Review of IZh Izh-7.107K “Planet-5” (1989)

Nowadays, it is rare that a family does not have a car. A car has long ceased to be a luxury, becoming simply a means of transportation. Motorcycles are becoming less and less common on our roads. But it was not always so. During the last few decades of the last century, a completely opposite picture was observed. The car was practically inaccessible to the common man. Many people have dreamed of at least owning a motorcycle. The motorcycle boom occurred in the 80s and 90s . The most popular were motorcycles from the Izhevsk Machine-Building Plant . Of these, IZH Jupiter-5 became the most popular model.

General information about the motorcycle

The Izh Jupiter-5 motorcycle is a middle-class road car, adapted for driving on city, highway and country roads. Produced for 23 years , starting in 1985 . The base vehicle had the factory designation IZH 6.113-010-01 with the trade name Izh Jupiter-5 . The side trailer had IZH 6.114-010-01 under the trade name Izh Jupiter 5K-01 .

The engine on the motorcycle is gasoline, carburetor, two-stroke, two-cylinder, air-cooled, with a power of 24 hp . with a volume of 350 cm3 . Battery type ignition system with battery and alternator. All devices in the electrical system are designed for 12 V DC .

The rear wheel is driven, chain drive. The clutch is multi-plate and is in an oil bath. The gearbox is 4-speed with a semi-automatic clutch.

The weight of a single motorcycle is 160 kg , with a sidecar – 255 kg , the permissible load is 170/255 kg . Maximum speed without a stroller is 125 km/h , with a stroller – 95 km/h . The average fuel mixture consumption, respectively, is 5.9/7.1 l/100 km . The fuel used is a mixture of AI-92 gasoline and motor oil in a ratio of 1:25 .

The front wheel is mounted in a telescopic fork with hydraulic shock absorbers and springs. Fork travel – 200 mm . The rear wheel has a lever suspension with spring hydraulic shock absorbers. Suspension travel 85 mm . The wheels are equipped with tube tires with a standard size of 3.5x18″. The distance between the wheels is 1450 mm . Drum brakes with a mechanical drive are installed on both wheels of the motorcycle and the wheel of the side trailer.

In Soviet times, the cost of a motorcycle with a side trailer was 1,050 rubles . For motorcyclists, this price was relatively affordable. The average wage in the country was 140-160 rubles. per month . The cheapest VAZ-2101, VAZ-21011 cost 5-6 times more, and was completely inaccessible to the majority of the population, either in price or in the possibility of purchasing it.

Technical characteristics of Izh Planet Sport

The first motorcycle variations received imported batteries for the accumulator. This continued until they mastered it and released model 6 MTS-9. Even the first characteristics of the Izh Planet Sport evoke respect for the manufacturer. It was impossible to remain indifferent to the rubber-cushion mounting of the engine on the frame, which was a real innovation. A one-inch difference in wheel sizes, Japanese electrical engineering - all this seemed unattainable.

Over time, Izhevsk carburetors brought improvements to the assembly. The latter, of course, had a smaller diffuser size and the generated power immediately dropped to 28 horses. Externally, they could be recognized by the elongated wing of the rear wheel and the arc shape of the exhaust pipe. These changes can be found in numerous videos from Izh Planet Sport.

Due to its high quality indicators, the Izh Planet Sport motorcycle was produced exclusively for export, and there was a scarce demand for its spare parts. The lucky owners of the high-speed unit have no choice but to improve their pet with their own hands. Amateur modifications directly concerned:

• boring of the M-412 piston (it was counterfeited to match the standard, or made similar to the piston 514 “Ceseta”);
• “tightening” the engine - making the crankshaft lighter due to milling;
• changes in bearings;
• for better lubrication, the crank chamber area receives a neighbor in the form of an oil seal with a bushing.

Reviews about Planet motorcycles are mostly positive. And for those negative aspects that are found in the configuration, there is always an amendment that everything can be repaired, remade or replaced. With good maintenance, this Soviet-quality motorcycle has no limit either in modifications or in service life.

Main advantages

Motorcycles IZH Jupiter -5 were quite simple in design and did not require large maintenance costs . Today there are many who want to criticize this technique without regard to the times, but the model was in great demand among the population. She is not forgotten even now. On the secondary market only, on Avito websites, more than 2,000 units of equipment . The main reasons for its popularity are:

• Maintainability and simplicity of design.
• The presence of a semi-automatic clutch.
• Smooth ride, comfortable movement.
• Can be used with or without a side trailer.
• Good car dynamics without a side trailer.
• Durable welded tubular frame.
• Reliable and simple gearbox.
• Powerful alternator, good light.
• Confident engine starting in any weather conditions.

