Falcone timing

[Paul Marx]

This is a silly question. I've owned my Falcone a few years now and have done probably 5000 km on it but I've never checked the timing.

It's got an auto advance magneto.

I've  just had a look at the points gap. That needs doing, it's closed up. Checking timing after that appears quite simple, points should open about 21mm on the flywheel before TDC on the compression stroke.

But then what????

If I need to adjust timing on the magneto, how do I go about it? Do I loosen the mag in its cradle and rotate it or do I need to go behind the timing cover and adjust the gear on the mag shaft?

Thanks

Paul

[Patrick Hayes]

On 1/3/26 11:03, Paul Marx wrote:
> If I need to adjust timing on the magneto, how do I go about it? Do I
> loosen the mag in its cradle and rotate it or do I need to go behind the
> timing cover and adjust the gear on the mag shaft?

The magneto has a flat bottom and sits upon a flat surface of the
crankcase. You aren't going to rotate any of that.

You can do minor adjustments to the timing by using a wider or narrower
gap to the points opening. Careful, it is not so easy to get a good,
straight shot at the adjuster screw because of flywheel interference.
Off angle has a tendency to muck up the slot of the screw.

In extreme, you can remove the timing gear of the magneto, discard the
Woodruff key if still in place, and move the gear plus or minus on the
magneto tapered shaft. Lot of work.

As you have discovered in you 5,000km of riding, this is a pretty low
stress motor and therefor quite tolerant of significant variation in
timing. Yes, it is best to be spot on, but you likely won't feel a few
degrees of variance.



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

[RICHARD YAMANE]

In theory if you reset the point gap the timing will come back to place. My concern is 21mm point gap is going to be extremely hard to achieve.

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

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[Patrick Hughes]

Paul, don't panic about the timing until you have set the points and checked the distance on the flywheel. Read the instructions in the manual, it is quite a job to change it and I have found it easier with two people, one on either side of the magneto.

Sent from Outlook for Android

---

From: 'RICHARD YAMANE' via Guzzi Singles <guzzi-...@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Saturday, January 3, 2026 8:59:56 PM
To: guzzi-...@googlegroups.com <guzzi-...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: [guzzi-singles] Falcone timing

 

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/guzzi-singles/1926336409.141875.1767473996968%40connect.xfinity.com.

[Alan Comfort]

If the points gap is set to specification and the points start to open at the prescribed position on the flywheel you should be good to go. There is no real adjustment to be done unless you remove the the key that locates the timing gear on the magneto shaft and do minor adjustments of the gear location. It is a tapered shaft, so the key is not necessary to hold the gear in place after it is tightened. It is o bit of a PITA to get this right and might take some trial and error. I prefer to use the key, even if it is a degree or two out. As long as the bike starts easily, idles well, runs well and does not over heat a degree or two in the timing will not be noticeable. One caveat though: if your auto advance is not working, you could risk overheating the engine. It is easy to check by marking the advance and retard locations and checking with a strobe light.

All that being said, clean and adjust the points, mark the flywheel with the advance and retard points and check with a strobe light.

Here are some comprehensive instructions:

https://www.thisoldtractor.com/mg_manuals/falcone_ignition_timing.pdf

--

[Paul Marx]

Many thanks for your answers.

I fully understand that this simple engine requires simple tuning and a bit of fiddling with the points gap should get the timing adequate. I'm quite used to adjusting the points gap to get my 750 Laverdas properly timed.

I'm surprised that the Falcone was running since there is no points gap to be seen and the spark was probably the result of bounce of the points.

I decided to have a look at the timing because we went out with my wife to take some photos for a New Year card and after the photo session, the Guzzi resisted my attempts to restart. We were about 20 km from home so the trailer was fetched.

I'll set the timing around the 0.4mm points gap, strobe to check the advance unit and check the valve clearances.

Then all will be well for another few years.

Happy New Year.

Paul

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[Paul Marx]

After the silly question, a stupid one.

Play as I might with the eccentric screw to set the points gap at 0.4mm, there isn't enough adjustment possible to even open the points. The whole setup looks new so I don't think that there's any wear on the points cam or the bakelite follower.

