Old Russian iron

I couldn't help my self when I saw this old Russian made piece of iron, and now I have another bike.

It's a Dnepr MT-9 with sidecar with Russian papers.

I plan on getting it through the MOT this year, and then restoring it afterwards.

Wow! Keep us updated on the progress Kim 

Yes, keep us updated please Kim, I like a good restoration thread.

Very nice, I like it.  I met a bloke who had a Chinese version of the old BMW similar to this. He had stuck a BMW badge on it and had bit of fun fooling the "experts" at a BMW Club bash.

Its a while since I saw a Dnepr ..... they have reverse gear (handy on a combo). From memory - Its on the R?H side and you have to fiddle around at ankle level to engage the lever by hand !
At least its the OHV motor .... so 'modern' for one of those
Good luck with the project Doc !

Hi Kim
Very nice, but indeed a hard work for very long time to put it on the road.

Off topic: Here there's a Dnepr with side car and the owner wants 3.500GBP for it after a restoration:
http://sesimbra.zeebukportugal.com/dnepr-16-moto-russa-original-sidecar-viii-130559-veiculos2
i will translate:
Original Russian motorcycle with sidecar in very good condition. Has 2 types of manual and automatic transmission, repainted, wheels / new tires, new mechanics. I accept return. good opportunity.


Unfortunately is on since 2012!!!!

What an ace project Kim 

My goodness, you will have your work cut out there. Must be very satisfying to have the ability to see such a project through to the end, best of luck Sir.

Kim, don,t restore, tidy it up and preserve it, takes ages to aquire that Patina on a bike, like the sound of the bike Jos"e ( couldn,t find the accent on my keyboard) mentioned.. even comes with it,s own Mechanic !!

The guy e stayed at in France has 6 of these in all there various names, Ural, Neval, Dneiper, Cossack etc.... He swear by them & at them but they take as much hammer as you need to throw at them whilst surviving on the normal servicing.
I tried to ride one whilst with him & put it into the trees more times than enough so gave up whilst I was still unharmed!
Just throw some paint at it after servicing it & make sure the electrics are ok & it'll serve you well!

Very interesting. Good luck with your project. 
Are you going for a rolling restoration then? Use it, enjoy it, as you do improvements? What year is it?  Guess that must be on the reg docs??

I have had it started and running after cleaning and adjusting the ignition, but it was pain in the ass because the ignition plate holding the points has a lot of play in it, meaning the point gap moved all over the place while adjusting the timing.

But it ran, and "only" leaked gas from both carbs, tank and petcock 

I rode it down the road it a cloud of smoke, and it really most of all felt like riding a tractor.

But it was running, and the reverse gear is so much fun.

it's a 1973 btw.

It Lives!    That's a good start 

That sounds like a good example of a Denpr ..... lots of smoke & an agricultural feel - enjoy ....

...... but it sounds as if you will get a taste for the agricultural ..... & that could lead to a H-D !

Excellent !     I was wondering where that blue cloud came from?

That looks the dogz just the way it is  - leave it, it has character.  Back in the eighties, I very nearly bought a Ural with a gun mount on the side-car - but having the side-car on the right was just too much

I think I saw one of these the a couple of weeks ago stop at a garage on me way to Coventry guy had something like that his was in great shape though had a chat to him and his mate whist stopped with coffee and a ciggy took a few pics could post em up if I weren't crap on computers lol

katsd wrote:

That looks the dogz just the way it is  - leave it, it has character.  Back in the eighties, I very nearly bought a Ural with a gun mount on the side-car - but having the side-car on the right was just too much

I'm curious as to why you thought the right side was too much? (Assuming it was pre 1980 or whatever year the law states)

Reason I ask is because when the Ural sidecar is switched to the left the drive to the sidecar wheel gets 'lost'. To my way of thinking the main reason to have a Ural is for this off road capabilty, otherwise its just an ordinary combo.

My best mate at the time had a left hand drive Capri - after driving that a couple of times, I was put off the experience of having to pull into oncoming traffic to pass a large vehicle.  To be perfectly honest, at the time I didn't know they were off-road capable, & I wouldn't have used it for that anyway.  It'd been lying around one of our customers workshops forever & he only wanted peanuts for it.  I bought the Katana instead

Yep, thinking about it now that would be rather hairy!

It's not too bad if you have a passenger to give you an indication if it's safe to pull out (but being the passenger can be a bit buttock-clenching), but it's a nightmare if you're by yourself - you have to pull into the oncoming lane before you can see anything

Kim, Morgan spotted this today and sent me the pics to put on the forum for inspiration possibly? 

thanks for putting up them pics Sim mate. I'd never seen one of these before nice bikes though and deffo not something you see every day

Nice bike, that's a much newer Ural though.

I have btw gotten another Dnepr, as I realized the MT9 will take some time to get ready to run.

This is a 1980 Dnepr MT10-36, so it is a classic bike too, as thus very cheap registretion and insurance.

I had to fix the electrics and borrow the heads from the MT9, as one head had a big hole at a broken fin, and the other had a loose exhaust valve guide.

After putting some other carburators on it, and replacing oils and brakes, it runs and I just need to punch in the VIN in the hack to be able to register it with and without the hack.

That valve doesn't look like it's been seating very well   are they easy to work on? I've read that they're a bike you could strip and rebuild at the roadside if need be.

Looks like you have a bit of work there - be interesting to see how it progresses

simbo wrote:

That valve doesn't look like it's been seating very well   are they easy to work on? I've read that they're a bike you could strip and rebuild at the roadside if need be.

It ran even though the valve guide nearly fell out by itself, but the was some blue smoke on the side 

And yes it is very easy and great fun to work on, but the metal quality is terrible on nearly all parts.
I plan on doing a complete engine rebuild during the winter, to have a reliable engine to take on longer trips.

katsd wrote:

Looks like you have a bit of work there - be interesting to see how it progresses

The MT9 need a lot of work both mechanically, and the hack is very rusty so there is some panel work too.

The MT10 has already been repainted and got a new wire harness, so it is mostly the engine and the wheels which need to be rebuild.

It is clear these bikes were made to ride on very bad roads, as not much attention was given to make good wheels. They are anything but round 

My first succesful  trip today, it was only 3km though.

Down to the harbor and the bike ran great, but on the way home it started running very bad, and ended running bad on only one cylinder.

I have rebuild both the engine and the gearbox, replacing stuff with better quality where possible, and getting the heads and cylinders done at a local machine-shop.
But I made a mistake replacing one of the pushrods, and failed to notice that the ends of the pushrod where to big to fit the adjustment screw and the tappet.
This caused the pushrod to become too short as it was pounded to fit, and ended up falling out of the adjustment screw.

Nevertheless it was great fun to ride, and I can't wait to get out riding again.

Good to see you've made a trip on the combo ....... looks good in the photos too

Good luck with the rest of the work !

Wow, wow, wow, what a fantastic project!

Keep up the good work Kim, coming along nicely and looking good too!    except the push rod jobbie of course, I bet that sounded like a bag of spanners 

Good on you! Wish I had those skills. 

That looks sweet Kim - well done

Could have been a lot worse Kim but well done on the re-build anyway!

She is running again after replacing the pushrod, and sorting another issue with the exhaust valve sticking.
Seems the high quality parts may have too little tolerance for this old Russian airhead 

But nothing a little polishing of both the valve and the guide with sandpaper can't fix.

they run on mm clearance Kim not microns lol!