MT500. MT 500. Military. Rare. MT350. Museum.Collector

Harley-Davidson U. S. MT500

Military

DUAL PURPOSE

 Rare

The U. S. MT500’s are rare because there was only a few hundred made in 1999 (278) and 2000 (156 is the highest number I have found)  There were 20 made in the 1993 (titled as 1995’s) .   I have been dealing in these bikes for several years.

I currently have four U. S. MT500’s.   (one 1999 and three 2000’s) This auction is for a model year 2000 with just over 8. 00 miles. Serial number ending in 026.

Just to be politically correct. The bike at auction is the second from the front on the first picture.

*** SHIPPING see below

The U. S. MT500 is one of the rarest and

 lowest production motorcycles ever made

by Harley-Davidson in their York. PA. Manufacturing plant.

( Do not compare the rare U. S. MT500’s with European models. The U. S. Models have the 17 digit serial #’s )

HISTORY

  In 1980 the initial development of this bike was started by an Italian company called SWM Motor Works. They used an Austrian engine called the Rotax which came in 350cc and 505cc sizes.   They won several trials championships and two world championships with their bikes.   In 1983 Armstrong of Bolton. England bought the rights to SWM Motor Works and started producing the 350 and 500 MT’s  for the British military for use in the Falkland Islands. the Jordanian Army for desert use and by the Canadian Army to use in mountainous areas.

  These motorcycles are very rugged 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. Harley-Davidson lost the military contract because they proved not good for military use for two reasons. 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 is now used primarily by the military.

In England. Armstrong Motorcycles produced;

   About 3500 MT’s from 1983 to 1993. The MT350’s all went to the British Army and the few MT500’s went to Jordan and the Canadian Military’s.

   In 1993 Harley-Davidson bought the Armstrong Motorcycles for the right to use the Rotax engines in some of their dirt track racers. In 1995 Harley-Davidson produced about 20 U. S. MT500’s here in the U. S.   They were made for the U. S. Military. One was kept by Harley-Davidson and now displayed at the Harley-Davidson Museum.

   They made 278 U. S. MT500’s in 1999’s and less U. S. MT500’s in 2000.

  Thus making the U. S. MT500’s one of the rarest and lowest production motorcycles ever made by Harley-Davidson in this Country for the past 100 years.

  The U. S. Military took all but one 1995. and only took a few of the 1999’s and early 2000’s so. Harley-Davidson offered the remaining bikes to their dealers.   They had a retail price of $10. 00. 00 or $11. 00 . 00 (with the only option. Panniers and a gun case). However. due to a slow economy at that time. most dealers did not purchase any of these bikes

.   The fact that the U. S. Military DID take some of the bikes for testing.  Harley-Davidson will not disclose any information about the MT500’s history or stats because of Military confidentiality rules.

  The U. S. Military had 15 new ones left that they did not use for testing. On Friday July 21. 2000 the Military put an ad in the Stars & Stripes newspaper for these remaining bikes.   They had such a large response they had to have a raffle for the bikes.

  In the years I have been collecting these bikes and information about them. I have found about 50. 1999’s and about 25. 2000’s. And now ONE 1995. Most of the  bikes are in dealerships museums. or in a private collector museum.

This bike is not for everyone. It’s for the connoisseur. the collector. someone with appreciation of rarity. an investor. an artist at heart.

Contact;

Stuart Tielens

CELL 909 239-6199

Parts are readily available from ForceMotorcycles or KLMotorsport of Great Britten. ( They purchased the entire MT parts inventory from Harley-Davidson.

*** SHIPPING $595 anywhere in the lower 48 States. (except New York Barrios) “Overseas buyer welcome. ”

Made in the U. S. A.

Cheers. RawHide Rocky

Also published at eBay.com