Hello from Sydney, Australia (Oz) (down-under)

[J.D.]

Did USSR actually export these to Australia?
Eeee...doesn't gasoline fall out from tank down there?

It was quite by chance that I found the Dneprs, Urals, Izh, and other CCCP bikes in Australia. A small dealership was selling them here in the early 1970s, for, would you believe it, "a dollar a c.c.", this meant that a 650cc Dnepr was AUD$650.00.

The dealer also told me that he was closing and only had a couple of bikes left, and after a short test ride on one, which began to rip my arms off and break my backbone, it was in reverse gear and when I let the clutch out it was real terror! He showed me how to go to forward gears and I liked it so much I bought one on the spot. I traded in an old Yamaha RD250, so the final price for a new Dnepr was just AUD$200.00

This $200 motorbike has lasted me over 30 years! Plus over the years I have bought 3 more, as spare parts in Australia for these bikes was non-existant.

Years later I found a man who had tons of spare parts so I was able to get some essential spares. This was before the internet. Nowadays you can find almost anything on ebay or thru friends on the internet.

From what I found out, there are about 50 Ural and 50 Dnepr in Australia from these 1970s shipment. In 1980 came another 100 Ural M-67, and in 2008 a new dealer opened here and has sold about 70 of the latest model Ural GearUp.

So my Dnepr is quite rare in Australia, everytime people ask me is it an Indian, or an old BMW, or what. When I tell them it was made in Ukraine they are usually quite surprised.

Yes, oily hands! But that is the fun of such a machine, if I don't look after it right it will not be my friend, but after so many years it is my friend. Sure, sometimes a flat tyre or something needs repair, but any bike is like that. At least I can fix any problem usually before it becomes one.

Greetings to all you guys

PS Does the gasoline fall out the top... No, but the water going down the drain spins in the other direction to you!