The models, the riders and the propaganda that surrounded them: those interested in Soviet era Russian motorcycles and the era that created them, need look no further than this lavishly illustrated and unique book covering the cold war period, when East and West were divided by ideology.
Period Covered: 1939-1990 Models Covered: All motorcycles produced in the Soviet Union between 1941 and 1990. The large flat-twin four-stroke motorcycles produced in the Kiev and Irbit plants: the M72, K750, M63, Mt11, MT12, MT16, M61, M62, M63, M67; the 350cc twins and single two-strokes produced in Ishevsk; the 125cc and 175cc two-strokes produced in Kovrov and the 125cc two-strokes produced in Minsk. It also covers the Vostok and flat-twin road racing motorcycles plus Jawa and Pannonia 250cc and 350cc two-stroke imports from Czechoslovakia and Hungary respectively.
Models NOT Covered: scooters, mopeds, cyclemotors.
Features: • The first English language text on postwar motorcycles produced in the Soviet Union • Technical information on every motorcycle produced in the USSR between 1941 and 1990 • Extensive use of previously unavailable material • Fully illustrated throughout in both black and white and colour • A fascinating insight into the lives of ordinary citizens in the USSR • Hidden history of Soviet motorcycle sport – from ice-racing and speedway to road-racing • Rare family photographs illustrating the place of motorcycles in social life in the USSR • 20th Century Socialist-Realist iconography applied to motorcycling • Aspects of motorcycling not seen elsewhere – bears as riders, camels as passengers! • Describes state production of utilitarian motorcycles on a scale not seen before or since