1999 Harley Davidson MT500 Military Motorcycle #23 718 Miles Original Condition

Welcome to King Rat Chop Shop!You are looking at an original 1999 Harley Davidson MT500 motorcycle with only 718 miles. This motorcycle is in very good original condition. I am selling this motorcycle on consignment. if you have any questions I will do my best to answer or put you in touch with the owner. This MT500 is number 23. and was purchased from the original owner in Indiana. The bike runs great and is very clean. The rubber tool box bands should be replaced due to cracking. There are some minor cracks on the rear shock bushings as well. that do not affect operation. There are some normal paint scratches from storage and transport. Overall this bike is in good clean shape. It has a clean Indiana title and the owner is only selling because he also owns bike #18. This bike is available for local pick up only in Pemberton. NJ 08068. A non-refundable $500 Paypal Deposit is due within 24 hours of the listing end. Pick up and the remainder of the payment is due in cash at time of pickup within 7 days of the listing end. No shipping offered. Here is some more general information and history on the model provided to me by the owner. 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. 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. 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. 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. Please note our positive feedback! GOOD LUCK! Thanks for viewing. and check out our other auctions!ConditionThis item is used and functional with some cracking on a couple of rubber parts as mentioned above and minor paint imperfectionsShippingThis item is only available for local pick up in Pemberton. NJ 08068HandlingThis motorcycle does not shipPaymentWe require a non refundable $500 deposit within 24 hours of the auction end. no exceptionsWe require the remainder of the payment in cash within 7 days. along with the local pick up of the motorcycle