The M-72 was a

motorcycle A motorcycle (motorbike, bike, or trike (if three-wheeled)) is a two or three-wheeled motor vehicle steered by a handlebar. Motorcycle design varies greatly to suit a range of different purposes: long-distance travel, commuting, cruising ...

built by the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

. Conceived as a replacement for the two heavy motorcycles used by the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...

, the TIZ-AM-600 and

PMZ-A-750 The PMZ-A-750 (Russian: ПМЗ-А-750) was a pre-World War II heavy motorcycle produced in the USSR by the PMZ (motorcycle), PMZ factory. History The PMZ-A-750 was the first heavy motorcycle manufactured in the Soviet Union. It was designed in t ...

, both of which had performed unsatisfactorily during the

Winter War The Winter War,, sv, Vinterkriget, rus, Зи́мняя война́, r=Zimnyaya voyna. The names Soviet–Finnish War 1939–1940 (russian: link=no, Сове́тско-финская война́ 1939–1940) and Soviet–Finland War 1 ...

against

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

and were considered outdated designs. The replacement chosen was the BMW R71, which had been rejected by the German

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previous ...

as a replacement for the R12. As a result of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, the necessary legal, political and economic procedures were in place for BMW to provide the design, tooling and training for the manufacture of the motorcycle and military sidecar.

History

The M-72 was intended to be built at three factories located in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

Leningrad Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

and

Kharkiv Kharkiv ( uk, wikt:Харків, Ха́рків, ), also known as Kharkov (russian: Харькoв, ), is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine.MMZ factory in Moscow produced any complete motorcycles prior to the German invasion in 1941 and commencement of the Eastern Front. Then, the Moscow factory was moved east to the town of

Irbit Irbit (russian: Ирби́тStress is given per the ''Dictionary of modern geographical names'', entry o().) is a town in Sverdlovsk Oblast, Russia, located from Yekaterinburg by train or by car, on the right bank of the Nitsa. Population: ...

Western Siberia Western Siberia or West Siberia (russian: Западная Сибирь, Zapadnaya Sibir'; kk, Батыс Сібір) is a part of the larger region of Siberia that is mostly located in the Russian Federation. It lies between the Ural region an ...

, becoming the Irbit Motorcycle Factory ( IMZ). The Kharkiv and Leningrad factories were relocated to Gorky on the outskirts of the

GAZ GAZ or Gorkovsky Avtomobilny Zavod (russian: ГАЗ or Го́рьковский автомоби́льный заво́д, , Gorky Automobile Plant) is a Russian automotive manufacturer located in Nizhny Novgorod, formerly known as Gorky (Го� ...

plant, becoming the Gorky Motorcycle Plant ( GMZ). During the war, motorcycles were produced at both factories. However, all sidecars for both the M-72 and

Lend-Lease Lend-Lease, formally the Lend-Lease Act and introduced as An Act to Promote the Defense of the United States (), was a policy under which the United States supplied the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and other Allied nations with food, oil, ...

bikes were produced at Gorky only. In 1952, 500 M-72 engines were shipped from the IMZ to the KMZ factory in

Kyiv Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...

to produce their first batch of M-72s. KMZ produced the M-72 until 1956. A closely-related model, the M-72N, was produced later. In 1957, the Soviets sold the M-72 production line to the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. The IMZ plant supplied M-72s to China up to the transfer of the production line in 1957 and continued to supply parts to China until 1960. Production continued in China through the mid-1980s. The M-72's current descendant is the CJ750 of the

Chang Jiang The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ; ) is the longest river in Asia, the third-longest in the world, and the longest in the world to flow entirely within one country. It rises at Jari Hill in the Tanggula Mountains (Tibetan Plateau) and flows ...

series.

Design

M-72 motorcycles were predominantly produced with a sidecar attached, although some solos made appearances for escort duties and the like. M-72 were produced at IMZ in Irbit from 1942 until 1955. A subsequent model, the M-72M was produced from 1955 until 1960.

Notes

References

*Энциклопедия Мотоциклов. Фирмы. Модели. Конструкции. - За Рулем - Москва (2003) *"Entsiklopediya Mototsiklov. Firmi. Modeli. Konstruktsii.", Za Rulem, Moscow (2003). *"Encyclopaedia of Motorcycles. Firms. Models. Manufacturers. Za Rulem, Moscow (2003). *Historie der M-72 und ihrer Nachfolger. J.Pevsner und R. Rodenkirchen; Motorrad-Classic Heft 2/2000. *

External links

*{{Commonscat inline, IMZ M-72 Dnepr motorcycles Motorcycles of the Soviet Union Germany–Soviet Union relations Sidecars Motorcycles introduced in the 1940s Military vehicles introduced from 1940 to 1944

History

Design

See also

Notes

References

External links