How do you install points on a harley Davidson 1996 soft tail?

Answer 1

Remove the ignition coil, the ignition module and the ignition trigger & its rotor in the nosecone.

Install new mechanical advance unit and points plate (with condensor) in place of OEM electronic trigger plate and run its single wire to the negative post on a new points-type coil (you can't reuse the OEM coil, which only works on electronic ignitions).

Replace OEM spark plug wires with solid points-type plug wires and reduce spark plug gap to .028"

Run the white wire that went to the old coil to the new coil's positive terminal and set point gap & ignition timing using a timing light and the stock timing mark on the left flywheel.

Just my opinion, replacing a modern electronic ignition with points is a huge step backwards. Points aren't as accurate as a Hall-effect trigger and mechanical advance units are generally problematic. Without constant lubrication they can get stuck in the fully advanced position, making the bike impossible to start. Also condensors have a finite lifespan.

In addition, points are constantly arcing & wearing and thus must be filed and readjusted every few thousand miles, whereas an electronic ignition remains accurate indifinitely, provided it's tuned correctly to begin with.

If you seek improved ignition performance, my advice would be to simply replace the EPA-friendly OEM ignition with a Crane HI-4 race ignition, which has a fully tunable advance, adjustable rev limiter and even a built-in static timing light.

Once tuned it will stay tuned.