No, not the feller with the pointed tail and pitchfork...

But Joseph Lucas...British entrepreneur and founder of Lucas Electric.

I think I misplaced that can of fuse smoke around here somewhere...

"Ah! There is nothing like the smell of burning British electrical components in the morning!"

Shall we have a toast of warm beer?

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Lost it all in a boat accident

I thought this thread was gonna be about Ozzie

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sticks-n-stones&hollowpoints

Nah, Ozzie couldn't come close to the amount of profanity and anger exuded from people all over the world on account of this man.
Lucas was more of an anti-Edison..."because a man should not go about at night."

It's true what was said in the movie It's a Wonderful Life. "One man's life touches so many other lives."
Definitely true about this.

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Lost it all in a boat accident

My old boss is from Germany. He asks "Do you know why the English drink their beer warm?"
Because Lucas makes their refrigerators

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In dog years I'm dead.

Then he probably also knows why the English never manufactured a TV -

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because they couldn't figure out how to get it to leak oil.

This was a new one to me, so I Googled it, and found a hilarious site offering a product called "Lucas Replacement Wiring Harness Smoke". For those of you who, like me, are DIY auto "techs", you owe it to yourself to go take a look. I found it tremendously funny.

Andy

A salute to Lucas electric company and a special salute to the Gurling ( Sp) company who made the breaks that were meant to stop what ever Lucas started. Hum no wounder their breaks never worked well.

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Always Stay Strong!

How's this for a quote?

"Production of the Black Knight began in the spring of 1955. Lucas components replaced the less reliable Miller electrical system and ignition was upgraded to coil and distributor."

Less reliable?!?!

Anyway , here's a Black Knight that parked next to me at this years AMCA meet.

Lucas the Prince of Darkness

Not many people know that Land Rovers attempted to market a computer. Why did they stop? They could not find a way to get it to leak oil!
A Land Rover doesn´t leak oil, it marks it´s territory. Did you hear about the man whose Land Rover didn't leak oil? The factory took it back and worked on it until it did.
Did you hear the one about the guy that peeked into a Land Rover and asked the owner "How can you tell one switch from another at night? They all look the same. " - "He replied, "It does not matter which one you use, nothing happens !"
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 Original Anti-Theft Device - Lucas Electrics.
Lucas is an acronym for Loose Unsoldered Connections and Splices
Lucas systems actually uses AC current; it just has a random frequency.
"I have had a Lucas pacemaker for years and have never had any trou..."
If Lucas made guns, wars would not start.
A friend of mine told everybody he never had any electric problems with his Lucas equipment. Today he lives in the countryside, in a large manor with lots of friendly servants around him an an occasional ice cold shower...
Back in the 70's, 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

Alexander Graham Bell invented the Telephone.Thomas Edison invented the Light Bulb. Joseph Lucas invented the Short Circuit.

Recommended procedure before taking on a repair of Lucas equipment: Check the position of the stars,kill a chicken and walk three times clockwise around your car chanting:" Oh mighty Prince of Darkness protect your unworthy servant.."

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.

I thought the same!Ah,Lucas,Prince of Darkness.If you have ever owned a British car or bike from the '60's,you've been there.

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WALSTIB

All true. And yet, I'd trust my life (or my vacation) to a British ride before any Harley Davidson. And the Lucas RITA electronic ignition is possibly the best, most reliable ever built.

Mine was a '69 BSA Rocket III. Fast and great exercise starting in cold weather. It vibrated everything loose every couple hundred miles. The license plate even vibrated in half!
As an added bonus the hardware was all Whitworth. I still have a few of the wrenches around here somewhere. The others I've given as gag jokes.

Oh?
I'll stick with HD - Thank you. But if I was going to travel on some other bike it might be German - It won't be British. I've learned my lesson

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In dog years I'm dead.

I learned from my Austin-Healy Sprite, which required drying the coil in the household oven, at 350 degrees/15 minutes, to permit starting on "damp" days, that the Brits were electrically challenged, and subsequently learned that anything British/electrical was probably disfunctional...

I thought this thread was going to be about John Carpenter.