This is not an exhaustive list of the outstanding qualities of the machine.

The motorcycle has the highest level of maintainability . The shortage of spare parts of that time has given way to their abundance today. Any components can be purchased through online stores or in markets at affordable prices. With a small set of tools, a motorcycle of the simplest design can easily be rebuilt on the road. Replacing parts of the cylinder-piston group can be done without any problems directly in the field. More complex repairs involving removal and complete disassembly of the engine are possible in a garage without the involvement of large specialists or special tools.

The motorcycle is equipped with a semi-automatic clutch , which greatly facilitates the driver’s work. Gear shifting is possible without squeezing the clutch lever on the steering wheel. The clutch release mechanism is activated automatically when you press the gear shift foot. Before pressing the foot, it is advisable to release the gas - the switching will occur smoothly, without jerking the transmission. No other domestic motorcycle has such a system.

The machine is characterized by a smooth ride in single mode and with a side trailer. Riding a well-maintained motorcycle is a pleasure. The driver's position is comfortable and ergonomic. The passenger in the side trailer feels comfortable, protected from the flow of oncoming air and dust by a high transparent plastic reflector and a soft, durable awning made of leatherette. The trailer wheel has a spring-hydraulic shock absorber, which effectively absorbs uneven road surfaces.

A motorcycle with the index Izh Jupiter-5K-01 can be used with or without a side trailer . Operation of a motorcycle with a trailer is possible only if there is a corresponding mark in the technical passport when registering with the traffic police. When installing a trailer, the final drive gear ratio is changed by installing a smaller diameter drive sprocket with 16 teeth. At the same time, the engine traction force increases significantly due to an increase in the number of crankshaft revolutions. A 19-tooth drive sprocket is installed on a single motorcycle, increasing the speed capabilities of the motorcycle.

Without a side trailer, the machine has good dynamic capabilities. The two-cylinder engine quickly picks up speed and is capable of accelerating the car from a parking lot to 100 km/h in 12 seconds . This figure is 0.5-1.0 seconds better than that of the most advanced car at that time, the VAZ-2109, or the popular imported motorcycle Java-350 .

The motorcycle is assembled on a durable tubular frame , which is simply impossible to damage if used correctly. The side trailer has its own, no less durable frame, made of thick-walled steel pipes.

The gearbox is assembled in the same housing with the engine and has its own crankcase compartment . The unit is powerful, reliable, always working without problems throughout the entire service life of the motorcycle. There is an inspection hatch on the side cover of the clutch drive mechanism to check the oil level in the clutch housing and gearbox.

12 V alternator . Alternating current is converted to direct current by a diode bridge. All old problems associated with the operation of 6-volt DC generators installed on previous machines have been eliminated. The electrical system has become significantly more reliable. The headlight has halogen optics, which produces a fairly powerful stream of light.

The engine starts reliably at any time of the year due to the installation of an emergency start system that supports starting with a weakly charged battery.

Tuning Izh Planet Sport

Making changes to the design of a motorcycle is impractical for a number of reasons:

1. The resource of many components and assemblies is small. For this reason, it is almost impossible to improve their characteristics without causing damage.
2. An Izh Planet Sport 350 restored to its original condition is valued significantly higher than its tuned versions.

However, if there is a desire, something can be done. Many athletes participating in cross-country or circuit racing competitions modified the Izh Planet Sport engine, making various changes to its design. A frequently asked question is how many cubic meters can the engine capacity be increased by.

Engine tuning (boosting)

When boosting the engine, the sports team masters altered many things, from the connecting rod and piston group to the exhaust system. The maximum that could be obtained by pressing in a liner from a CZ 500 and using the piston that came with it was a little over four hundred cubic centimeters of working volume.

But such boosting of the Izh Planet Sport engine requires serious professional skills and sophisticated equipment. The thin walls of a standard cast-iron sleeve pressed into an aluminum cylinder do not allow the engine to be bored up to 500 cc.

The exhaust system cannot cope with the removal of the increased volume of exhaust gases, and the support bearings cannot cope with the increased loads. All the talk that there was a factory version of the Izh Planet Sport 500cc is nothing more than a fairy tale. But boring a cylinder is not the only way to increase power and add agility to a motorcycle.

