THE RUSSIAN MOTORCYCLES

Besides a 2000 miles distance between the two factories there are some important differences between those two Soviet marques, both historically and technically.

Dnepr

The Dnepr factory was set up in Kiev as KMZ from 1950, equipped with the M72 production machines coming from GAZ in Gorky, to where these were evacuated from the Leningrad Red Octobre works in 1941. As the years went by more and more Kiev developed model alterations to the original design were adopted and in 1959 the K750 was a redesigned model of its own, exclusively built by KMZ at Kiev.

By that time KMZ was the sole supplier of sidecar outfits for the Soviet Armed Forces. Still relying on the 750 cc flathead engine, dating back to 1938, it was not before 1968 that a 650 cc o.h.v. engine of totally new design was introduced. The 750 cc flathead engine was taken out of production as late as 1984, evolved to the ‘modernised’ MT12 model.

A few years after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 the Dnepr factory went into bankruptcy: the military orders were something of a glorious past while stringent western vehicle legislation standards could not be met for export anymore. But worst of all was the illegal stripping of the factory due to the corrupted new management. Most of the production machines were sold as scrap metal. What remains of the once proud Dnepr factory nowadays is a gigantic complex of empty buildings and ruins… even the archives have gone lost in the economical anarchy.

Ural

Ural on the contrary managed to survive these turbulent times, mainly through production orders for military sidecars from countries like Iraq and Egypt, very creative systems of barter and less economical crime and corruption in Russia than in Ukraine those days.

This motorcycle factory was founded in 1941 in Irbit as IMZ, with the production machinery from the evacuated Moscow based MMZ factory, where the M-72 - based on the 1938 BMW R71 - was built. Developing their machines gradually, Ural became the main supplier for the civil market in the Soviet Union and related areas.
Nowadays a whole range of new and retro Urals are, at a low scale export-production, built to almost Western quality standards.

Although the currently built Ural Ranger type has a driven sidecar it still differs a lot from our Dnepr with driven sidecar. The Ural does not have a differential between the rear wheel and sidecar wheel so you only have the choice of engaging (being a rigid axle) or disengaging the sidecar drive. Without a differential it is almost impossible to steer with any accuracy with an engaged sidecar drive on any kind of road surface. With a disengaged sidecar drive, as is meant for normal road usage, the Ural is just like any other conventional sidecar rigg.

The Dnepr permanent sidecar drive

The Dnepr however has a planetary differential unit mounted between the two driven wheels which distributes the drive power between the rear wheel and the sidecar wheel, so the Dnepr sidecar drive is permanent and also useable on surfaced roads.

Most military versions (the K750 MW versions) also have a locking device to block the differential under difficult terrain conditions. When one of the wheels is slipping the differential guides the traction to the slipping wheel, causing a shortage of traction on the other wheel, so it will stop turning. When the differential is blocked and acts like a rigid axle both wheels keep their traction. In this situation (difficult terrain condition) the rigid drive of the Dnepr and the Ural with engaged sidecar drive would be of temporary benefit, only to be used when necessary.

The advantages of the permanent Dnepr sidecar drive are, besides less tyre wear, a more stable and predictable ride on the road while off-road and in rough terrain steering is a lot more precise.

 

 

The advantages of the permanent Dnepr sidecar drive are, besides less tyre wear, a more stable and predictable ride on the road while off-road and in rough terrain steering is a lot more precise.