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When Harley-Davidson thirty years ago bought the MT500 stateside and purchased the rights to Armstrong, an English motorcycle manufacturer and officially enters the military market was born one of the rarest, fastest combat motorcycles ever built: the 1999 MT500.

The design started in Italy when Italian outfit SWM produced an army bike using the Austrian-built Rotax single for power, before finding its way to Britain, where the Armstrong-CCM company known for making engines and designs for the British army military bikes, start producing them in in 1984.

As a result of the firm orientation and army contract, the model saw military use in Britain, Jordan, and Canada until it was phased out in 2000.

There are two reasons for bringing this brand under the corporate umbrella.First one was the hope of acquiring a military contract with the richest armed forces on earth and entering the lucrative military market.The second reason is wanting ‘get their hands’ of the Rotax engine, at that time used in the factory race team’s short-trackers and TT bikes.

But for truly understanding the beauty of this simple mechanical excellence we must take a look at the heart of the beast…

The majority of the Harley-Davidson MT500s that was built, was built to the same specifications. There is twin jerry can holders either side of the fuel tank – designed to hold either water or fuel. There’s a waterproof rifle case on the rear right side for an M16 or similar, and the case is designed in such a way that it can take both scoped and unscoped weapons.

Sporting a gorgeous green exterior and gun cases and ammo panniers on either side, the MT500 looks every bit the part of a military hog.

The MT500 is powered by a 500cc Rotax single-cylinder, air-cooled engine with 4 valves, 5 gears, and kickstart only. It’s a mechanically simple motorcycle designed explicitly for military use.

• 500cc 4-valve Rotax motor

• Engine rated at 32 b.h.p. at 6,200 r.p.m

• Bore and stroke of 89 X 77 mm.

• Electronic Ignition

• Fuel via single Mikuni carburetor

• Five-speed transmission

• Kickstart only

• Telescopic forks with twin shocks in the rear

• Weight 380 pounds

• Top speed f90 m.p.h.

• Air-cooled, single cylinder four stroke engine

• Drum front brake, rear disk

• Pannier frames both sides at rear

• Harley-Davidson on side panels

The MT500 is very reliable when sorted. They were built for Squaddies to drop without breaking. There is no chrome to go rusty.They are quite competent off-road. Not competitive enough for MotoX, but some Enduro riders are happy to accept their extra weight in return for rugged strength. As a Green Lane bike, they are perfect.

This engine is known to all flat trackers and is practically bomb proof. Stock, the air-cooled 481cc single-cylinder SOHC Rotax puts out about 32 hp. Not a lot for a bike that weighs 375 lbs fueled. There’s a five-speed, geared low in the first two for slow crawling through rough terrain. Though there’s a claimed top speed over 90, this is slow, though extremely rugged, military-tough vehicle.

The sad part of the story is it never caught on for military use partly because of the army diesel-only guidelines for matters of logistical simplicity and due to its exposed engine’s easily detectable heat profile — which the ammo case panniers were meant to disguise.

The MT500 never lived up to its potential. As a result, many estimates claim there are fewer than 500 of H-D MT-500’s, made by Harley at it’s York, PA plant and there is a danger you might never lay eyes on one of these rugged rarities again.

The MT-500 It’s certainly one of the coolest and for some favorite American-made enduro.Some may see it as an odd and little bit of an unusual motorcycle but all-original MT500s only rarely come up for sale and have great value among collectors.Despite all, they’ll remain as an object of appreciation for every bike lover.

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