[Otto_Ing]

Floyd Clymer died after the introduction of the bikes, and only a few were made.
There was a shipment of 200 Interceptor S2 engines left unclaimed, which were subsequently purchased by the Rickman brothers, and used to make the limited production Rickman Interceptors.

And the Rickman Interceptor does not look anywhere as good as this bike IMO. All thats rare is for the rare i suppose, how much could this be worth?

[ace.cafe]

I would guess about $15k-$20k if you could find one.

Here's another Clymer effort of the same time period with a Velocette 500 single. About 150 made.

[Otto_Ing]

I assume those were merely hand built bikes of small volumes, or did Clymer own some assembly line? ...well not an automated atleast.

[ace.cafe]

I assume those were merely hand built bikes of small volumes, or did Clymer own some assembly line?

I don't know for certain, but I would suspect that the rolling chassis with body was sourced as complete as possible from Italjet,  and the same with the engine/primary/gearbox  assemblies from Enfield or Velocette, and final assembly done in some small plant somewhere in the US.

Tartarini also worked for Ducati. My first Ducati was a Tartarini design. You can see the similarities to the Tartarini designed Clymer Indians.

[Otto_Ing]

Must have been the last parallel twin Ducati has ever produced.

[Rattlebattle]

I believe so; they weren't much good by all accounts. A bit like a Stradivarious piano. Stick to what you know: light singles and stonking L twins...

[ace.cafe]

I believe so; they weren't much good by all accounts. A bit like a Stradivarious piano. Stick to what you know: light singles and stonking L twins...

I was very pleased with mine. I rode it for years as my only transportation,  and eventually put 100k miles on it. I know that the Ducatisti look down on it, but I had all the best of their bevel-drive v-twins too, and I say the 500 parallel twin was underappreciated.
 

[gizzo]

Wow. You must have been very lucky and got the good one. They had a bad rep for not even lasting 20,000km before lunching the bottom end. But they look nice.

[Richard230]

I remember seeing that Ducati 500 at Selby Motors in Redwood City, CA. (they sold Velocette, BMW and Ducatis), when they were first introduced.  A year later it was still gathering dust at the back of the showroom.  I think it was still there when the shop went out of business and closed its doors a few years later.

[ace.cafe]

Wow. You must have been very lucky and got the good one. They had a bad rep for not even lasting 20,000km before lunching the bottom end. But they look nice.

I had a few issues. The electric starter had problems, but I eventually used the kickstart only. The biggest problem was a nagging electrical bug that repeatedly left me stuck with bad condensers, which I began carrying with me for roadside repair. Eventually, I  moved the condensers out into the airstream on the coils, and never had a problem again.  They were overheating inside the distributor housing, and needed cooling.

I actually loved that bike. I was shocked to hear that it was poorly thought of.

[iRideRoyalnVA]

The Bonnie is nearly 1000cc. It can hardly be expected that a modest 535 cc single could best it.
If you are a good rider, you could probably beat them in the twisties.

If you mod it up, you could equal a vintage 650-750cc twin.

Off topic a bit but how much do you think the GTs engine size could be increased over the stock 535cc?

[longstrokeclassic]

There's a 612 EFI kit being tested at the moment, so that's a start.

[malky]

There's a 612 EFI kit being tested at the moment, so that's a start.

Tollgate Classics in the U.K. did a 725cc conversion for the iron barrels, and I know John did an oversize uce motor a couple of years ago, possibly 640 or there abouts.

[ace.cafe]

Off topic a bit but how much do you think the GTs engine size could be increased over the stock 535cc?

As previously mentioned,  there  are different approaches to enlarging the engine.
My preference would be to bore to 89mm, and leave the stroke as stock (90mm), and get the added power from increased rpms. For a racing effort, we would shorten the stroke.
A longer stroke is an rpm limiter.
I think longer stroke is okay for pulling a sidecar, if that's the goal.

[simca1200scoupe]

Let me preface by saying - yes, I had a EFI Thruxton. The Conti GT will never match its performance. Twice the bike, twice the price. I am happy with my Chennai Chugger - I am from Chennai living in the US for over 20 years and its nostalgia and sentiment that made me get the RE, not performance.

But, all these engine swaps being discussed...Isnt the KTM Duke 690 a single?

Yep, the KTM is a single...with 75 hp for 2016.....this engine in a GT-frame