One of the rarest bikes ever built by Harley-Davidson, the MT500 was originally built by the British in the 80s. Rights to the design were sold by Armstrong-CCM to HD, who sold just 355 copies of the MT500 in 1999, and a few more the following year. Only select HD dealerships were allowed to sell these bikes.
Some raffled the bikes off, with proceeds going to the Muscular Dystrophy Foundation, others were sold between $10-11.5k, depending on if you got luggage and/or one of the greatest options ever available on a motorcycle – a mounted gun case for a M16 rifle. These bikes had both an electric start and a kick start – note that the kicker is on the left side.
This example (VIN: 1HD4RLS15YY000120) was recently brought out of storage and it now runs thanks to a new battery, spark plug, fuel tank valve, clutch cover, clutch cable, and timing belt. It also got an oil change and carb clean though the “carb float valve is sticky and overfills sometimes.” This is one of the cheapest MT500s I’ve seen in recent memory, though it’s missing the optional front panniers and gun case. It does include an extra timing belt and the factory shop manual. So if you’re looking for one of these to parade and not just display in a collection, it could be an interesting option. It’s definitely a good way to confuse people at your local Harley bike night!
Find this MT for sale in Reno, Nevada with a BIN of $5,900 here on eBay.