Tuesday 3 February 2015

Friday bike

Here's another rarity for you.
PMZ-A-750 (ПМЗ А-750)

 Not much information on the Web, but the PMZ-A-750 was the first Soviet built 'heavy bike', manufactured from 1934 onwards. It was one of a number of bikes used by the Soviet Army in the pre-WW2 era before they settled on the BMW derived designs.
More than a passing US influence! Love the swoopy pressed steel frame, and I just can't work out how the front suspension works.
Period photo

You could even get a model kit of it.






Stolen from here.
 
Weight: 210 Kg
Motorcycle kind: heavy
Kind of the engine and its volume: 2 cylinders, 746 cm3
Engine power: 14 h.p.
Maximum speed: 90 km/h




In 1930 the group of designers of Scientific Autotractor Institute (SATI) started creation of the first Soviet heavy motorcycle. Pyotr Vladimirovich Mozharog — the known Soviet engineer, the founder of one of first domestically produced motorcycles Izh-1 headed designers collective. The experience received by Mozharog after training in Germany at a factory of BMW allowed to develop in short terms the necessary complete set of drawings and other engineering specifications. Simultaneously in Izhevsk construction of the motorcycle factory — giant with productivity of 120000 motorcycles in one year started. May, first, 1933 in shops of the constructed Experimental motorcycle factory four first motorcycle SATI A-750 were framed. Because of some technological reasons manufacture of SATI was transferred to Podolsk Mechanical Factory. First industrial batch of PMZ-A-750 in July, 1934 was examined by people's commissar of heavy industry Sergo Ordzhonikidze.
PMZ-A-750 was used not only in army, in parts of People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs, but also on civil service. It actively used both in city, and on village (for example, for transportation of mail) and even acted in film. People of the senior generation certainly know film of 1939 «Tractorists». In film the main heroine whom Marina Ladynina played valiantly steered with motorcycle PMZ.


Lots of photos of one being restored (Russian text): here.


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