timing
-When the points open/just start to open, the unit will go “EHHHHHH!”; it is at this point that your spark plug would fire and this annoying noise confirms that the points have opened
-Turn your engine over and check again. Button everything up and check a 3rd time or 4th depending how anal you are… Sometimes this takes several tries
By now the sound of the buzzer will have driven you mad so go enjoy a beer or two and pat yourself on the back for a job well done
NOTE: JUST A TRICK I'VE LEARNED FOR ADVANCE TIMING Harleys - or basically anything with a mechanical advance mechanism:
-I will take the point plate/cam bolt off and manually advance the weights by moving the cam by hand and then sticking a little piece of match book in there so that weights/arms are forced “fully advanced” and springs are stretched and don’t move.
-Slap it back together, and then time it as stated above with the buzzer to the advanced mark on the flywheel (for my shovelhead it's a vertical line "|"). Note that I’ve read somewhere that you can drill a hole in your plate and advance the weights with a screw driver, but this method has worked for me).
-Once timed, you of course mark the position of the plate and (in my case) the cone with a sharp blade or marker in 2 spots so that when you disassemble it again to remove the match book, you know where you should be when you re-assemble everything.
I was amazed as to how dead on this method has been in the literal 100 times I’ve used it as confirmed by a timing gun.
Follow these instructions and you should be timed correctly.
Pictures aren't the best but what more do you want to see?
Materials:
2 wires - 16 gauge red & black wires that I had laying around (I suggest something on the larger side as these are getting DC from the battery)
-2 aligator clips
-12v buzzer from RadioShack PN #2730794 (Works with 6v systems as well)
-Something to contain the guts. I use an Altoids tin because it is roomy enough to store my feeler gauge as well
-Wire nuts (if you’re lazy like me)
-Solder & glue
Total cost: $5
Directions:
1) drill a hole in your box of choice, feed your wires through the box (Note: I suggest that you tie them together in a knot so that they can't be pulled through)
2) solder or attach a wire nut from your red wire to the red wire on the buzzer
3) solder or attach a wire nut from your black wire to the black wire on the buzzer
4) glue the speaker to the inside of the box so that it's not all willy nilly
5) attach an alligator clip to each end of your red/black wire leads
Timing:
Once you've built the box,
-Simply clip the red wire to a part of the breaker point that moves, such as the upper arm of the breaker point
-Ground the other clip to the frame or engine case
First things first - SET YOUR POINT GAP ON BOTH LOBES! DON’T FORGET THIS IMPORTANT STEP.
-Turn the engine over by whatever means necessary and find the appropriate timing mark
-Turn your ignition ON
-Loosen the points plate bolts slightly and swivel in either direction to retard/advance your timing
-When the points open/just start to open, the unit will go “EHHHHHH!”; it is at this point that your spark plug would fire and this annoying noise confirms that the points have opened
-Turn your engine over and check again. Button everything up and check a 3rd time or 4th depending how anal you are… Sometimes this takes several tries
By now the sound of the buzzer will have driven you mad so go enjoy a beer or two and pat yourself on the back for a job well done
NOTE: JUST A TRICK I'VE LEARNED FOR ADVANCE TIMING Harleys - or basically anything with a mechanical advance mechanism:
-I will take the point plate/cam bolt off and manually advance the weights by moving the cam by hand and then sticking a little piece of match book in there so that weights/arms are forced “fully advanced” and springs are stretched and don’t move.
-Slap it back together, and then time it as stated above with the buzzer to the advanced mark on the flywheel (for my shovelhead it's a vertical line "|"). Note that I’ve read somewhere that you can drill a hole in your plate and advance the weights with a screw driver, but this method has worked for me).
-Once timed, you of course mark the position of the plate and (in my case) the cone with a sharp blade or marker in 2 spots so that when you disassemble it again to remove the match book, you know where you should be when you re-assemble everything.
I was amazed as to how dead on this method has been in the literal 100 times I’ve used it as confirmed by a timing gun.
Follow these instructions and you should be timed correctly.
Pictures aren't the best but what more do you want to see?
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