1959 Royal Enfield Electrical Problems

[JonahCook]

Hi all, new member here

I recently picked up a 1959 Royal Enfield Crusader which I am hoping to restore.
I'm currently having some problems with the electrics on the bike. The situation I
am facing is that the horn and side lights do not work without the brake light being activated. I also cannot get a spark at the plug. I was wondering if someone could shed some light on my situation and put me one step closer to getting the old girl running!

Cheers, Jonah.

[Rex]

Sounds like there's an earth connection come adrift somewhere, and that's why the lights etc only work when the brake light switch is operated.
The non-sparking plug may be related....so you need a wiring diagram before you can do  much more, although the plug's LT circuit is nothing more than battery> coil, coil> points and battery> earth. That'll test the working of the coil plug and points.

[JonahCook]

Hi Rex, thats what me and dad are thinking (i'm only 16!). We've replaced the stop light switch and the horn/dip switch because they both had cracks in which could provide a way to earth for the whole switch. I've got a copy of an original manual now which has a wiring diagram in so I think I am going to go over all the earth's on the bike and clean them up with some abrasive paper.

Although we don't have a spark at the plug we do have a spark at the points when fiddled with using a screwdriver so I expect that the coil is the main culprit and this may be where the bad earth is also.

Cheers, Jonah.

[Rex]

If you have sparking at the points, then the chances are it's the plug/lead/plug cap that's duff. No sparking at the points usually indicates a duff coil.

[JonahCook]

Okay, thank you for your help Rex.

I will look into what is and isn't working or properly connected on the plug/lead/plug cap.
Hope it works!

Cheers, Jonah.