Hi all.

I am reading a novel loosely based on a real story - as experienced by the author in person - about a man riding his old "banger" (a Shovelhead Road King) from Milan to India, across Iran, Pakistan and quite a few hair-raising situaitons.



I noticed how he mentions he carried all sorts of spares, from gaskets to plugs&cables to brake pads for the disc brakes, but then the only thing that failed him was the voltage regulator...

He eventually "McGyvered it" with a voltage regulator off an old 350cc Royal Enfield, but it too gave up quite soon...
...his bike being 12V and the RE Bullet of the time being 6V...

So here's my question:
"Will an ordinary, run of the mill ignition coil work on our Savage?
Anything from the coil salvaged off a broken down 125cc scooter to the "universal" coil made for English bikes? To an automobile coil?"



Generic 50cc moped coil...




Modern reproduction of 12V BritBike coil...




Salvage yard, when they're this clean it's love at first sight...  

HI.

I have found "new NOS" coils for the DR600 and DR650, they go for about €40-50.

I have become more and more leery to buy from the US after I was knifed in the back by Customs who charged so much in Excise and VAT, the cost of an item I bought literally doubled !

(ouch...)  

Not to mention shipping costs...  

OUCH !

OK, I'll try to rephrase the question:

Electrical spares for the Savage are rare as hen's teeth here in Europe.

You can find electrical spares for any king of 500-800 dualsports/enduro, from the Yamaha XT to the Honda XL to the Suzuki DR...
...not to mention BMWs (expensive but available) and Ducati-powered Ducs and Cagivas and the odd Gilera.

But if my coil or my voltage regulator fails in... Poland... Portugal... Norway... Turkey, and all I have available is the local do-for-all village mechanic and a scrap yard...
- a coil made for electronic ignition will do... many cars have tiny coils built in the individual plug cable, would that do?
- a voltage regulator... given the puny alternator of the Savage, would "any" 12V regulator do ?

In other words... if I have to "McGyver it" somewhere in "Faraway-istan", what should I look for ?

C'mon, I intend sending a trip report next summer !!!  

Thanks WD.

Yes, I know all about ballasted coils, my MGB has a 12V (-earth) electrical system and a 6V coil with resistor and a starting bypass.

I assume the Savage to be a 12V coil, don't see why they should complicate themselves with a ballasted coil...

I'll lookup the website you suggested.

By the way, do you know why it is that in the old days topping 100mph was called "doing the ton" ?

Because in the 1930's bikes powerful enough to reach such speeds had a speedo needle that would, literally, go full circle.