During the 1970s I assembled a Heathkit ignition scope and with an eye toward familiarizing myself with good ignitions so I could detect bad ones, began connecting it to everything that came into the shop. There were no cell phones in those days, so I carefully sketched into a small notebook every representative system. That is my actual unit to the right and at the bottom of the page. For various reasons an oscilloscope turned out to not be a very practical diagnostic tool, but it was a great educational aid. Together with formal training, experience and self-study, I learned a lot. Click on the scope to enlarge. Use your browser's back button to return to this page.

These scope trace drawings can be enlarged by clicking on them. Use your browser's back button to return to this page. Enjoy!

The 450 DOHC twin of course has a standard Kettering ignition.

As does also the CB360.

And the CB200T.

The NC50 has an AC-powered ignition system known as Energy Transfer. Similar to Magneto but actually more highly developed.

The 70s XL250S was one of Honda's first road bike CDI systems.

The CB400T was also a road-going CDI, which Honda called "Tri-Pulser".

The Gerex was an aftermarket multifire CDI.

And of course, the Honda CBX had a transistorized Kettering they called Transistorized Pointless Ignition (TPI), their name for transistorized Kettering.

And this is a collection of a few photos taken, probably with a Kodak 110 Instamatic, which was my go-to camera back then (it was 1978). They could be better focused.