M-72 Motorcycles

A short history • In 1939 the Soviet Union and Germany signed an agreement/pact of which a part of; was for the production in Moscow (copy under Licence) of the BMW R-71. BMW provided the design, tooling and training for the so-called soviet boxer, branded in the Soviet Union as the M-71. Manufacturing got underway and first motorcycles and sidecars were produced in 1941, but, by this time Russia and Germany were enemies and the main factories were moved to Irbit (IMZ) in Siberia far out of bombing range and Gorky (GMZ) motorcycles were produced in both factories But, all sidecars were made at Gorky • M-71 was slightly changed and became the M-72 were produced at IMZ in Irbit from 1942 until 1955. Another big move took place around 1952 parts for motorcycles and sidecars being sent to Kiev in the Ukraine (KMZ) factory to help start their own pro-duction. Bikes build in Kiev from 1952 to 1956 M-72-N were generally made up of a mix of leftover parts and first local production and were for the first time for sale to the public in 1951. The M-72-M the last version. • In 1957 was sold off to the Peoples Republic of China (PRC) The IMZ plant which had supplied M-72 to the PRC military later moved all M72 production line to PRC where production seized in 1960. Production continued in China with the current day version the Chang Jiang CJ-750.