Electrical theory by joseph lucas

Smallbore

Active Member
#1
For those of you not old enough to remember, electrical components made by Lucas were used in most English made cars and motorcycles. Motorcycles such as BSA, Triumph, Royal Infield, AJS, and Norton, just to name a few.... all used Lucas electrical systems.
Here is a spoof on Lucas you may injoy :deal:

ELECTRICAL THEORY BY JOSEPH LUCAS

Positive ground depends on proper circuit functioning, which is the transmission of negative ions by retention of the visible spectral
manifestation known as “smoke”.


Smoke is the thing that makes electrical circuits work. We know this to be true because every time one lets the smoke out of an electrical circuit, it stops working. This can be verified repeatedly through empirical testing.

For example, if one places a copper bar across the terminals of a battery, prodigious quantities of smoke are liberated and the battery shortly ceases to function. In addition, if one observes smoke escaping from an electrical component such as a Lucas voltage regulator, it will also be observed that the component no longer functions. The logic is elementary and inescapable!

The function of the wiring harness is to conduct the smoke from one device to another. When the wiring springs a leak and lets all the smoke out of the system, nothing works afterward.

Starter motors were considered unsuitable for British motorcycles for some time largely because they consumed large quantities of smoke, requiring very unsightly large wires.
It has been reported that Lucas electrical components are possibly more prone to electrical leakage than their Bosch, Japanese or American counterparts. Experts point out that this is because Lucas is British, and all things British leak. British engines leak oil, British shock absorbers, hydraulic forks and disk brake systems leak fluid, British tires leak air and British Intelligence leaks national defense secrets.Therefore, it follows that British electrical systems must leak smoke.
Once again, the logic is clear and inescapable.


In conclusion, the basic concept of transmission of electrical energy in the form of smoke provides a logical explanation of the mysteries of
electrical components especially British units manufactured by Joseph Lucas, Ltd.


And remember: “A gentleman does not motor about after dark.”

Joseph Lucas “The Prince of Darkness”
1842-1903

A few Lucas quips:

The Lucas motto: “Get home before dark.”

Lucas is the patent holder for the short circuit.

Lucas - Inventor of the first intermittent wiper.

Lucas - Inventor of the self-dimming headlamp.

The three-position Lucas switch--DIM, FLICKER and OFF. The other three
switch settings--SMOKE, SMOLDER and IGNITE.

The Original Anti-Theft Device - Lucas Electrics.

If Lucas made guns, wars would not start

Back in the ‘70s, Lucas decided to diversify its product line and began
manufacturing vacuum cleaners. It was the only product they offered which
did not suck.

Q: Why do the British drink warm beer? A: Because Lucas makes their
refrigerators.

This has been referred to as the smoke theory when the smoke comes out its finished, cooked or done for.
:biggrin:
 
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#4
Thanks to things like Lucas electric in 20 years GB went from having 6 or 7 domestic car companies and being the largest exporter of cars and trucks in the world to what they have today.

Nothing.....
 

Oldsalt

Well-Known Member
#8
Had, in my youth, a BSA Goldielox engine, put it in an earlier plunger frame and supplied a gen and regulator. The engine would trash about so wildly [shaved flywheels] that the regulator would ether not allow a charge or would blow the headlight bulb from overcharge. All according to the RPM of the big single. But, like a good Lucas owner I learned to avoid certain RPM s and simply shift up or down to maintain traffic speed.

My 67 Triumph TR-6 is near a perfect original. It will start first kick and have never had a problem with any of it's electrical...or anything else. But I do keep spares.
 
#9
Had, in my youth, a BSA Goldielox engine, put it in an earlier plunger frame and supplied a gen and regulator. The engine would trash about so wildly [shaved flywheels] that the regulator would ether not allow a charge or would blow the headlight bulb from overcharge. All according to the RPM of the big single. But, like a good Lucas owner I learned to avoid certain RPM s and simply shift up or down to maintain traffic speed.

My 67 Triumph TR-6 is near a perfect original. It will start first kick and have never had a problem with any of it's electrical...or anything else. But I do keep spares.
I had a 69 BSA 650 thunderbolt.
It would vibrate like the buisness end of a nuclear jack hammer at some speeds.

I think I needed to tighten something every 50 miles.....
To this day I still have BSF taps and dies.
Never know when you may have to fix something.
I would often retread a bolt for example to put something back on.....

Electrics?
It started and there was not much there to go wrong.
I would say it was on par with a 70s chrysler product ans just as sensative to rain....
 

Oldsalt

Well-Known Member
#10
The Goldstar was a 500 single of course and was modified for hill climbing. It was almost impossible to start if it took a notion not to. I would just 'run and bump' the old bike and thought nothing off it. In my early 20s I had no drivers license [revoked] but I was hard to catch on that bike.
 
#11
I worked in a British sports car shop while I was in college in the 70s. I've had a bunch of MGs over the years, and an old Mini, too. Right now I've got a '62 MGA. The Lucas stuff wasn't really so bad (but the jokes are great!). Mostly, Lucas engineering was rather dated in comparison to the contemporary US and Japanese stuff, and just different enough to confuse people. A lot of those old cars had positive-ground electrical systems. We saw lots of cars in the shop where the wiring was all cobbled up by owners who thought they knew better, and lots of cars w/fried negative-ground cassette or 8-track players (no CDs or ipods then) that had been wired straight in. If you read the book and paid attention, problems were infrequent. !0-year-old MGs and Triumphs were cheap then, but if you were a kid and it took all your money to buy one you probably didn't have enough dough left over for a Haynes manual.
 

toomanytoys

Well-Known Member
#12
The Goldstar was a 500 single of course and was modified for hill climbing. It was almost impossible to start if it took a notion not to. I would just 'run and bump' the old bike and thought nothing off it. In my early 20s I had no drivers license [revoked] but I was hard to catch on that bike.
What I find funny as I get older is that, at 18 I would screw with something to get it to run just so I could ride it. Motorcycles, cars, atvs... Now if I have to mess with something to use it, I buy a new one!

I had a 4 wheeler that the starter went bad on, of course Honda felt fit not to put a kick starter on it, only electric start, I didn't have the money to buy a starter. So I would push it down my dad's driveway and just clutch start it and when out riding I would make sure I had a place to roll it down if I needed to shut it off. If I had to do that today I would throw it in the trash.
 
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