Harley Davidson Military MT500

My particular 2000 model year (Extremely low production in 2000) is in excellent condition both mechanically and appearance!  I am the second owner of this bike. The original owner purchased it from Chicago Harley Davidson (Chicago HD serviced the bike for the first owner) new and rode it back an forth to work (he lived and worked in downtown Chicago just off of Lakeshore Drive).  As soon as I trailered it home. I had my local Harley Davidson dealership completely service the bike including all filters and fluids.   Original Harley OEM Parts and service manuals are available from Force Motorcycles (www. forcemotorcycles. com).   I have a couple sets of common service parts for the MT500 such as filters. gaskets. sprocket. drive belt. etc. and the buyer of the MT500 may contact me if interested in these New Old Stock parts.   This is a great way to own a excellent condition Harley Davidson military bike without the cost and aggravation of trying to find a more common WLA. The original owner said that he got tired of affirming that the MT500 was actually a Harley Davidson made product so. he put the stick on HD tank badges on it. They look nice and draw attention ( as I was trailering the bike home from Chicago. I had several people approach me including one couple that followed me for miles on the interstate waiting for me to stop for gas. to inquire about it).

This is a chance to get a true Harley Davidson Military Collector bike at a very good price! I would not sell this bike except my health now requires that I gravitate to a trike and am forced to sell some things that I do not use.

Dual Purpose Motorcycle

The U. S. MT500 is one of the rarest and lowest production motorcycles ever made by Harley-Davidson. Harley Davidson produced 355 U. S. model MT 500’s in 1999 and only 115 U. S. model MT 500’s in 2000. The 1999 and 2000 MT500’s were sold to a few select Harley-Davidson dealers. Those dealers were offered two bikes. but only a few bought the bikes. Most did not take advantage because of the economy at that time. These bikes sold for $10. 00 or $11. 00 off the showroom floor with only one available option. Panniers and a Gun case scabbard. The dealers had the option of selling the bikes; some were raffled (by dealers) for the Muscular Dystrophy Foundation. but most of them went to Museums or collectors. Thus. this bike is one of the lowest production and rarest motorcycles ever made by Harley-Davidson. It is still possible to find a Harley-Davidson MT350 or MT500 however. most of the MT350’s and MT500’s are in England. some are in Canada and only a few are in the USA. There are some in pristine condition (museum and private collections) but most of them have been well used and unfortunately. customized with paint. chrome or other cosmetic changes. There are also some mid to late 1980’s tagged with the Armstrong name that are less valuable because they are pre Harley-Davidson. Mine is pristine and freshly out of the manufacturers’ crate.

HISTORY

The development of this Harley-Davidson MT500 (M-50 military term) began with an Italian company called SWM Motor Works. They used an Austrian engine called the Rotax which came in 350cc and 505cc sizes. After winning several trials championships and two world championships. the company liquidated. In 1984 Armstrong of Bolton. England bought the rights to SWM Motor Works. They developed a military version of the motorcycle for use in the Falklands for the British Army. for desert use by the American Special Forces. and for the Canadian Army to use in mountainous areas. Armstrong made this motorcycle from 1985 to 1989. In 1989 Harley-Davidson bought Armstrong primarily for the rights to the Rotax engine to use for their dirt-track racing teams. These motorcycles are very durable and can stand extreme desert temperatures. rocky terrain and harsh environments. They can even stand “torrents of fording water” as the operation manual states. However. they proved not good for military use because of two problems. One. the heat from the engine was easily detected by enemy forces using infrared scopes. They tried blocking the radiation by adding front Panniers. (Storage case) but to no avail. The other problem was the use of gasoline for the bikes instead of diesel which was used primarily by the military

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