Cossack / Dneprs

[LeVelo]

In my continuing quest to MOT the un-MOTable and give worth to the worthless, I've sold my wrecked Velocette LE and bought these two Ukrainian tractors.


This 1976 Dnepr MT9 is running, but stood in tall grass for so long that the exhausts have rusted through and the clutch has stuck on. It's loud and smoky even by classic bike standards, and it came with a partially complete RH sidecar (no wheel and no clamp parts). It has a heel-and-toe semiauto gearshift but no centrifugal clutch, a bizarre combination and I can't see why they've done it.



This MT10 was obviously loved by the previous owner, having alloy rims with stainless spokes, lots of stainless bracketry and bodgery, even a custom belt-driven car alternator hanging out the right side. Also a reverse gear selector fitted where common sense says the neutral-finder should be


I shall continue to call myself LE Velo here on the internet, and some day I shall get myself another, hopefully a sorted one rather than a ghastly frankenbike.

[Cerberus73]

LE velo's dont seem to go for that high a price compared to other classic bikes of same ear, seen loads of nice looking ones around for £800 or so, seem to go at about same price as D7 and D14 bantams. those russian bikes are basically a development of 1940s BMW bikes, ok by the time the 70s came around they had little relation to the actual bike they was based on, ww2 issue BMW and Zundapps. have to admit i would like an ariel leader and a nice MZ Trophy. seems we both like quirky little odd bikes, bet once you get that sidecar rig sorted out it would make a great hack for load lugging.

[Boo]

Nice one LE! I like Dneprs. (better than Urals from what I hear!!) That clutch-interconnected gearchange is pretty common on East European bikes. CZs have the same setup. Clutchless changing is the idea I suppose.
The original alternators are a weak spot and I've heard of the belt-driven car one before on these.
Have they still got the original flatslide (Jikov?) carbs? Another classic source of Dnepr annoyance and popularly replaced with Japanese by people who get fed up of adjusting weekly!

[Newtsalad]

Nice one! I have a standing search on ebay for Ural/ Dnepr! spoke to Romsbikes a few times, but not gone for a deal! too much on now....

[CeeGee]

I've had a long time hankering for some kind of Russian flat twin, preferably with a sidecar. I love the military ones, but the prices are silly.

[Black Sheep Radical]

Good score I'd have a Dnepr outfit if I had anywhere to keep one!

[hondaseventy]

F2 Motorcycles are the importer. I believe when they get the new bikes in from Russia they strip them down, spray everything with ACF 50(they sell this too) to prevent rust and redo all the electrical connections and spray them with ACF 50 as well. Minor electrical problems were quite common on these and F2 say that since they have been doing the above this has eliminated most problems, (electrically) .
http://www.f2motorcycles.ltd.uk/
Plenty of spares too!
They are also selling Jawa 2 strokes with or without sidecars!

[LeVelo]

Have they still got the original flatslide (Jikov?) carbs? Another classic source of Dnepr annoyance and popularly replaced with Japanese by people who get fed up of adjusting weekly!

The rusty one's got jikov k301s and they work perfectly without even being taken off the bike, they're miles better than the Villiers Juniors and dellorto PHBGs I cut my ratbiking teeth on. Will they keep working if I strip and clean them? Probably not. But I've got a wideband exhaust gas analyser widget on order that'll take some human error out of the inevitable carb tuning.

The electrics are alarming, rusty bike is relying on paint as an insulator since all the wire sleeving has gone brittle, the other lacks any electrical method of stopping the engine once it starts.
They both run and charge though, that's a lot more than I was expecting.

[aliengravy]

Have they still got the original flatslide (Jikov?) carbs? Another classic source of Dnepr annoyance and popularly replaced with Japanese by people who get fed up of adjusting weekly!

But I've got a wideband exhaust gas analyser widget on order that'll take some human error out of the inevitable carb tuning.

What one did you go for? Is it the innovate system?

[LeVelo]

I chose the AEM 5130 which is just a 2" dial gauge that points at rich or lean, I like dials more than number displays and I didn't need any of the datalogging/OBD scan stuff.

It's lodged somewhere in the postal U-bend between America and the UK at the moment, not expecting to see it this side of the Dragon Rally.