MT Riders Club

Great 1980’s British documentary about the Falklands conflict on Youtube. In part 2 is a MT500 registration 33HG34 with some strange panniers fitted? Worth watching

That'll be a Canam.

lardmarc wrote: ↑

Fri Nov 27, 2020 10:21 pm

That'll be a Canam.

Must be -
Falklands War 1982
MT500 introduced 1984

Mate of mine was a sergeant in the RAF down there and reckons he sold one and a landy to a couple of local farmers. And knowing him I believe it.

Gbo wrote: ↑

Sat Nov 28, 2020 10:11 am

Mate of mine was a sergeant in the RAF down there and reckons he sold one and a landy to a couple of local farmers. And knowing him I believe it.

Yes the RAF binned their MT500EJs in Jordan rather than bringing them back

i was at larkhill in 82 and although the dates dont match ie 82/84 im sure there was a black armstrong and a green armstrong parked in the mt csp ready to load onto the atlantic convayer.i spose mr claw at ccm would know for sure if there were prototypes or stuff like that.me dad was in mt and had to prep it all.bikes were different to all the other bikes talleron the front.i liked the 38 pattern look of the bags ,better than the 58ptn available to the chaps.thats why it stands out in my mind as maybee prototype stuff.i never got close enough to see the side panals to confirm my hunch as i was a kid then,i always wanted one.and now i have mine

giff wrote: ↑

Mon Mar 08, 2021 8:11 pm

i was at larkhill in 82 and although the dates dont match ie 82/84 im sure there was a black armstrong and a green armstrong parked in the mt csp ready to load onto the atlantic convayer.i spose mr claw at ccm would know for sure if there were prototypes or stuff like that.me dad was in mt and had to prep it all.bikes were different to all the other bikes talleron the front.i liked the 38 pattern look of the bags ,better than the 58ptn available to the chaps.thats why it stands out in my mind as maybee prototype stuff.i never got close enough to see the side panals to confirm my hunch as i was a kid then,i always wanted one.and now i have mine

This just doesn't stack up, at the time of the Falklands war in 1982, Armstrong didn't have the rights to SWM- they acquired those rights 2 years later in 1984. Bombardier sold the rights to their military bikes to Armstrong in 1983

Sadly Alan Clews died almost 3 years ago now.

As I read the registration plate it's 34HG33 rather than 33HG34 as has been suggested

we will figure this out mateys.as i say i dont remember anything written on the side panels.i was 16 and below at the time.as larkhill was a training school for all .reme ,rtc and everything green,sales teams for everything from cooking to rapier etc helicopters abbots and all sorts of fire appliences ,boughton carmicheal perentine and so on it would not suprise me if the sneaky beakys were playing with anything odd.i agree the argie bargy bit was two years older thanthe mt timeline .and the herd of bikes i saw were all the same except the two taller ones with fizzy 50 handlebars.im no expert in this stuff and as most of you know thecamps are full of interesting cool stuff most of which is useless or modified.larkhill had an amazing display team around the 80s,i bet they would know or not as i reckon they would be the testers of the day..a few of the chaps used lugershall or tidworth chalk pitts as a weekend play area.awsume sight watching these madmen riding up these big climbs with skill and verve i can only dream of,my thanks to all who serve ,may the ghosts of our past rest with dignity as i know this was a difficult time and still is for many of you,my total respect and grattitude,kindest regards to all.