DIY tuning

Installing a new carburetor is a proven way to improve the performance of the Izh Sport without making significant changes to the design. Over the years, Mikuni has released many new, increasingly advanced models with a diffuser diameter of 32 mm.

Engine tuning can be done in other ways without affecting its mechanical components. Starting and stable operation of single-cylinder engines has always presented certain problems, which can be solved by installing electronic ignition on the Izh Planet Sport. Such kits are produced by several manufacturers, and their installation does not take much time.

When using BKSZ with power units of other modifications, you should be very careful. When installing the ignition from a Minsk motorcycle on the Izh Planet Sport, you must remember that the crankshafts of the engines of these machines rotate in opposite directions. The wires going from the coil to ground and the switch will have to be swapped. Such an engine modification is quite justified.

Disadvantages and childhood diseases

The car is not without its drawbacks, for which many people do not like it. Most of them manifest themselves as a result of improper operation or overheating of the engine in difficult road conditions. The most annoying are the following disadvantages:

• Rapid wear of parts of the cylinder-piston group and crankshafts.
• Low resource of chain drive parts.
• Uneven operation of the cylinders.
• Poor quality connectors of electrical equipment wires.
• Imperfect, archaic design of attaching the saddle to the frame.

Wear of the main engine parts causes the most problems for motorcycle owners. Even correct and careful operation is accompanied by early wear of pistons, cylinders, and crankshaft parts. With a new engine, after running 15-20 thousand km, extraneous metallic sounds appear, which intensify over time. They can be caused by one or more reasons:

1. Wear of the connecting rod upper head bushing.
2. Cylinder wear.
3. Wear of the piston skirt.
4. The lock falls out of the piston ring groove and is broken.
5. Destruction of the connecting rod needle bearing on the crankshaft.

These defects can only be eliminated by replacing parts of the next repair size, boring the cylinders and bushings. All of this work, except for replacing the crankshafts, can be performed without removing the engine.

Poor quality of chains or inattention to the condition of rubber boots lead to rapid wear of the drive . At the same time, the drive sprocket wears out just as quickly and must be replaced along with the chain. The rear gear lasts longer and can survive 3 or even 4 chains.

It’s rare that an engine is characterized by perfect uniformity of cylinder operation. The primitive mechanism for adjusting the distribution of fuel mixture flows across the cylinders does not allow precise adjustment of the supply. As a result, each cylinder produces its own torque . Although the difference is not great, the load on the crank system is not uniform and balanced. As a result, it works with a skew in the values ​​of the force vectors; the more loaded crankshaft quickly fails. The presence of unevenness can be easily detected by the color of candle soot . The color of the carbon deposits on the spark plugs should be the same; if there is a significant difference, then this primarily indicates uneven operation of the cylinders. It can be adjusted, but the regular process is poorly managed and laborious.

Electrical wiring is made with low quality wires and connectors . Cases of contact oxidation or wire breakage as a result of vibration of a loose connection are a widespread phenomenon.

The design of fastening the saddle to the frame has not changed since the appearance of the first IZhs of a similar arrangement in the early 60s. After a short period of use, the lock becomes loose due to vibration, and unpleasant play appears in the joints. Under the saddle there are connectors from the wires going to the optics of the rear flap and to the side trailer. Many owners, forgetting about this, simply tear the wires under the saddle when removing it. The rear wheel cannot be removed without removing the seat.

Pressing the crankshaft

It’s not difficult to press the crankshaft, I didn’t bother pressing the good crankshaft, I’ll explain everything in words. It is advisable to press the crankshaft on an anvil or an old cast-iron car block. Hammer the new finger into the crankshaft cheek in which the finger remained when pressed, this will make it easier to press in the second cheek. The new pin is driven from the inside of the crankshaft to the end. Place the new needle bearing and connecting rod on the pin. Place the crankshaft cheek with the hammered pin on the anvil so that the pin rests on the anvil. Place the other cheek on your finger and hammer in with a heavy hammer as shown in the photo below.

When you put the second cheek on the crankshaft, be careful not to hit the threads or the cone of the crankshaft axis. At this point, there is no need to worry too much about the alignment of the crankshaft shafts; it is enough to roughly position it correctly.

The koleval has been pressed, now check the size between the cheeks with a caliper, if possible, spread the cheeks less, if more, beat the cheeks to the desired size.

Also, be careful that the crankshaft pin does not come out from one of the cheeks; if it comes out, drive it in with a mandrel.

Photo. Pressing a motorcycle crankshaft