The only option I have is to take that eccentric screw off hoping to have enough adjustment with that.

Does my predicament ring a bell for anybody?

Thanks

Paul

[Rick Yamane]

Sounds like maybe the wrong point set. As long as you can lock down the contact base plate, removing the eccentric screw shouldn’t matter. Make sure the moving side of the contacts and wiring is NOT grounding anywhere or you will lose spark.

 

From: guzzi-...@googlegroups.com <guzzi-...@googlegroups.com> On Behalf Of Paul Marx
Sent: Tuesday, January 6, 2026 8:04 AM
To: guzzi-...@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: [guzzi-singles] Falcone timing

 

After the silly question, a stupid one.

Play as I might with the eccentric screw to set the points gap at 0.4mm, there isn't enough adjustment possible to even open the points. The whole setup looks new so I don't think that there's any wear on the points cam or the bakelite follower.

The only option I have is to take that eccentric screw off hoping to have enough adjustment with that.

Does my predicament ring a bell for anybody?

Thanks

Paul

Le dim. 4 janv. 2026 à 11:42, Paul Marx <poum...@gmail.com> a écrit :

Many thanks for your answers.

I fully understand that this simple engine requires simple tuning and a bit of fiddling with the points gap should get the timing adequate. I'm quite used to adjusting the points gap to get my 750 Laverdas properly timed.

I'm surprised that the Falcone was running since there is no points gap to be seen and the spark was probably the result of bounce of the points.

I decided to have a look at the timing because we went out with my wife to take some photos for a New Year card and after the photo session, the Guzzi resisted my attempts to restart. We were about 20 km from home so the trailer was fetched.

I'll set the timing around the 0.4mm points gap, strobe to check the advance unit and check the valve clearances.

Then all will be well for another few years.

Happy New Year.

Paul

 

Le sam. 3 janv. 2026 à 22:22, Alan Comfort <alan.c...@gmail.com> a écrit :

If the points gap is set to specification and the points start to open at the prescribed position on the flywheel you should be good to go. There is no real adjustment to be done unless you remove the the key that locates the timing gear on the magneto shaft and do minor adjustments of the gear location. It is a tapered shaft, so the key is not necessary to hold the gear in place after it is tightened. It is o bit of a PITA to get this right and might take some trial and error. I prefer to use the key, even if it is a degree or two out. As long as the bike starts easily, idles well, runs well and does not over heat a degree or two in the timing will not be noticeable. One caveat though: if your auto advance is not working, you could risk overheating the engine. It is easy to check by marking the advance and retard locations and checking with a strobe light.

All that being said, clean and adjust the points, mark the flywheel with the advance and retard points and check with a strobe light.

 

Here are some comprehensive instructions:

https://www.thisoldtractor.com/mg_manuals/falcone_ignition_timing.pdf

 

 

On Sat, Jan 3, 2026 at 11:04 AM Paul Marx <poum...@gmail.com> wrote:

This is a silly question. I've owned my Falcone a few years now and have done probably 5000 km on it but I've never checked the timing.

It's got an auto advance magneto.

I've  just had a look at the points gap. That needs doing, it's closed up. Checking timing after that appears quite simple, points should open about 21mm on the flywheel before TDC on the compression stroke.

But then what????

If I need to adjust timing on the magneto, how do I go about it? Do I loosen the mag in its cradle and rotate it or do I need to go behind the timing cover and adjust the gear on the mag shaft?

 

Thanks

Paul

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[Paul Marx]

The points set looks original, and new.

I've ordered another set just in case.

Paul

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[Paul Marx]

Got a new set of points from Valassi. Less than a week from keyboard to my door in Northern France.

They're identical to what's on the bike. I'm no good in geometry but there's no way that the slot in the bottom with the eccentric screw will allow the full travel of adjustment that the slot for the adjustment screw permits.

I checked that the bakelite points cam follower wasn't worn so have decided to cut the bottom part of the points plate off and set the gap at 0.4mm which is totally impossible as is.

Paul