Manual advance

[RoyC]

I have a manual advance / retard mag on my shooting star.
Is the fully advanced position cable pulled tight or fully loose ?
I have assumed it is fully tight for normal riding, but, 

[cotterpinkid]

...is it not the other way round?

When looking at the points end of the magneto, slackening the cable allows the cam ring to move in an anti-clockwise direction, thus 'Advancing' when the spark is released, in relation to the position of the piston in stroke, and allowing full combustion of the gases. Pulling the cable tight will move the cam ring clockwise (when looking at the points end), thus firing later i.e. retarding when ignition occurs (firing later in the stroke). Magneto rotation direction is given when looking at the drive end of the magneto - counter clockwise for us.

Wait for other responses....

[Triton Thrasher]

Turning the cam ring in the opposite direction against the rotating points advances the timing.

Usually slack cable for full advance, but not always.

[Billybream]

Slack cable on mine is fully advanced.
Always slightly retard for starting, prevents kick back and painful ankle

[a10 gf]

With cable entrance on left side of magneto:

retarded with 'tight' cable (= cam fully clockwise)
advanced (normal riding and timing set) with cable 'loose' (= cam fully anticlockwise)

If cable entrance on right side (does that exist?) the above is reversed.

[RoyC]

Thank you all for the response.
As I got the choke lever all to cock, I thought that I would check to see if I was doing the advance correctly.
I do give it half way retard for starting, I was not quite sure about after it started.

[a10 gf]

With timing correctly set, setting retard position should stabilize idle rpm, making it smooth and even, sign that things work correctly :O)

[RoyC]

With timing correctly set, setting retard position should stabilize idle rpm, making it smooth and even, sign that things work correctly :O)

This was another reason why I asked the question as it ran smoother (stationary) with the cable pulled tight.