Ural/Dnepr 650

650cc OHV flat twin 693lb (combination) 83mph 1957 on In 1940, the Soviet Union acquired the design and production techniques for BMW R71 from the Germans. The bikes went into production in Moscow and Leningrad until the invasion of the country in 1941, at which point the factory was moved to Irbit in Siberia. The side valve BMW R71 became the M72, and postwar production moved to Kiev for the army, while civilian bikes were made at Irbit. Kiev eventually made an OHV Dnepr which was strongly based on the prewar German Zundapp KS750, while the OHV Ural’s heritage was more BMW-based. Finish on all the bikes was crude, electrical reliability was suspect, and engineering tolerances wide, but the Ural was extremely cheap and the machines were rugged. Urals have a cult following, as to a lesser extent do Dneprs, which were sold with sidecars attached and had reverse gears. The Ural was sold as a solo for many years and is still available new as a vintage-style sidecar combination with Brembo brakes and Nippon Denso electrics. There is burgeoning enthusiasm for them in the USA. The tooling for the M72 was given to China, where the bikes were made by Chang Jiang.

Prices

low £1000 || high £4000 (new £15,000)