Dnepr project

I have two Soviet-built Dneprs with sidecars, looking something
like this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Dnepr.JPG

One of them (a mid-80's MT-11) runs (in a crude, Communist sort of way)
and is so funky it's actually fun to ride. I'm always meeting people
in parking lots who ask about it. Especially if they're from
Eastern Europe. This summer at a bike rally in Vancouver I met a group
of Russian kids standing all around it, talking excitedly in their
Slavic lingo. I told them I named it the _Red October_, which they
thought was hilarious.

The other Dnepr is a '78 MT-10/36 that I haven't even tried
to start -- it looks as though it was dragged out of the Volga mud
after the battle of Stalingrad.

Since I'm not interested in the motor (or the rest of the Soviet
drive train for that matter) I thought I'd remove it all, leaving
a bare rolling frame looking like this...
http://edslastresort.com/dnepr/dnepr_frame_1_640.jpg

....which is actually from someone's MT-9 project:
http://edslastresort.com/dnepr/mt9.html

Anyway, the sight of that bare frame is like an open invitation
to put something interesting in it. Such as the drive train
from a BMW or a Sportster or some diesel motor or steam engine
or a battery-powered electric or whatever. Googling images
for "Dnepr conversion" etc shows lots of interesting creations
based on this frame (apparently a lot of these machines have been
delivered world wide; one estimate was 1.5 million. That's
a lotta bikes.)

Because I like the sound and feel of a Harley I'm seriously
considering a Sportster motor, the frame for which looks
something alike, the motor cradle at least:

Sportster:
http://www.sporty-ironheads.com/sportster_frames/images/DSCF0004hdi3-468x300.JPG

Dnepr:
http://edslastresort.com/dnepr/reassembled_chas1.JPG

However, I'm sure it will be a lot of work (and expense) to adapt
it for a Sportster (as well as horrifying any purists who might
be reading this). The most logical choice is obviously a motor
and possibly a complete drive train from a BMW as the whole
rig is a BMW clone. For local insurance reasons an R75/x
motor would be optimal.

Any helpful suggestions appreciated.

TIA, Sean P. Quinlan [of County Cork, Ireland but stranded
here in Canada due to the 1845 potato blight]

 

Citrõen 2CV/Diane etc;
VW Beetlepusher;
Er - or extend the frame a bit and cram a Merlin in? I don't expect
you'd need a gearbox - after all, the Zeppelin-engined FN car didn't
bother with one...

 

This is a 2CV-engined Dnepr I saw at the Elefant last year:

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=1390909&l=838ef8e9f1&id=528363400

Electric motor, and cram the thing the thing with big old-fashioned
NiCads.

 

Nice. Instant desire!

Do I see sort-of short(ish) leading link Earles-type forks?

Several of eclectic encyclical batteries?

 

I certainly can. You may need to squint a bit.

It's very unlikely that they're anything other than the usual Ural
leading link forks

http://www.google.co.uk/images?hl=e...=UTF-8&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&biw=1366&bih=613

That would be an ecumenical matter.

 

Wot? Reverse TAAAW?

 

You know you want to put a stonking great V8 in there!

Boxerboy

 

I'm not trying to change anyone's diet. Also, it's true that I don't
seem to have the resources to do this on my own... however:

Once there was a silly old ram
Thought he'd punch a hole in a dam
No one could make that ram scram
He kept buttin' that dam

{'cause he had high hopes, he had high hopes}
{He had high apple pie-in-the-sky hopes}
So, any time your feelin' bad, 'stead of feelin' sad,
Just remember that ram.

Oops -- there goes a billion-kilowatt dam!

SQ

An R75 will bolt right in (same mounts), but you'd need to do some
machining to match up with Russian gearbox, if that's what you want.

If'n I had my druthers I'd ruther use the whole BMW drive train,
motor to differential. Would it fit? I gotta find out.

SQ

 

Yeahbut you'd lose the reverse gear, which is the main reason for
owning the wretched thing.

 

I hardly ever use reverse on the one that runs (except to show off).
Well, showing off is important of course. But what I really want to do
is ride the thing at highway speeds -- 65 mph would be nice.

The Dnepr that works, its top speed is 45 mph. Anything above that,
the motor approaches self-destruction. I've already blown the pushrod
seals by doing 49.5 mph. I'm not kidding. The thing is crude and rude.
It runs the way I imagine a tractor built in Stalingrad runs
on a collective farm in Soviet Central Asia.

And that's the one that does run (in a manner of speaking).
The other one, its drive train is destined to become spare parts
for the running one. So a complete drivetrain from a BMW including
wheels, brakes, in fact everything but the frame; if I can fit it all
in there, I should have something that hauls at decent speeds.

SQ

 

Quite frankly, unless you're inextricably wedded to the Dnepr running
gear, you're probably better off attaching the chair to a different
bike. This will be a sight easier than shoving some randomly-relected
engine into the Dnepr frame. For instance, there's a bunch of Ural/
R1150GS outfits running around - this sort of thing:

http://www.dmcsidecars.com/Mounting...wr1150gsadvblkuralracksbumperharperrf6.05.JPG

 

I think the usual way is to sandwich-in some sort of mutual interface.
That's how my Lard Roller gearbox meets the Ford V6 Essex Injun.

A Harley might just be crammed-in if it is shoehorned in transversely,
though a lot of - er - remodelling - of the tank might be called for.

 

The very same.

 

Lurking somewhere in the darkest corners of the garage is a similar lump
of aluminium designed to mate a Perkins diesel to a Series 3 gearbox.
No sane person would want to do that nowadays.
I really need to have a good cleanout.

 

Lurking in my shed there's a Petter Model A, and that's right at the
front waiting for attention. What's behind it I daren't admit - well,
daren't admit I can't remember a lot of it...

And:

Bought a lathe yesterday.

Brought it home on the bus. :-/

In a carrier bag. :-o

Now I'm looking for a tiddly 3-jawed chuck. ditto four-jawed, live
centre and dead one, and drill chuck onna stick (Morse-tapered and Twiggy)

Gap-bed, 2" throw with its faceplate, realistically, 1½" if using a
chuck. 7" between centres, so by 'tiddly' I mean minute, not pissed,
though I must admit I probably was when I bought it, as across the road
from whence I came, the King's Head had Spectrum Brewery's Dark
Fantastic on the pump.

 

Turning this over in my mind.

 

I gathered - and *I* responded with another pun...

 

Sounds like a seventies rock band,

 

Sounds like one TAAAW

When I got it, it had twin cherry-bombs, a ickle rally steering-wheel,
go-faster stickers and stripes, bucket seats and all sorts of other
fripparies, but worst (possibly), a 3.5 diff in the back and a 4.7 in
the front axle...

Sorted it - bench seat, LR steering wheel, removed stickers, had a
sensible exhause cobbled together.

Parked it next to twathead's new jalopy one day, and he didn't give it a
second glance. Later, he was aghast, distraught, nay, inconsolable at my
improvements.

I gloat!