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My name is Russell Beakhouse, from Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada and I’m very pleased to be a new Dnepr owner and this is my story.
I’m not sure if it was a midlife crisis or a midlife coming of age, but last year I had an incredible desire to own a motorcycle again. I discussed the idea of having a bike again with my wife, Mindy, who was always comfortable riding on the back with me and she gave me the supportive thumbs up. Being the typical and ordinary family man, with a mortgage, car payments and other usual bills, I could only manage a budget of $3,500 to find a used motorcycle. This was a pretty exciting venture for me. I felt like a kid at Christmas, with impatience and anticipation. What could I buy for under $3,500? My first two bikes were under $1,000, so I thought my options would be plentiful, however I soon discovered there wasn’t much to choose from, especially since it was now early October. The motorcycle dealerships quickly dismissed me as a prospective customer, when I asked about their used inventory in the $3,000 range. They made it sound like a good used motorcycle in that price range was all but an impossibility. I searched through the local classified ads, which were few and far between and when I did find something that caught my eye, it was already sold. This was going to be harder than I thought. I decided to check out Ebay, which was new to me too and considered buying something from another Province or even in the United States. Browsing through the hundreds of ads was quite overwhelming, but at least I had some inventory to look at and got some ideas of what I might like to own. Then I came across something that stopped me dead in my tracks. It was a Dnepr with a sidecar. I had seen this sort of thing in the war movies, but never thought of such a thing being available to the civilian public. I was a little confused, because the ad said the rig was a 2005, but it looked like a 1945? The “Buy it Now” price was about $4,500, which seemed extremely reasonable, but with the U.S exchange rate on the Canadian dollar at the time and shipping it, would put me over my budget.
Further research, lead me also to the Chang Jiang, the Chinese version and the Ural motorcycles. I clicked on the dealer network for Ural and couldn’t believe my eyes, when I saw a dealer in Nova Scotia… and it was only about ten minutes from my home. Kottwitz Werke Inc. www.ural.ca Tel: (902) 832 1629. Why hadn’t I noticed their location and bikes before? Who cares, I thought. I immediately set out to see them to get a close-up and personal look. Unfortunately, my excitement turned quickly to disappointment, when they didn’t have any Ural rigs in stock. Disappointment lead to an even bigger let down, when I realized the price for a new Ural was between $11,000 and $13,000. Just a little outside my price range. I was having a hard time understanding why the Dnepr and the Chang Jiang were a third of the price? Were they some sort of scam? What’s going on, I thought. Back to the internet I went, to find some other options. What I loved about the Dnepr and Urals the most, was the idea of a sidecar. If I couldn’t have one of these, then perhaps I could find another brand with a sidecar. I remembered seeing a Triumph with a sidecar rig before, so I called British Cycle, a local dealer of Triumph and other British bike parts. Would you know where I could find a used motorcycle with a sidecar, I asked.
“What kind of bike is it” I asked. “It’s called a Dnepr”, he said. When he said Dnepr, I could feel the excitement flowing through my body I couldn’t believe it. “Put him on the phone”, I asked. Sure enough, he had a 1993 Dnepr 650cc MT11 with a sidecar, which he had owned for about ten years and he wanted $4,000 firm. Pretty close to my price range, so I immediately got directions and drove the 150km to see it, with trailer in tow and the intent of bringing it home. It wasn’t perfect, and like I had read, the finish was not as refined as what I was used to, compared to traditional brands of motorcycles, but it didn’t matter. It started up straight away and sounded great. I was meant to have it, so I paid his asking price and loaded it onto my trailer along with a box of assorted parts. The next morning I took it around the block for its first test drive. I knew a motorcycle with a sidecar attached would be a completely different riding experience, so I putted around my subdivision doing only 40kmh. Even at that speed, when I rounded a sharp right hand curve, I thought I was going to drive it straight into the ditch. This would take some getting used to, I thought. Unfortunately, my trips around the block came to a sudden end, when the bike started to backfire, bog down and then stall completely. It wouldn’t re-start, even after about 50 kicks, so I pushed her home and straight into the garage. I had read in my research that you should be mechanically inclined to own one of these, but I didn’t expect to need any mechanical ability so soon. I thought it was probably a simple thing, like the fuel lines, or perhaps I had the petcock shut off, or even out of gas. Well, no such luck. After replacing the fuel lines, checking the petcock and topping her up with gas, she ran just as terrible. How could this be, she ran so well the night before. I took the carbs apart and noticed gas was inside one of the floats. Well, there’s one problem, but now I’ll need parts. Thank goodness for the internet, because I found a supplier of Dnepr parts, called Russian American Motorcycles, in Seattle, Washington, USA. Email lloydsea@webtv.net Tel: (206) 762 0190.
During that time I rebuilt the transmission, replaced the clutch, adjusted the spokes on all the wheels and did some cosmetic repainting. Considering the previous owner worked in a bike shop, I was a little surprised at how many things it needed to make it work well and be safe for the road. It was worth the effort and the extra money. The 2007 riding season was great fun and the rig has worked perfectly. My wife rides in the sidecar and my daughter rides on the back. I needed to arrange it that way to balance the weight and we have enjoyed it as a family. I love the attention we get. People smile and wave to us wherever we go. When it’s parked, people ask the typical questions, “what is it? how old is it? and I enjoy talking to people about it. My Dnepr gets more pictures taken and more attention, than the expensive Harley’s and such at the local motorcycle hangout in downtown Halifax. Winter is coming again now, so I’ll spend the next few months in my garage doing some more detailing, adding a few accessories and waiting for spring again.
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info@cossackownersclub.co.uk
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I’m
47 years of age and have been a motorcycle enthusiast since I was a young boy.
It wasn’t until I was 27 however, that I purchased my first bike, a 1981
Kawasaki 250 LTD, which was a great starter bike. Like most first time owners
however, I quickly outgrew it and bought a 1974 Honda CB 550, which was older,
but bigger. Over the next few years, I owned a couple of Harley Sportster’s, but
I gave up the sport in 1998, when my daughter Sarah was born. You know how it
is, worried about money and feeling the need I guess, to be a responsible
father. 
Seeing
this very unusual rig, led me to research the internet and find out what the
Dnepr was all about. The more I read about them, the more I had to have one. Why
couldn’t there be one of these rigs for sale in my neck of the woods? I thought.
“Well,
as a matter of fact, one of the guys that works here has one, and I think he’s
thinking of selling it”, he said.
Although
I was impatient to get her out for another ride, I had to have a new float. It
would take a couple of weeks to receive any parts, so I decided to go over the
bike completely and ordered the parts I thought should be replaced. I ordered
carb kits, clutch and brake cables, plugs, gaskets, steering bearings, a new
petcock, exhaust gaskets and front and rear brake shoes. Another $500 plus, but
it was necessary. It was a painful wait for the parts, but when they finally
arrived, I had a local motorcycle mechanic help me set the carbs, install the
new parts and make all the necessary adjustments. I finally got to ride the rig
without any issues and it was as much fun as I thought it would be. After a few
laps around the neighborhood, I got used to the handling and felt much more
confident about those right hand turns. It was now mid November however, and in
Canada that means you’re on borrowed weather for riding. With the winter coming,
all I could do now was tinker and get it ready for the following spring.
