OK lets look at the ignition as it was designed. The soft start system is a simple electronic delay of the advance of timing from the start timing to run timing. it will change it after some 3 to 5 seconds after initial cranking of the engine. This can only occur if the circuit is excited by an outside source of power, generally a wire from the starter solenoid to each e-module as shown in the wire diagrams.
Timing is a function of the trigger coils, there are 4, looking at the flywheel and seeing the timing bars as they pass each revolution, The trailing edge is read by the trigger below the timing shift and the leading edge is read after the timing shift. The length and position of the bar on the flywheel determines the timing of the engine.
Prior to 2010, before the soft start system was introduced, stock 912 engines all had a 4 BTDC start and 26 BTDC run timing. A very clever guy in England designed a circuit that would delay the start timing advance for a few seconds and as they were the UK distributor at the time for Rotax they shared that circuitry idea with the factory. Again, this is only a delay in the advance of the timing some 3 to 5 seconds and requires a source of power to activate it.
In 2010 Rotax introduce the soft start system and took that idea one step further by also changing the timing itself. These engine with the soft start were then 3 ATDC (yes -3) and still remained 26 BTDC for run timing. Visually you can tell them apart very fast, the flywheel timing bar is much longer because internally the system still triggers of the trailing and leading edge to achieve its timing.
Recap...the module controls the timing reading of the trailing and leading edge of the flywheel bar and soft start versions (after 2010) will have a delay circuit that works if you have it wired for power at initial cranking. Actual timing control other than the delay is done via the length and location of the bars on the flywheel,
One note: do not mix up type 914 flywheels and put on a 912, they have a different length bar for the A and B modules as they run a staggered run timing. (A = 26 BTDC and B = 22 BTDC) The flywheel bars are not he same length on a type 914.
