Armstrong MT560e

[AWJD]

I recently bought the above motorbike. This was developed for the British Army in the mid 1980's and used a Rotax engine and was fitted with pannier racks on the back and was basically an off-road bike. However, mine was one of a few sold to civilian customers.

I asked DVLA to tell me who the original owner was and have just found out it was Leeds City Council and its Transport Service Agency. They bought it in 1987 and disposed of it in 2003.

I assume that it was either used to patrol the city parks or other open spacers further afield. I don't live in the area and I would be very grateful to hear from anyone who remembers these distinctive bikes and what they were used for. Many of these civilian versions were painted white but mine might have been painted black.

[mhoulden]

The department at the council that uses off road bikes is called Parkswatch. I've seen them mostly riding along the canal. It might be worth asking if they know any more.

[AWJD]

Many thanks for that information - I'll contact them. What I'm really after is to hear from someone who worked in PARKWATCH in the 1987-2003 era who remembers the bikes. The bike was a little unusual compared with the vast majority of those produced by Armstrong-CCM because it used a 560cc Rotax engine rather than the usual 500cc, MT500 version used by the army and other civilian uses. Its possible they needed a slightly more powerful version of the bike to cope with their specific needs, whatever they were?

[AWJD]

I've now heard from a person in the Parks Dept who knew about my bike. Apparently, it was the only one bought by the Parks Dept back in 1987 and would have been painted white at the time. One of the things he remembered about the bike was that the front drum brake wasn't very good and, because of this and being in charge, he was the only one allowed to ride it!