Motorcycles - Russia: Books - History, Types and Construction

Motorcycles and Motorcycling in the USSR from 1939 - A Social and Technical History

This book provides the first accessible English language account of motorcycles in the Soviet Union. Concentrating on the wartime and postwar period until 1990, prior to the dissolution of the USSR in 1991, it covers the motorcycles produced, and looks at the way in which they were used at home and exported abroad. Chapters cover wartime, models produced, the social character of Soviet era motorcycling, and wide-ranging sport.

With planned rather than market-led production based around copies of pre-war German BMW and DKW models, the industry churned out hundreds of thousands of utilitarian and rugged machines that were very different from the more fashion-orientated machines produced in the West. These motorcycles went under the place names of the producing factories: Ishevsk, Kovrov, Moskva, Minsk and, of course, the large flat twins produced in Irbit and Kiev under the Ural and Dnepr names.

With a strong emphasis on Soviet era illustrations, the book provides an insight into a life, based on idealism and ideology that has now passed. Photographs and images, many of them from private family collections, show Soviet bikes as well as popular imports Jawa from Czechoslovakia, and Pannonia from Hungary.

Information

Author:	Colin Turbett
Details:	128 pages, 25 x 20.5 cm / 9.8 x 8.1 in, hardback
Illustrations:	286 b&w and colour photos
Publisher:	Veloce Publishing Ltd (GB, 2019)
ISBN:	9781787113145

Motorräder des Ostblocks - Bulgarien, Polen, Sowjetunion 1945-1990 (Typenkompass)

It was not only MZ and Simson that drove in the former GDR: in the course of so-called compensation deals, vehicles were repeatedly imported from Eastern Bloc countries.
Since the GDR was given sovereignty over motorcycle construction up to 250 cc by the CMEA states, the CZ and Pannonia, the CZ and Ural were hardly to be found on the road, but all the more so in the countries of origin.

In his usual meticulous manner and extensively documented in numerous, often historical photos, Frank Rönicke offers a comprehensive overview of two-wheeler production in the Eastern Bloc in this Typenkompass.

Information

Author:	Frank Rönicke
Details:	120 pages, 20.5 x 14 cm / 8.1 x 5.5 in, paperback
Illustrations:	29 b&w and 90 colour photos
Publisher:	Motorbuch Verlag (D, 2016)
Series:	Typenkompass
ISBN:	9783613038745

Mit Hammer und Schlüssel: Der Ratgeber für M72, Ural und Dnepr

When the first edition of this book was published in 2003, Russian motorcycles were considered the epitome of "junk on wheels". They were barely suitable for rough driving fun on your own property or as a relatively everyday vehicle for hopeless optimists.
Anyone who dared to take on the Dnepr or Ural adventure back then really had to have a lot of courage and constantly had to defend themselves against the teasing of know-it-alls. Today, around fifteen years later, things are not much better, but the once cheap imports from beyond the Iron Curtain have matured into genuine vintage cars with a constantly growing fan base.

At the same time, the legacy of post-Stalinist mass production has given rise to a small motorcycle manufacturer that builds Russian classics to current standards. Riding a Russian motorcycle - whether old or new - is a very unique attitude to life. It teaches you to be slow, pragmatic and able to suffer.

This book helps with that. It is intended to open up the world of these survivors of times long past, especially to those who are thinking about buying a classic 650 Ural or Dnepr. Or to give the new "Russian driver" a deep insight into the history of these controversial sidecars.

And above all, it is intended to clear up the half-truths and rumors that still persist today at the local bar or even in the specialist press. After more than 100 000 km with his Ural "without any particular incidents" (measured by the world view of a Ural driver), the author set about combining his experiences and interesting facts about history and technology - from the great-grandmother and BMW copy "M72" to the current generation of Ural sidecars - into a guide that quickly established itself as a standard work and is now finally available again as a bound and updated edition.

Information

Author:	Tom van Endert
Details:	120 pages, 21.5 x 21.5 cm / 8.5 x 8.5 in, hardback
Illustrations:	b&w and colour photos
Publisher:	Karren Publishing (D, 2019)
ISBN:	9783947060078

Russisch Eisen - Ural und Dnepr - von der M72 bis heute

Millions of Russian sidespans had to eke out their existence under the harshest conditions. They were driven over bumpy roads in all weathers, often mercilessly overloaded, always extracting maximum performance and certainly not regularly maintained according to the manual.
This may explain why many of the now aging vehicles on the European market are in a neglected state despite rising prices and urgently need a caring hand.

To fans of Soviet motorcycles, the many negative opinions about Urals and Dneprs will seem exaggerated or even completely wrong. Nevertheless, Soviet motorcycles break down more often than Western ones. Not least, this gives us a certain tolerance for suffering, a lot of gallows humor and brings the scene together. A phenomenon that is as old as our motorcycles themselves.

This book explains why this is so. But it also shows what can be done to prevent most breakdowns - and it whets the appetite for the Soviet way of riding, maintaining, cursing and loving motorcycles.

Many years ago, Karren Publishing published a very similar book. Until recently, "With Hammer and Wrench" was the only book in the world about these fascinating iron monsters. André Wachholz's book is not a simple "Swedish" version of this bestseller. Rather, it continues where "Mit Hammer and Schlüssel" leaves off.

Information

Author:	André Wachholz
Details:	200 pages, 21.5 x 21.5 x 2 cm / 8.5 x 8.5 x 0.79 in, hardback
Illustrations:	179 b&w and colour photos
Publisher:	Karren Publishing (D, 2021)
ISBN:	9783947060016