That vital spark…

…that appears to be lacking on my 1977 MZ Supa 5. It’s running an MZ-B electronic ignition. Which is entirely self generating, and means the bike can run without a battery. And indeed it does.

But at the moment, the sparks are working, but not the generator/battery charging part.

So I finally took everything to pieces, and dug out a multimeter, and decided it was time to see what was wrong.

Apparently I’m supposed to read anything up to 50 volts at the stator wires. I’m getting, er, none. Or so low a reading as to make no odds.

So - I appear to have two options

• Run a total loss electrical system… (low energy LED bulbs would help with that!)
• Buy a replacement ignition system… which is now upsettingly expensive at current exchange rates.

And this is why I’ve been tinkering with my fiancee’s MZ instead!