You see, Stefan Stein's reply made me think...
1/ yes, nobody wants to think these things die
2/ there is no real way to test them except on a running bike, so use gaskets, oil, every time you change..
Always there is a inverse connection between how difficult it is to get at a thing, how awkward it is, etc, and how prepared people are to accept that thing is defective.... TCI unit, no problem, pop the tank off, job done...
So I sit, drink coffee, smoke, think....
In engine pickups are triggered by non magnetic steel "step" just 10 mm high....
I can simulate this by spinning a steel bolt in the lathe, and use feed screws to position pickup very very close to bolt.
OK, not a perfect experiment, perfect experiment is pull rotor and spin this on lathe, but this is good enough experiment, 8mm coach bolt not as chunky as the step in the rotor, but not a million miles away, and I can set gap down to 0.1 mm, which will make up for this to some extent.
You can see from photo at rest, this should work.
You can see 80 second video of this experiment here
deleted link
warning is 350 MB so I will not leave it up forever...
Edited, smaller version...
http://exeter-computer-repair.co.uk/tr1/TCI-pickups/test.mp423 MB only...
So variable speed drive in lathe, pickup set to 0.1/0.2 mm from 8mm dia coach bolt (nice radius head) and multimeter connected and set to AC Volts scale, turn the dial and spin her up slowly
Maximum reading on multimeter is 0.3 VAC.. yes, digital multimeter not most accurate thing on planet, but, I have done this before with digital multimeter and oscilloscope, digital multimeter is not that far out, not so far it is "wrong"
http://exeter-computer-repair.co.uk/tr1/TCI-pickups/00000-mts_snapshot_01-23_2014-04-18_19-33-59.jpgDigital multimeter and oscilloscope agree within a few %
A few % on a reading of 0.3 VAC is nothing, when TCI requires MINIMUM of 0.7 VAC to trigger.
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In automotive applications we used to find over time the cores of pickups became too magnetic, car ones used to be made with soft iron core and a small magnet at end, and eventually iron core became magnetised, which reduced output voltage... you could partially fix by demagnetising, but never proper cure.
I'll say again, problem is, I do not have numbers for the voltage the pickups should generate at cranking speed, and at tick-over speed, and at say 3,000 RPM... if I could have bought new item, I could measure.
As far as I know, nobody has this data for TR1 specifically... everyone has 20 to 30 year old units they can measure, not factory fresh.
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So again, not a perfect test, because I use a bolt and not spinning the rotor in the lathe, nevertheless, I GET THE SAME VOLTAGE as when on bike and cranking with starter, so not a million miles out, it is I think a valid test.
33 year old ignition pickups = crap.