this image is from around 2000, showing the demolition of the Kyiv Motorcycle Plant, before the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Let’s hope they had time to bury the tooling. Can the mighty “Dnepr” ever make a comeback? Slava Ukraine!
features screw on oil filter modification and twin disc front brake
– Dave John
The Spirit of the Dnepr motorcycles lives on in people’s hearts!
Dnepr MT-9
source: Avtoexport USSR catalogue
Thanks for your fantastic article, tons of interesting information!!!
I’ve been riding motorcycles all my life, from age 14 up until today age 64. It’s in my blood, I’ve riden/owned a variety of makes from Harley to Honda to Triumph as well as many off brands.Finally I have found a Dnepr, at a reasonable price that I plan on making my retirement ride.They are not real popular here in Saskatchewan Canada, so I’m discovering parts are few and expensive. Picked it up last fall, and have started replacing, repairing parts as I find them, but what I really need is information.
Example: I can’t find wheel bearings, I don’t have any type of shop manual, and with out parts numbers local shops and suppliers are of no help. However I will persist, this is probably the last bike project I will take on, and I still have the excitement that I had as a teenager, to complete it. After all, my grandkids are looking forward to sit in the sidecar on the way to the ice cream shop next summer.
Have a great day !!!
An image from KMZ circa 1960 showing quality control inspection of a motorcycle mudguard. The quality of finish must be perfect to pass the quality inspection.
Model MT-9, produced in 1971-1974 a total of 189463 were made.
Quite a bit of time passed since the day the prototype MT-8 motorcycle laid the foundation for the Dnepr K-650 family, and at the end it gave way to its successor, the MT-9, on the conveyor of the Kyiv Motor Plant.
The new “Dnepr” got rid of some of the ailments of its predecessor and acquired in addition a number of valuable qualities. This primarily concerns the power unit – the engine and gearbox. Heavy motorcycle riders know how difficult it can be to turn around in a tight spot or pull a loaded machine out of the mud. For the owners of the MT-9, these procedures are greatly facilitated – its gearbox is equipped with a reversing gear. Another novelty – automatic clutch disengagement when shifting gears – is also used for the first time on heavy motorcycles. By the way, the switching mechanism itself has undergone a reconstruction, thanks to which the reliability and clarity of its operation have significantly increased. The inclusion of a neutral gear is indicated by a sensor and a green lamp located in the headlight.
Other changes aimed at increasing the life of the engine include the introduction of valve caps on the valve stems, bronze bushings in the rocker arms, as well as removable steel racks that prevent wear of the mounting hole of the rocker arm axis when its fastening is loosened, and a more advanced pressure reducing valve, which improved the operation of the system lubricants. It has become double: a ball valve is installed inside the plunger, which bypasses excess oil in cases where the flow area opened by the plunger is not enough.
The new K-301B carburetor provides the motorcycle with higher dynamic and performance qualities. In addition, it is more economical, especially at high speeds, and it is easier to adjust it for the synchronism of the cylinders.
A cast crankshaft with thin-walled white metal “automobile” liners has proven itself well on MT-8 engines. After 40 thousand kilometers, the connecting rod journals of the shaft have practically no wear, so it was used on the MT-9 without change. To improve the ride quality of the motorcycle, the stroke of the rear wheel suspension shock absorbers has been increased, and stepwise adjustment of the “stiffness” of the spring in them is provided. It is pressed depending on the load of the vehicle and the nature of the road. Increased to 150 mm ground clearance allows travel on bad roads and rough terrain.
The MT-9 is equipped with turn signal lights. Design and technological improvements have significantly increased the durability of the motorcycle. The warranty period is now 18 months, and the mileage before major repairs is at least 40 thousand kilometers.
We are confident that the owners who comply with all the requirements of the motorcycle maintenance and operation manual will significantly exceed this figure and will be satisfied with the new MT-9.
