Stop picking on my dnepr

[OldSkool]

I dread the spring in Massachusetts not that we have a spring more like sprinter, anyway there is a local motorcycle dealer and a friend of mine is good friends with the owner and we were there getting a tire for her bmw and my dnepr was parked in the lot and one of the shop workers comes out and asks who owns this contraption , I said it belongs to me and he asks if could move it being it was in marked spot he wanted it moved in case fed x or ups made a delivery that was his excuse to bust my balls, Ive grown to the point where I'm tired of brand minded people who look down on other bikes my bike is used all winter and it looks like it ,now at my age Ill give my opinion first of all it's not a contraption it's a dnepr mt 11 and it's more motorcycle than any other that's here and I don't recall seeing you riding this winter season and he walked away I don't like confrontation but I will not have the dnepr poo pooed anymore I know my limits with people there are some that I can't tolerate and that particular man had been eyeing the dnepr on several other visits there and giving me the eye maybe next time he'll be a bit nicer

[MotoJ]

Ha- I have the same reactions when I show up to the local BMW shop summer Jumble or the local HOG roadside tavern. I won't let a bunch of grown men dressed like Day-Glo Gore-Tex Morton's Fisherman or the Pirates of Penzance get me down!

[SafetyBob]

I agree totally..

 

When I see a fellow Dnepr owner it tells me a few things right off about him:

He has tools

He knows how to use them

He understands machinery

He is very patient, and has a sense of humor

All qualities due respect and are lacking in most other riders...

 

SB#3

[Ken Ulrich]

Had the ocasion to stop at a bar and grill, while dismounting "Sweet Thang" a few Harleys rode up and this dude made the same type comments, my reply was quick and to the point, "at least it dosen't sound like a John Deere, with a big morgage" Dude stood there with mouth hanging open, trying to think of something, (my sense was that he was making an effor to impress his buddies) when all his buddies started laughing at him. To defuse this when his buddies srarted asking what it was, I jokingly said it was a H-D that was T-Boned and it flattened out the V-twin into a Horiizontal twin, this brought a roar of laughter from one of the buddies, who poited to "dude" and said " see there, you're wrong again" I was invited to a beer at the bar, which I accepted (one) and left....I could feel Dudes eyes burning a hole in my back......Ken

[luca.stere]

In Romania we don't have this kind of problems. People believe this bikes are from world war two and they become very interested.

[sallen]

Don't know why, but I've got a lot of thumbs up from HD riders (and other bikers) with the WDFark is it.

Even a group of Germans on bemers while giting gas.

Everyone always has questions about the bike.

 

Had an interesting UDF today when I was asked if it was a replica.

No it"s Russian.

But is it a replice?

No it's not a replica, It's a copy of the German R71 (sorta), that was built in the CCCP

[C5Paul]

Ken you weren't at Top of the Hill bar were you? You should have challenged him to a race. Your Dnepr is fast!

 

No HOG could keep up with her.

[whiterabbit]

Real bikers really don't care what you ride as long as you love motorcycles and riding motorcycles. Those posers are what we used to call RUBs. Rich Urban Bikers. They are in it as a way to impress the unwashed masses. To them it's all about the name brand and how much $$ you can dump into a bike. They stand around stroking each others ego. I laugh and walk on by to check out the real bikes, leaking oil, dripping gas, half bald tires, warn and faded paint, old worn chrome and the owner isn't posing next to it like a pinup girl in squeaky new leathers.

I could care less. I love to see a bike that you know the owner has spent alot of effort to keep on the road for the love of the bike and riding it. You can spot the real bikes. They are wiped down with a shop rag after wrenching on it all night.

If you like my bike or don't, I really don't give a s%%t what you think. I don't ride it to impress some one, I just like old funky bikes.

[C5Paul]

Both at Road America in Wisconsin, and at the Moto Guzzi rally in Iowa a few weeks back (full of BMW riders), I bet my Ural was photographed more than anything. Being a Solo most people had no idea what it was, and if I had a dollar for every time a person asked what year my Beemer was, I could buy a set of tires.

 

After riding Ken's Dnepr, I'd definitely say the transmission is much nicer than my Ural. If you enjoy it that's all that matters. A real biker won't care.

[Ken Ulrich]

Seems like the world never changes, 1952, Waco Texas. I belonged to a club that was mainly Harley, and I was riding a Triumph, lot of good natured banter back and forth, the very first sportsters were out and that thing would climb hills, I had a spring hub model of the triumph, which gave it better tire grip than a hard tail, but not as good as the sportster. after a ride and meeting at the Harley shop, the shop owners wife declared to one and all that no one who owned other that a HD belonged to "their" club, in a loud voice I corrected her, for which she never forgave me, until I bought a burned up 42' 74" from her hubby. A little guy on a shorty bike deserves as much respect at the guy on a new 24 G road hog or a lightning fast super bike.

This coming Saturday I am going on a ride of 100 miles, vet benifit affair. I am going to ride the Jawa 350, got it running pretty good, just turned 3000 mile on the speedo, going to put my Korean vet sticker on the windshield, need to keep the visor shade down to hide my grinnin puss.....Ken

[haj]

I don't really find it weird that riders of expensive and modern motorcycles look down on the USSR bikes... At least here in Denmark where the taxes on new bikes are 180% (And you read that correct).

 

It must be very annoying that when you are parked at the ice stand down by the harbour on your new chromed bling bike, and are trying to look like a cool biker kind of dude, some fool on a old dirty, rusty

petrol&oil smelling contraption with woobly wheels that sounds like shaking a box of nails comes along and steals all the attention.. ;)

 

Nice'n'shiny ;) (I am referring to my new German made fuel tap)

 

[whiterabbit]

I'm a big dude, 6'3" (188cm), 190lb and you should have seen the looks when I showed up for a big bike event on an old 68 Honda CB160! Lots of ribbing about that little bike till I smoked a few egos! I kind'a forgot to tell them I built the engine to fly and the CB160 was honda's lil' race bike! I won $500 bucks that day and still get asked about that lil' bike.

Lesson learned? Never judge a book by it's cover and have some fun, life is too short to live with a stick up your arse!

[MTRRAD]

I've been riding since before you were born. Well, maybe not for some of you. I am a BMW/2 nut. And a prewar Zundapp nut. And am in love with my Dnepr MT-16. It's a solid piece of junk. I keep thinking it needs a BMW engine, but no, how can I tear the heart out of her. Yes, she is slow. Yes, she is noisy. Yes, she has a work to drive ratio of about 15/16ths. She is still the prettiest Russian girl I have ever met.

I was coming up 7 today, just north of clifty. There was a police car with all the bells on, stopping traffic while 50 harleys turned on 7 and passed me. I had my beautiful 15 year old in the sidecar. She loves my Dnepr, wants to ride always. Every biker started to wave, and then they saw what they were waving to. It was cool, 50 double-takes. We loved it.

They were cool, we are all family. Even the overdressed city folk.

[Ken Ulrich]

I am only sorta normal, I look at things a bit different, a machine or tool, wheather it flys or rolls on two,three or four wheels. It was designed and built by people with vision, it had to run good, it had to look nice, and a whole host of other things, it had to be repair able, with simple tools, parts available and then you have a classic, H.Ford made the model "T"'s, Model "A"'s, nearly 90 years later, men,girls, grandmas, marvel at what was done back then, I view them the same as fine art. Old motorcycles are a thing of beauty to me. In the loving hands of a dedicated owner, the lasting beauty comes to life....being sorta normal, it turns me on.....Ken