IMZ-Ural

IMZ-Ural (Russian: Ирбитский мотоциклетный завод, tr. Irbitskiy Mototsikletniy Zavod) is a Russian maker of heavy sidecar motorcycles. Recently the company has developed a solo motorcycle with no sidecar. In 1940, the Soviet Union acquired the design and production techniques for BMW R 71 motorcycles and sidecars. The first M-72 model was finished in 1941. Originally, factories were to be located in Moscow, Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg), and Kharkov, but due to the approach of Nazi German troops, the Moscow facilities were moved to Irbit, and the Leningrad and Kharkov facilities to Gorkiy (now called Nizhny Novgorod). A similar model is the Soviet (now Ukrainian) Dnepr motorcycle. Both Ural and Dnepr motorcycles are sometimes known...