I believe the RITA system is wasted spark and has both coils in series and fires them together.
Thus I think you’re looking at HT leads or plugs.
I have just found an article by AO Services, the other Lucas Rita people and that has some useful info on the system.
http://aoservices.co.uk/info/RITA.pdf
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Update, I’ve swapped over plugs and leads, they both appear to spark well when put onto one of the coils ( the most inaccessible one) . So it looks like one of the Bosch 6v coils is Kaput. The Rita is one of the early AB5 ones, with the power transistor on the ribbed case. It’s rather a large box and it lives alongside the battery as there really isn’t anywhere else for it to go. The reservoir for the torque convertor occupies all the space under the nearside cover.
Thanks for the link to AO services, helpful information on that site.
Especially the comment that the AB5 unit consumes vast amounts of power. To be expected from a design adapted from cars.
I will swap out the dodgy coil and see if things return to normal, when it arrives.
I’m tempted to replace this with points, lower consumption of power and the ongoing space issue …
Just a thought, how many of us with after market electronic ignition that retains the dizzy , bob weights and springs remember to oil the mechanism from time to time?
Cheers,
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Sorry to hear scruffysteve and foolsgold are still experiencing carb problems.
With reference to my previous posts:-
Soon after I bought my bike and after a few weeks of riding, I found it would start and run fine for about five miles and then it would start popping and banging. On one occasion It conked out completely. Black sooted spark plugs. So I started pushing it home. After about 20 minutes of pushing I tried again and it started and ran fine, for about 10 minutes.
I changed the 6v coils for new Lucas items. Cost was 55 quid including
postage from Classic Bike Shop, Redditch. This made a big difference and I think this was the root cause of my carb problems. I have Lucas Rita ignition fitted and the Coils are wired in series, so give a 12v spark every revolution.
I changed the atomiser jets, in the carbs, for the same size. When I compared the new ones to the old I could see, with my naked eye, that the old holes were bigger. Was this wear or had they been drilled out? The new ones made a big difference. But was not the cure all. The jets are a push fit. I made sure they were seated properly.
The ball bearing and spring accellerator pumps were also an issue. They can be easily modified from standard or, as in my case, fitted upside down.
Good luck with your fault finding. You will get there in the end.
My bike is now a completely different bike to the one I bought a few months ago.
I don’t think the previous owner could have had much pleasure from riding it.
Update: I decided to do a test using the spare points based dizzy. I jury rigged the coils and points to the bike, turned the ignition on and spun the cog on the bottom of the dizzy. Absolutely nothing. Engage brain, earthed it to the engine and bingo! Sparks to both plugs.
So, having gone down rabbit holes, it appears that it was the old Rita box of electrickery gone wrong. I’m in the process of transferring the points gubbins over onto the bike, will source some 12V coils to replace the 6V ones.
On balance I think I will be happy with points.
Yes they need attention, but replacing stock air filter means a fair bit of disassembly, so will do points adjustments when that is done.
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Sometimes…less is more!
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Latest update on the Convert.
Been away on holiday for a few weeks and waiting for parts .
Long story short. Removed old Lucas Rita system from bike.
Fitted dizzy with ATU from donor one.
New springs, condensers and points.
Had to work on backing plate so that moveable points had adequate range of adjustment.
Statically timed points, followed by strobe check on both cylinders. Some final adjustment needed to dial in.
Photo shows plugs after a decent 15 mile run.
Bike picks up well and sounds far happier than with Rita system.
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Forgot to add , replaced the 6volt coils with some Lucas 12V ones from Classic Bike shop, good price!
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Sometimes, the old ways are better.
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Think it was Magnus Pike inan old TV programme that always said ’ Simple ideas are often the best ’ Pleased it’s all sorted for you .
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My rich-running r/h cylinder problem still hasn’t gone away. The T3 is still returning a measly 33mpg despite my best efforts. I am, however, like a dog with a bone and won’t give up! I will post again when I get a chance to work on this again ….
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Hi,
Following on my T3 carburation problems I bit the bullet and ordered a Newtronics electronic ingition system, and got round to fitting it today.
Amazingly it worked, straight out of the box with no adjustments required. Started up first time from cold with no choke. Was a bit hesistant on acceleration whilst warming up, but that seemed to go once up to temp.
I will still look to get the carb tuning sorted, but really pleased with the work today.
I bought Dyna coils to go with it, but haven’t fitted them yet as I think I may have bought the wrong ones. I went for 5ohm coils, but looking again at the spec I think I should have chosen the 3ohm version.
Any thought on potential problems if I do fit the 5ohm ones?
Thanks for any help on this!
Ride safe,
Jim
I previously had a Piranha system, and now replaced with a Newtronics system on my Spada for about 35 years and it still uses the standard Guzzi coils. From the Newtronics (Autocar) website …
“Standard, 4 Ohm motorcycle coils are recommended with 3 Ohms being the lowerst coil resistance which can be used with the system.”
Thanks Don-Spada,
The Haynes manual suggests that the fitted coils should be 3.35ohms +/- 6% which seems absurdly precise to me.
Any idea what would be the effect of putting 5ohm dyna coils on it if it was a standard points system, and any difference if it was a Newtronics system?
The only issue I’ve read with Newtronics systems is that if you leave the igniton on without the engine running, you run the risk of burning out a coil, however the Dynatek coils are less likely to do that. Is that right?
Jim
Sorry, I’m no electrical expert to comment on that one!
If the ignition is left switched on, most systems will feed power into the coils. Points will if the engine stops when they are closed. I just avoid leaving the ignition on for any length of time.
Update on the T3 Cali fuelling issue: I took the radical decision to replace the carb internals (jets, needles, pump, everything). It turns out that the needles were very worn. This would not be spotted by me as I have no ‘benchmark’ for what is considered normal wear. Having returned from a 200 mile run, I am returning 49mpg - MUCH more like it!
However, I am advised by the man with the spanners that the carb bodies and slides are very worn. This has resulted in a need to increase the main jet size as air is sneaking through. It already had 130 mains jets as it has K&N air filters. But even with 135’s it suffers the symptoms of fuel starvation under heavy acceleration. So I have a set of 140’s to install when the opportunity arises.
We are getting there … 
From experience if you leave the ignition on you can blow the power transistors in the Newtronic. I don’t think the brand of coil matters.