Misc: Ignition RITA Ignition + Wiring Diagram

brian gains

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Black Shadow fitted with RITA twin coil ignition and AB 11 amplifier. Reached the end of my tether with the wiring and random will run won't run and 300m pushing up hills.
Does anyone have a sketch for basic negative earth wiring, ignition switch, horn, hi/lo front, rear light, stop lamp and ammeter.
I have wired bikes previously with a 1/4 of the wiring that has been crammed in the headlight of this one.
Thanks.
 

Bill Thomas

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Forget the bit about 12v !!!!!!!,
I had trouble with the front 6v from almost new ,
Faulty terminal, Lost all sparks, If it had been the rear one I think it would have gone onto one cylinder ?.
The small coils if pinched in the clamp can fail !,
But back on 2 x 6v now, Neg' earth,
If you get stuck on the road I only had a 12v coil in the tank bag, That got me home !.
 

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Normski

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Can I suggest you split up your problems into getting the ignition to work reliably and having a reliable wiring set up. They are interrelated but to deal with the not running for long first; if you feed the ignition directly from a fully charged and reliable battery you can see whether the intermittent running is caused by the ignition set up or the feed to the ignition.
I am assuming you’re running 2 six volt coils in series and the diagram below from a Morini 350 would be correct for this. If you’re running 2x 12v coils in parallel then this isn’t the right diagram.
In the top right hand corner is shown feed from ignition switch connected to +ve of first coil. If you feed this directly with a hot wire from the battery +ve and ensure the earth to the casing of the AB11 is good then you’ve bypassed your bikes wiring and you can see if the problem of not running for very long remains or not. Do not leave the hot wire connected for very long without the bike running!
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Somer

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My understanding is that the amplifier is the same one they sold for Norton Commandos. I hated the one I had. Took it out.
 

Bill Thomas

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I agree Somer, I have had mine for years, But don't trust it and it uses a lot of power.
I had plans for a new "D" distributor, but the maker died,
So the Rita was the only thing around at the time.
When and if it packs up, I have an old "D" Distributor ready.
Cheers Bill.
 

Nigel Spaxman

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I ran a Rita on my Vincent for a year and it worked great. Mine had a special amplifier with the advance needed for easy starting of the Vincent. They do use a lot of power though. I replaced all the connectors with Deutsch connectors because the plugs that came with the Rita were rusted. The Deutsh connectors are really high quality ones as used on fuel injection systems etc. I still use a Rita on my Norton. They are really good except for the connectors. Jack Cape sold me some of the Ritas I have. A lot were already marked NFG. I made a test rig and ran them. It was only connection problems on all of them. I have heard that if the plug leads fall off that can lead to failure. Maybe that can happen but it hasn't hurt mine. I had one of the pick ups crack on the Norton (to much vibration) so now I reinforce those with some JB Weld epoxy. Now I have a Dyna Ignition that was intended for a Harley. It uses less electricity but apart from that the bike runs about the same. I wanted to be able to use smaller coils. The Rita will wreck most coils.
 
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