Friday 27 January 2012

Ducati 500 GTL


I was flicking though one of my old copies of Motociclismo, this one from April 1976, and saw this ad for  the parallel twin Ducati GTL 500. It reminded me of being at an autojumble in Italy with my mate Adam, about 16 years ago. There were a couple of blokes, from Naples I think from their accent, and they had one of these Ducatis they were trying to sell. They had started it up, and revving it, and it sounded, and looked good. I can't remember how much they wanted exactly, but it was about 300/400pounds, so not much. We stopped and looked, but said to each other, naah, who wants a Ducati parallel twin? In fact, no one did, because at the end of the day, they still had, and couldn't give it away.

I look at it now, and it's an interesting machine, and I reckon it has aged reasonably well, despite the Giugaro type square bits. It came from a time when Ducati were still able to experiment with engine configurations before sticking for good on the vee twin path. But this one didn't work. Weak crankshafts and low power blighted the motor - luckily Taglioni had had nothing to do with it.

I wonder how many are still around. It'd be interesting to ride one. Anyone out there got any experience of one?


7 comments:

Superpantah said...

Io ne ho avuta una. Non l'ho mai messa in moto, l'ho venduta prima che mi venisse voglia di farci qualsiasi cosa...
Chiedo scusa se scrivo in italiano, ma il mio inglese è scarsissimo.

ITALIAN MOTOR magazine said...

Non ti preoccupare, traduco io e grazie per il commento:

"I had one once. I never started it up, and I sold it before I had the desire to do anyhting to it.:

Sorry to write in Italian, but my English is limited.."

danny said...

I love to see a parallel twin in your mag. I love them! My 500s is stuck in the barn, hope to start her sometime...here are some cool guys from Holland: http://panigaletwins.nl/wordpress/

keep up the good work

Anonymous said...

I owned a GTL stateside (in Chicago) and was so STOKED to finally own a Ducati, I nearly wet my pants.

It looked great, in a future-classic sort of way with flat bars and flat seat and luxuries like electric start and indicator lights that Vespa owners aren't used to.

I drove the HELL out of my GTL, circling Lake Michigan, exploring the far-North corners of the Midwest and commuting daily on it. It finally started running poorly and I sold it to an obsessed mechanic who replaced the worn-out cams.

By that time I was riding a Cagiva Alazura (another Ducati bastard) and felt like I was piloting a spaceship to Mars.

The GTL motor was crap but the experience was priceless.

Steve Timble

ITALIAN MOTOR magazine said...

Thanks for the link Danny, I'll keep an eye on those crazy guys. Let us know when you reveive your 500.

Steve, great story. Got any shots of you and/or your 500? Would love to post them up. Email me: jabATitalianmotormagazine.com

Unknown said...

Ducati 500GTL forever! Nothing like a pointless ignition system...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OHhFVs1WgSk

Unknown said...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OHhFVs1WgSk

Ducati 500GTL forever! Nothing like a modern pointless ignition system...