The M-72 was the heavy military motorcycle from which both the Ural and the Dnepr descend. Conceived before the Second World War as a replacement for the Red Army’s outdated TIZ-AM-600 and PMZ-A-750, it was a direct derivative of the BMW R71, obtained under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact.
Dnepr M-72 at a glance
| Maker | MMZ Moscow, IMZ Irbit, GMZ Gorky and KMZ Kyiv |
|---|---|
| Design basis | BMW R71, under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact |
| Production at IMZ | 1942–1955 |
| Production at KMZ | 1952–1956 |
| Replaced | TIZ-AM-600 and PMZ-A-750 |
| Engine | side-valve flat twin |
| Power | 22 hp |
| Sidecar | fitted to most machines |
| Later models | M-72N, M-72M |
| Chinese descendant | CJ750 of the Chang Jiang series |
| Built in China | until the mid-1980s |
The M-72 has its own English Wikipedia article; the Russian article on the Dnepr covers the Kyiv production and the 1953 M-72N.
History of the Dnepr M-72
A replacement for two outdated motorcycles
The Red Army entered the Winter War with two heavy motorcycles, the TIZ-AM-600 and the PMZ-A-750. Both had performed unsatisfactorily against Finland and were considered outdated, so a replacement was sought abroad. The choice fell on the BMW R71, a design the German Wehrmacht had itself rejected as a replacement for the R12. The Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of 1939 put the necessary legal, political and economic procedures in place for BMW to provide the design, the tooling and the training for the motorcycle and its military sidecar.
Three factories and a war
The M-72 was to be built in Moscow, Leningrad and Kharkiv, with parts coming from several other factories. Only the MMZ factory in Moscow produced complete motorcycles before the German invasion of 1941. The Moscow plant was then moved east to Irbit in western Siberia and became the Irbit Motorcycle Factory (IMZ), while the Kharkiv and Leningrad plants were relocated to Gorky, on the outskirts of the GAZ works, becoming the Gorky Motorcycle Plant (GMZ). Both factories built motorcycles during the war, but every sidecar for the M-72 and for the Lend-Lease machines was made at Gorky. IMZ produced the M-72 from 1942 to 1955, and the improved M-72M from 1955 to 1960.
Production in Kyiv
Kyiv received the M-72 through the reorganisation of the Gorky plant: in 1949 it was liquidated and about a hundred specialists, together with equipment, moved to the Kyiv Motorcycle Plant (KMZ). In the fourth quarter of 1952 KMZ built its first 500 engines and gearboxes, and the same number of complete motorcycles using chassis supplied by Irbit. The Russian history records that the first M-72N followed in 1953, with a new lever front fork, hydraulic shock absorbers, cast aluminium brake drums and stronger spokes. KMZ produced the M-72 until 1956, after which the plant developed its own line of derivatives.
From Kyiv to China
In 1957 the Soviet Union sold the M-72 production line to the People’s Republic of China. IMZ supplied complete machines until the transfer and spare parts until 1960, and production continued in China into the mid-1980s; the CJ750 of the Chang Jiang series is the M-72’s direct descendant. In the Soviet Union the type also became the first motorcycle of the Kremlin honour escort, which chose the Kyiv-built M-72 in 1955 and remained a KMZ customer for nearly four decades.
Design and features
- BMW R71 design: a side-valve flat twin with a shaft final drive, licensed and tooled up for Soviet production.
- Sidecar as standard: most M-72s left the factories as complete outfits with a military sidecar.
- Interchangeability: the same basis served IMZ in Irbit, GMZ in Gorky and KMZ in Kyiv, and later both the Ural and the Dnepr lines.
- Long service life: the design was simple enough to be built in China for another three decades.
Dnepr M-72 versions
- M-72 (1942–1955): the original Irbit-built military motorcycle.
- M-72N (1953): the transitional KMZ model with a lever front fork and hydraulic damping.
- M-72M (1955–1960): the later IMZ version.
- KMZ M-72 (1952–1956): the Kyiv-built machines, the starting point of the Dnepr line.
- CJ750: the Chinese descendant, produced into the mid-1980s.
The M-72 was the ancestor of the Dnepr K-650 and of the military MV-750. More Kyiv-built motorcycles are in the Dnepr collection.
Sources
- Dnepr M-72, English Wikipedia: origins, wartime production, China
- Днепр (мотоцикл), Russian Wikipedia: Kyiv production, M-72N, escort history
- Dnepr (motorcycle), English Wikipedia: place of the M-72 in the KMZ line
