Wikipedia
Dnipro is the brand name of a motorcycle produced in Kyiv, Ukraine. It has been in use since 1967.
Motorcycles have been produced in Kyiv since 1946 at the Kyiv Motorcycle Plant (Kyivskyi Mototsykletnyi Zavod (KMZ), Київський Мотоциклетний Завод, (КМЗ)). Initial production was of a 98 cc two-stroke model that was confiscated from the German firm Wanderer as reparations. The original design for KMZ heavy motorcycles, and their cousin the IMZ, is taken from the pre-World War II German BMW motorcycle R71, which the Soviet Union licensed in 1940. The plant and equipment needed to make the M-72 (the Soviet derivative of the BMW R71) was transferred from the Gorky Motorcycle Plant (Gorkovskyi Mototsykletnyi Zavod, GMZ located in the city of Gorkiy ( Nizhny Novgorod) in 1949. The first batch of M-72 motorcycles was produced in 1952 with the supply of 500 engines from IMZ. In 1958 KMZ replaced the plunger framed M72-N with the swingarm framed K-750. In 1964, KMZ introduced a military model, the MV-750 with a differential two-wheel drive to the sidecar wheel. In 1967, to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the Great October Socialist Revolution, KMZ released their first OHV engine in the "Dnipro" K-650. Unlike the earlier sidevalve engines with their roller bearing crankshafts, this engine featured a sleeve bearing crankshaft as found in the World War II Zündapp KS750. The K-650 was superseded by model MT-9 650 cc, which was available in both solo and sidecar models (often referred to as the best "Cossack") as it was reliable and featured a new transmission with reverse gear and an automatic declutching mechanism incorporated into the riders foot pedal. The MT-10 was the first Soviet motorcycle to feature 12 volt electrics.
The Dnipro is famous for its off-road capability. Armed services models equipped with sidecars had two-wheel drive and as much as of ground clearance. The present engine is a 650 cc OHV boxer twin. Current models are fitted with engines ranging from the factory standard 650 to 750 and 1,000 cc.
Between 1973 and 1979 Dnipro was one of the makes marketed by Satra in the United Kingdom as Cossack motorcycles.
Since demise of U.S.S.R. the factory had fallen on very hard times. Production decreased to only remnants of former glory. All shops were closed, and machine tools were taken out of the city limits.
Dnipro may refer to:
- Dnipropetrovsk (renamed "Dnipro" by the Ukrainian Rada on ) - fourth largest city in Ukraine
- Dnipro River or Dnieper River, one of the major rivers of Europe (fourth by length), rising near Smolensk and flowing through Russia, Belarus and Ukraine to the Black Sea
- FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk, a Ukrainian professional football club based in the city of Dnipropetrovsk
- BC Dnipro, a Ukrainian basketball club based in the city of Dnipropetrovsk
- Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk, a Ukrainian bandy club based in the city of Dnipropetrovsk
- Dnipro (Kiev Metro), a station on the Kyiv Metro's Sviatoshynsko-Brovarska Line), named after the Dnipro River
Dnipro — monthly color reader’s belles-lettres magazine.
Dnipro is a station on the Kiev Metro's Sviatoshynsko-Brovarska Line. Named after the Dnieper River, the station consists of a semi-estacade over the embankment highway, and then continues across the river as part of the Metro Bridge. The station was opened along with the first stage of the Metro in 1960 and for the first five years, before the bridge was completed, was the eastern terminus of the line.
Itself, the station is probably one of the most distinctive designs in not only Kiev, but all of the former USSR. The design is attributed to Kiev's unique geography and how engineers and city planners applied the Metro development project to it. The problem was that to link up the City rail terminal, city centre, and the residential districts on the left bank of the river. Since the planned junction between the Brovary avenue and the right bank was to happen at that point, it was decided to turn the metro line first southeast via the Arsenal factory and then make a right angle turn northeast and make the Brovarsky radius go on the surface similar in design to Moscow's Filyovskaya Line. The station was to serve this junction point.
In engineering terms, the design incorporates two distinct portions: a large structure on the western side with estacade track and platforms coming out. Both the engineers (H.Fuks, L.Nobsborsky and V.Ihnatyuk) and the architects (H.Hranatkin, A.Ihnashchenko, P.Krasytsky and S.Krushynsky) put quite an effort into its construction. The western side structure consists of an embankment level vestibule with ticket halls and staircases leading on to the platforms. As the station has side platforms, it is possible to change direction without leaving the premises of the Metro.
The estacade level consists of two platforms separated by two rows of track. Originally, when the Brovarsky radius was not completed, the far end of the platform was a large balcony overlooking the river and one of the tracks was covered up by the platform. On the side of the embankment, there are two additional glazed staircase pavilions which are currently closed. On top of them are two statues (sculptors F.Katsyubynsky, E.Kuntsevych, I.Horovy, B.Karlovsky) of a youth pioneers. The northern one is a girl releasing pigeons whilst the southern one has a boy releasing a model of the Sputnik satellite. This has since often symbolised the station as a gateway to the future of the Soviet Union: peace and technological achievement.
Also interesting is that under the station pass the lines of the Kiev tram, originally there was depot there, but in 1960, when the Metro was opened, it lacked a full depot for serious repairs and the tram depot was converted into a Metro one. Tram tracks were used for rail cars and these were pushed onto a rotor which spun them 90 degrees before hydraulically lifting them up onto the estacade. Although this unique operation was time consuming, it was nevertheless rarely used as a service bay behind Arsenalna was suitable in most cases http://general-kosmosa.livejournal.com/53742.html. In 1965 after the extension to the left bank, the Darnytsia depot was opened, and both the provisional depot and the rotor/lift were dismantled. (See for pre-1965 layout of the station; and this video for its operation.)
Today the station, although having a short passenger traffic, remains the most popular in Kiev Metro. Most of the people who actually come off there are visitors to the city that are amazed at the construction of this remarkable 40-year-old design. Over the years, its exposure to the elements have necessitated in some repair work and renovation which is periodically carried out. The station also remains symbolic in other ways, as it was on the hill of the right bank, where the current portal tunnels are that in 1949 the first tunnel boring shield was launched.