Dnepr

The history of DNEPR motorcycles begins in Irbit, Ukraine. The DNEPR was known in Ukraine as KMZ, Kiev Motor Works. The KMZ plant came into being in 1950 and because the bikes were called KMZ products, they had to change the name, being called DNEPR after the river that run near Kiev. The DNEPR motorcycles, built in two wheel drive version, were designed by Ural engineers and used for military production. The KMZ plant is the facility in the Ukraine that the USSR chose to continue the production of the M72s. At first, here it was produced the M72H models and after a while, they began production of the new K-750 model, which put the M72 in the dark. On that period of time, the most popular model was BMW R-71 and the soviet engineers wanted to create an identical "jewel". So, without any documentation, they copied the details of the bike. The machine had a two cylinder engine, 22 hp, four speed and shaft drive, called M-72. After a few years, in 1952, a modern version of the M-72 appeared. It was the K-750 bike, a 26 hp engine. Eight years later, the Irbit factory started the production of the M-61 bike, a 28 hp motor. In 1961, this bike had a bigger brother, the M-62 and another one, M-63 in 1963, dressed up with a new 32 hp engine. In 1971 another DNEPR, MT-9, equipped with gear-box with rear speed, was very appreciated. Three years later, a "new star" was born, M-67, while MT-10 was on its way. Both machines had 12V electrical equippment and 36 hp engines. Year after year new models were created, so, 42 years after the first bike was conceived, the DNEPR-11, DNEPR-16, DNEPR-300 became very popular. They were used by civilians and by miltary forces as well. For the army forces, more than 1,500,000 DNEPR machines with sidecars have been produced. The engine of those "two wheels machines" was a 650cc boxer twin, just like the one of the old R-71. The modern models have standard 650cc, 750cc and 800cc engines. K-650 was manufactured from 1968 till 1974. With 32hp at 5200rpm and a compression ratio of 7.0:1, this model had a lot of similarities with MT-09. The K650 replaced the K750 and was sold in the UK as Cossack 650D. MT-10, with a power of 32hp, had a 649cc engine and was manufactured in the 80's, followed by MT-11 and MT-16. MB650-M1  was built in the 80's, until the factory closed the doors, in the 90s.