After leaving the military, I bought a Triumph motorcycle.
Between the incredible vibration, and the Lucas electrical system,
I ended up being a mechanic (40+years now), and acquiring an
associates degree in electronics. Also the reason why I currently own
a Honda Shadow. The Triumph headlight, when working would light up
the night sky for a good half-a-mile. Then it got really dark.
TACC1

I bought a Triumph Spitfire 1500 in '79. Had a few problems with the "Lucas" electronics. LMAO. Have a friend who owned a Triumph motorcycle about the same period. He had a bit more problems than I. LMAO. Learned first hand about the "prince of darkness". I would like to have a TR-6 now. Even more I would like to have a Datsun "Fair Lady". Not so problematic....

As a proud (all be it often stranded) owner of a 1974 MG Midget, I would like to add my voice to the chorus of Birthday well-wishers in saluting the man responsible for the concept of "gremlins"!

As a former automotive electrician and a current britbike owner, I knew exactly what this thread was by the title. One time I was watching a car race on TV, I think it was an endurance sports car race. Chris Economaki was giving a pit report about how a $1O part can sideline an expensive race car. He holds up a small black box with wires coming out of it, "Lucas" brand was on the box.

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To be a rock and not to roll

My first car was a 1964 MGB. I carried a 100' extension cord and a blow dryer in the trunk so that I could dry the distributor cap after a rain. Even the smallest amount of moisture in the distributor and the engine wouldn't start. The distributor was manufactured by Lucas.

"No problem it's British, it's 'sposed to leak oil, electrons, whatever."

Seriously, I've ridden since 1963. The only bike I ever had to push home because of a electrical problem that couldn't be fixed roadside was a Honda.

I learned to drive in a 1963 Triumph TR-4. Wish I still owned it, but I'd REALLY love to own a TR-6.

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I hope I copied that right

A picture of my 1967 Austin Healy 3000 at night.

Attached Images

Untitled.jpg (5.4 KB, 5 views)

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John. SWCA #1586

British Thermal Unit, BTU, a measure of the amount of smoke produced by a Lucas circuit.

Hail Prince of Darkness!

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S&WHF 366

I saw the title of the thread and immediatly thought of "Dr. Lucas invented darkness". Back in '77 a friend had a Triumph Twin. He bought it in '74, ran it for a month or so, when it stopped. Couldn't get it to run at all. For a year or more. Replaced everything but the handlebars. Finally talked to an old mechanic who told him to replace a diode in the headlight.
He figured what the hell, he tried everything else.
It worked.
I loved that bike-tried to buy it from him-no go. Part of the charm was 'tickling' the Amal carbs till they leaked to start the thing.

Nothing like a set of Lucas " Flame Throwers" for "no" night vision

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SWCA #2306
DAV in honor of POP

I bought (new) Triumphs made in '68 (TR-6R), '71 (Bonneville) and '74 (T-150V) and had used BSA's made in '68 (Victor Special) and '71 (Rocket III). Short-term owner of a '70 TR-6C and a '70 or '71 Norton Commando, both used.

Maybe I was really lucky, but the only chronic electrical problem any of them had was them blowing headlight bulbs when the headlight was on and I ran them to max rpm. It was most likely a vibration problem rather than a voltage or other electrical problem.

A couple of times, I cursed them because Triumph and BSA would make the wires just barely long enough to make connections. Adding an inch to each wire might have added about a nickel to the price of each bike, but hey, save a nickel here and a dime there and before you know it, you have 15 cents!

The Lucas items I disliked the most were the incredibly cheesey handlebar switch and (brake and clutch) lever assemblies and the turn signals used from 1971 on through the end. They were ugly and awkward, not at all user friendly, and the light end of the turn signals tended to loosed and turn up and down on their stalks.

Face it, all of the motorcycles made in the 60's and early 70's were ****. Lots of them leaked oil and shorted and burned out electrical components. The only bikes that generally didn't were the BMW's and they were boring as heck back then.

I feel comfortable in saying that Lucas electrics were no worse than the German and Italian electrical components of the time.

I still have the '74 Trident. Compared to modern bikes, that clutch pull is sure heavy. I must have been pretty strong back in those days that I can't remember it being so stiff!

Edited to add that I typed ****, not **** above, which would have been potty mouth, so I didn't.