Home Manufacturer Contact

Classic Bikes Custom Bikes Designs Individual Racing Bikes Video Technical Converter
AC Schnitzer Adler AJP AJS Aprilia Ariel Arlen Ness ATK Avinton / Wakan Bajaj Bakker Barigo Benelli Beta Big Bear Big Dog Bimota BMS Choppers BMW Borile Boss Hoss Boxer Brammo BRP Cam-Am BSA Buell / EBR Bultaco Cagiva Campagna CCM CF Moto Combat Motors CR&S Derbi Deus DP Customs Ducati Excelsior GASGAS Ghezzi Brian Gilera GIMA Harley-Davidson Harris Hesketh Hero Highland Honda Horex Husaberg Husqvarna Hyosung Indian Italjet Jawa Junak Kawasaki KTM KYMCO Laverda Lazareth LIFAN Magni Maico Mash Matchless Mission Molot Mondial Moto Guzzi Moto Morini Mr Martini Münch MV Agusta MZ / MuZ NCR Norton NSU OCC Paton Paul Jr. Designs Peugeot Piaggio Revival Cycles Rickman Roland Sands Royal Enfield Sachs Shaw Speed Sherco Sunbeam Suzuki SWM SYM TM Racing Triumph TVS Ural Velocette Vespa Victory Vilner Vincent VOR Voxan Vyrus Walt Siegl Walz Wrenchmonkees Wunderlich XTR / Radical Yamaha Zero

Harley Davidson MT 500E Army Bike

.  

The Harley-Davidson MT500 is a bit of an unusual motorcycle. It’s thought that just 500 were ever made, and it’s not known how many have survived in original condition.

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 – though it’s broad adoption never took place due to many militaries only wanting diesel-powered vehicles for matters of logistical simplicity.

The basic design started in Italy, before finding its way to Britain, being put into production with the Armstrong-CCM company in 1984. The model saw limited military use in Britain, Jordan, and Canada until it was phased out in 2000.

Harley-Davidson isn’t a stranger to badge-engineering motorcycles, and if you look back over the long arc of motorcycle history there are very few established marques that haven’t at least dabbled with rebranding bikes. The reason Harley bought the MT500 stateside was the hope of acquiring a military contract with the richest armed forces on earth. Sadly it never came to be, largely because of the aforementioned diesel-only guidelines.

The majority of the Harley-Davidson MT500s that were built, were built to the same specifications. There are 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.

 

 

 

 

 


Any corrections or more information on these motorcycles will be kindly appreciated.
 
Contact  |   Terms of Use  |   Policy