MT500

Have owned this Harley for since 2008. It is my understanding I am the second owner. I have the owner’s manual and the original Bill of Origin. The first owner bought this motorcycle from a dealer. At the time it had 26 miles. When I made the purchase it had 60 mile. It now has 62 miles. I purchased the bike as a collection motorcycle and not a rider. I only rode it to keep everything working and lubricated. I periodically started it to keep it running and kept gasoline additive in the tank to keep the gas from deteriorating. I kept the battery on a trickle charger but it may be a bit weak. The rear shocks bottoming out rubber inside the shock appears to have some cracks from age but does not affect anything operational. You can see this in one picture. Also I lost the cover that goes over the back of the tool storage box. There are a lot of articles about the history of the MT500 and how Harley Davidson came to produce this motorcycle. The following is just a brief summary. The U. S. MT500 is one of the rarest and lowest production motorcycles ever made by Harley-Davidson. The development of the Harley-Davidson MT500 began with an Italian company called SWM Motor Works. They used an Austrian engine called the Rotax which came in 350cc and 505cc sizes. SWM won several racing championships with these bikes but eventually liquidated the company. An English company. Armstrong. bought the rights and started producing military bikes in the mid 80’s. It was used in the Falklands. the Middle East. and Canada. 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. The operation manual even says it can stand “Torrents of fording water”. 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. Harley Davidson supposedly produced 278 U. S. model MT 500’s in 1999 and in 2000. It has been reported that only 156 of the 2000 models have been accounted for. The 1999 and 2000 MT500’s were sold to select Harley-Davidson dealers. Those dealers were offered two bikes. Some dealers sold the motorcycles 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. The motorcycle is available for local pick-up. Additionally. shipping arrangements can be arranged through uShip. Buyer can contact uShip and arrange the option that best suits your needs. and have the motorcycle delivered by customer rated uShip service. Buyer responsible for arranging and payment of shipping cost. Payment accepted through Paypal. $1000 deposit required within 24 hours of the end of auction. Full payment required within three days.