Spark plug cable removal

[Dorien Berteletti]

On my 61 Falcone I am having trouble lifting the metal clip that keeps the spark plug cable hooked in to the magneto.

This is the clip just above the large cover covering the points.

Looks simple and obvious but no luck, so would apprecitae any suggestions.

Thanks,

Dorien

[RICHARD YAMANE]

I don’t have a Marelli magneto to look at but normally the plug lead goes into a Bakelite or hard plastic brush holder. Most are held in by screws so look at where the clip is attached to the magneto. There may be one or two small screws attaching the clip.

Rick Yamane
Importer of Vape/Powerdynamo ignition systems and Polisher of bikes at Motion Pro

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[Patrick Hayes]

On 5/10/26 15:10, Dorien Berteletti wrote:
> I am having trouble lifting the metal clip that keeps the spark plug
> cable hooked in to the magneto.

I haven't done this. But, it looks like you just remove the points
cover plate and then unscrew the hex pivot which supports both the
points cover and your spark wire cover in common. See pic. It would be
nice to know in advance that the hex pivot enters a threaded hole in the
magneto body. It would be a shame to suddenly learn that the hex pivot
has a threaded shaft and is secured by a nut INSIDE the magneto cover.
:-( Nice if someone can comment in advance.



--
Patrick Hayes
Fremont CA
Falcone-NT and SuperAlce
www.motohayes.com

[Mike Peavey]

Patrick is correct, per the photo here, remove the points cover, then hold onto the blade that holds the cover on, then using an 8mm wrench, loosen the hex until the part holding the retainer ring, will move out of the way…. viola!

Mike Peavey
The Bean

[RICHARD YAMANE]

Just sipping my coffee at the shop and thought I'd go take a look at Chris' Falcone mag and a spare he has on the shelf.
The first photo is of the spare. It's an auto advance and like the one Mike posted. Probably what Dorien has. Yeah, you don't want to bend that hold down clip. It'll be near impossible to get it flat enough again without removing it. Loosen the hex bushing as Mike said until you can swing the clip out of the way.
The second photo is looking down at the manual advance mag on Chris' Falcone. As you can see it is entirely different and uses a single screw to hold a retainer bracket. I believe this is the same as on my GTV.
Always fun and good to learn this stuff. Although I'll probably forget by next week. Certainly by the time I need to know. LOL!

Rick Yamane
Importer of Vape/Powerdynamo ignition systems and Polisher of bikes at Motion Pro

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> > <magwire.jpg>

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[Dorien Berteletti]

Thanks Guys,

I was debating that but as Parick pointed out I was concerned about the other side. I suspect once I loosen the nut a couple of turns I should be able to move the ring off the brown bakelite cover.

Dorien

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[Mike Peavey]

Just loosen it until it moves easily off the bakelite…  apply no pressure…

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[Dorien Berteletti]

Ok thanks again. Loosened the 8mm nut a couple of turns and the arm moved forwards enough to clear the bakelite fitting so I could pull it out..

I wanted to make sure all my connections were  clean and ok.

After well over 20 years the bike is not starting as well as it used to, so I am going over the more obvious points !

I have spark at the plug and the bike starts, but sometimes needs a few tries. I've probably lost strength in my leg, and the mag may have lost some of it's strength also !

Dorien

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[Patrick Hayes]

On 5/12/26 08:00, Dorien Berteletti wrote:
> After well over 20 years the bike is not starting as well as it used to,

Black Magic!

Mike Peavey will attest. I was on a borrowed Falcone for the Normandy
tour some years back. Very tough starter. Multiple strong people
kicked until exhausted. Physically pushed down the road until we maybe
got it running.

Oddly, once running, if you stopped and parked then the next start would
fire right up. No throttle. No choke. No tickle. Just walk up and
kick it. Even after parked overnight.

Non Toccare!! (Don't touch.)

Piece of cake thereafter as long as nobody touched anything.

:-)

[RICHARD YAMANE]

Nothing I have is starting as well as it used to! Even my Hypermotard and it has a button and FI. Heck, I don't even start like I used to. LOL!
Seriously though, it could well be things out of our control. Fuel formulations come readily to mind.
A small change in your starting drill could be the reason. Do you pull the valve lifter and kick it through 3 times, or was it 4? Tickle till it bleeds or give it an extra split second?
How many bikes do you have and which need what to start easily? I think that's a big part of my problems on starting. At 70 I am having a harder time keeping all my bikes separated and straight in my head. 

That is a brush holder on the magneto right? Before you put it back together check the brush length and spring tension. I'd also poke a rag dampened with contact cleaner in the hole and turn the engine/magneto until it comes out clean.

Rick Yamane
Importer of Vape/Powerdynamo ignition systems and Polisher of bikes at Motion Pro

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[RICHARD YAMANE]

Haha! Black magic is right. More so with the Italian bikes because they have that soul that we all value.
I've had bikes that I kick-kick-kick as hard as a can only to have it fire off while I'm pushing the lever through looking for the compression stroke.

Rick Yamane
Importer of Vape/Powerdynamo ignition systems and Polisher of bikes at Motion Pro

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[Alan Comfort]

20 years! and it is not a Toyota. Cleaning and adjusting the points, installing a new non-resistor spark plug, some fresh fuel and a valve adjustment might get you another 20 years,

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[Andrew Nahum]

Oh boy. So true Rick. The other thing I always try if I'm not sure I'm getting full spark intensity is to unscrew the plug cap, cut about a quarter of an inch off the HT lead and screw the plug cap back on. In my view the threaded spike that goes into the HT lead is a very crude solution. In effect it is a coarse wood screw thread with sharp edges.  I believe that since the whole thing is not damp-proof, it allows the copper to corrode and oxidise so there is no longer a true metal to metal contact in there. The HT strands often look dull and hardly copper-coloured. 

And It looks like the screw thread also cuts through some of the copper strands. Anyway, it's a fix that's often worked for me. The other end of the HT lead also needs some thought too, but mostly it is better protected from weather and not moved so often.

Agree too about cleaning the HT track in the magneto, checking the brush is free, clean and springy. And it never hurts to brighten up gently the contact breaker points.

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[Andrew Nahum]

Very interesting observation. My 450 Ducati needed less choke than it used to, (or none).

According to classical theory the alcohol in the 'new gasoline' ought to make our old  engines run leaner, without re-jetting.  But they seem (for me) to often seem to show signs of richness, especially on the pilot jet and low-speed town running.  Has anyone else found that?

We always focus on ethanol but of course no one  knows what is in gasoline. I have wondered if there are more 'heavy fractions' in it because modern engines have such high compression and spark intensity that hey can eat them. 

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[pouma1954]

I've gone down on the pilots in all my Laverdas and use hotter plugs on a couple as well.

Paul

Envoyé depuis mon appareil Galaxy

-------- Message d'origine --------

De : Andrew Nahum <andrew...@gmail.com>

Date : 12/05/2026 18:56 (GMT+01:00)

À : guzzi-...@googlegroups.com

Objet : Re: [guzzi-singles] Spark plug cable removal

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/guzzi-singles/CAB9BGS-hPHnYy950HHss6k5S%3DK_i78kJ8QErz75-vbOom-J52A%40mail.gmail.com.