В. СВЯТНЕНКО, конструктор
V. SVYATNENKO, designer
Kyiv City
1972N02P12-13
source: bikerwiki.ru
K-750 on KMZ factory test stand “Rolling Road” doing a few kilometers before final issue. c. 1958-1964.
An old scratchy photograph:
K-750 mobile repair shop. Fitted with drive to the sidecar wheel the vehicle had good cross-country capacity and was accessible to difficult worksites. Here it is carrying out repairs to a tracked crane.
photo: Zuev
1959 Kyiv Ukraine…. The factory conveyor belt moves slowly. The frame – the skeleton of the future motorcycle – gradually grows with details. The engine is installed, the handlebars, the wheels, shields are attached. Where the ceremonial tape breaks to workers cheers, there it stands, gleaming with bright blue paint, a finished vehicle with the brand KMZ – Kyiv Motorcycle Plant.
With the release of the new motorcycle K-750, factory workers began the first year of the seven-year plan.
At the plant, they look at everything, many experiments follow. It is difficult to say where this manifests itself more – in the development of new designs or in the improvement of production technology. In any case, the plant has grown in recent years, from lagging behind it to the number one of producing enterprises of the Ukrainian SSR.
In the office of the director of the plant Pavel Fedorovich Nekhoda, there is not quite an ordinary motorcycle – but fitted with a special box instead of the usual passenger sidecar. This new car is called simply a “motorcycle” here.
The motorcycle is designed to provide mobile technical assistance ability in the field to the mechanics and collective farms, as well as for the foremen of tractor brigades. From serial machines, it differs in a special body, where equipment and specialist tools are placed.
The sidecar body is rectangular, welded, has a hinged lid with a bracket for a spare wheel. In the rear part, a locksmith vice is mounted on the lifting workbench-panel. The lid also has a lowering panel to which a box with a set of thread cutting tools is attached. If necessary, the panel is lowered, and it, relying on special body slats, forms a working table on which you can lay out the necessary tools and parts of the repaired mechanism.
In the office of Pavel Fedorovich there is also an album of photographs taken during the prototype testing of a motorcycle in the field.
There is no doubt about the possibilities of this “ambulance motorcycle assistance”. She is not afraid of snow, rain, dirt, and because the drivetrain has a driven on the wheel of the sidecar
The sidecar drive mechanism is a differential with cylindrical gears and a locking device that is turned on and off using lever. This mechanism is the subject of a separate article, Suffice it to say this is an early version of the later developments by KMZ in sidecar drive, which is again a separate topic.
The wheel of the sidecar, as well as all other wheels of the motorcycle, has a lever suspension with spring-hydraulic double-acting shock absorbers, providing high average driving speeds in bad weather conditions.
When visiting the collective farms of Ukraine in 1959, Comrade Premier of the USSR Nikita Khrushchev, himself a native of Ukraine, personally inspected the repair motorcycle and gave it a positive assessment. At the same time, he pointed to the need to create greater convenience for people using this machine, and, in particular, to protect them from the effects of precipitation.
In 1961, two years later, the design of a new all-terrain motorcycle was developed. A mock-up sample of a motorcycle designed for operation in rural areas was made. A five-speed gearbox with reverse is introduced into the design. The first gear would be stronger than in the production boxes, and the motorcycle will be able to easily overcome difficult sections of the road. Fifth gear provides high speed at rated engine speeds.
The motorcycle was equipped with a windshield, deep knee pads, closed footrests. In bad weather, the driver and passenger would be protected by an easily removable canvas awning, a “landau”.
But the promising developments of the Kiev engineers were never given the green light – this motorcycle remained “on the shelf of projects”, as well as many of their counterparts …
In total, at the Kiev Motorcycle Plant in 1958-1959, three prototypes of the mobile workshop and one “modernized” model were made in 1961.
Based on an article by S. Zuev. Using archival materials “Za rulem”, photograph from private and personal collection.