“Dnepr” has been produced at the Kiev motorcycle plant since the mid-twentieth century. In Soviet times, it was popular along with Ural technology and was its direct competitor. Now the Irbit plant has stopped producing its motorcycles, but the Kiev plant still produces new models, such as Solo and KM38 . They have earned popularity due to their reliability and power. Repairing the Dnepr engine is quite simple, which allows it to be done even while traveling.
All bikes from the Kyiv plant have good dynamics and a pleasant sound, which is often compared to Harley. It was possible to attach a stroller to the main part, however, due to production cuts, models without additional seats or equipment for agriculture are currently being produced.
The most popular model is the Dnepr 11; engine tuning is presented in the 11M model, slightly modified with higher performance. Engine type: four-stroke carburetor, overhead valve with air cooling system. The two-cylinder Dnepr, whose engine capacity is 649 cm3, produces quite good power of 32 horsepower. The speed is 105 km/h according to the passport, but in reality it is about 120.
The gearbox of the Soviet bike has a dry, double-disc clutch and four stages. Assembling the Dnepr 11 engine with such a gearbox is not a problem. Moreover, it is very reliable and rarely causes problems.
If your motor makes excessive noise during operation, it means there is a problem with it that needs to be corrected immediately. Everyone has encountered problems in the engine itself and has already faced more than once what a Dnepr engine assembly is. However, few people encounter problems with the box. Therefore, let's talk about what issues may arise during the operation of the checkpoint and how to solve them.
At the first symptoms of self-shutdown, excessive gear noise, or when the next gear is not engaged, the motorcycle jerks or jolts. It is impossible to carry out repairs where necessary. Parts must be kept clean, since dirt and dust have a very negative effect on engine performance.
Dnepr motorcycle engine repair is directly related to the gearbox . However, unlike many motorcycles, it is not necessary to remove both units. The box is removed separately. To do this, the wheel, driveshaft with rear axle, separate the clutch cable and neutral wire. Then disconnect the air filter and drain the oil. After this, you can disconnect the unit from the motor.
Disassembly procedure
- Wash the gearbox well with cleaning agent and place it on a hard surface.
- First you need to reset the kickstarter spring tension.
- Disconnect the clutch lever and remove the slider with the rubberized ring.
- Now you need to remove the kickstarter, with all its attachments (clutch tips, bearings and wedge).
- Remove the pin, then unscrew the disk nut on the rubber coupling.
- Unscrew the bolts securing the back cover of the box.
- When the box is disassembled, all that remains is to find the problematic part and replace it, and then reassemble it, after washing the gearbox from the inside.
As you can see, parsing the basic elements is very simple and quick. But what to do if you want to perform engine tuning on Dnepr 11?
I am building the Dnepr, Vezunchik - the motorcycle of my dreams.
Hello everyone, my name is Yaroslav, and I’m here to show you, my dear ones) how I restore and build the Dnepr MT11 named Vezunchik, I’m not teaching anyone, I’m just sharing how I do it, I’m always ready to listen to any criticism and advice) I will gradually upload information about what is happening and what I have already done with it.
I am a motorcyclist with 3 years of experience, I have an endurik and a road motorcycle, before 7 years ago I was fond of off-roading, and at that time I had a Niva 213 built (you can see it on the drive, link at the end of the post), I built it myself, that is, I have some experience in construction, but I have never dealt with a motorcycle, last winter (2018-2019) I was very bored, and I decided to find something to do that interests me this winter) After a long and after a long search, at the end of the summer of 2022 I found and bought myself a Dnepr MT11 from 1989, and it was running and with documents
We safely went to the traffic police, registered and received license plates
We loaded it into the car and went home) to the garage, where it will find a new life
We arrived at the garage and the fun began, discussions about what we were going to do and partial disassembly of the motorcycle.
Slowly they began to dismantle and remove everything, Dnepr was happy)
After I removed the cradle seat and something else
we decided to start the motorcycle just for fun, and it started, I was happy like a child
Then we began to disassemble the second engine, which I bought in addition to the motorcycle, this was my first, and I left disassembling the working engine for later, when I gained experience. We disassembled the engine for about two days, we just didn’t know how to do it , everyone who wanted and even who didn’t wanted helped in this matter)
This is just a photo of the next day, and on the second day the engine was completely disassembled
Having laid everything out neatly on the floor, we went home with a clear conscience.
Then I started to wash and clean the entire engine, since it’s more pleasant to work in its pure state, a neighbor arrived and we squatted for about two hours, discussed and I gained experience, and this was useful to me later
After some time, I decided to disassemble the working, combat engine, I did everything carefully, tried not to make mistakes, but when it came to dismantling the camshaft, I missed one point, I forgot to pull out the pushers that blocked the dismantling of the camshaft, which are located in the crankcase, and I tried for a very long time and painfully to pull the camshaft out of the engine
Having sorted everything out, I calmed down for a while)
Now it’s time to bore the cylinders, I did it in Klin, I was happy with the work, the honing was also done, in my opinion and the opinion of several of my friends - everything was done very well, with all the gaps)
Perhaps this is a bad shot) don’t judge strictly, the piston itself in the cylinder dropped slowly, in free fall, releasing air through a gap of one tenth
I started disassembling the front fork and thinking about how to make sure that I had a disc brake on the front, I removed the wheel without any problems
But I suffered with the fork for more than two hours, everything was rusty and stuck, everything went into action, a chisel, a hammer, crowbars, all the different keys and ingenuity)
Having barely knocked down the upper crossbar, I still managed to remove the fork
After which I began to diligently try everything on in order to find a suitable fork that would have a brake caliper.
I quickly removed the rear wheel along with the pendulum, looked at the condition of the rubber bushings and decided to buy yellow polyurethane bushings, why not bearings?, a very small percentage of the fact that the pendulum frame mounts are coaxial with each other, and my opinion is not very important), in continuation of the whole topic, it turned out that I don’t need these bushings and the pendulum, since a 170 wheel appeared, and it just doesn’t fit into this pendulum
It’s time to get into the very heart of the boxer, I cleaned the crankshaft, there was a lot of coked dirt and oil in it, I cleaned everything safely and put everything back in place, I bought a new guitar, since both old ones had a lot of play on the crankshaft
I bought everything - bearings, seals, gaskets, put something aside and changed something, I had a problem with the camshaft, first I removed the old bearings and put new ones on with a hammer, it turned out later that I bent the camshaft nose, fortunately I had another one, I bought new bearings for it, since the old ones had potholes from the balls themselves, and when scrolling, I could feel the places where the bearings stopped, let’s go back to the new camshaft, I pressed the bearings onto it with a press, I think it’s right, everything fits perfectly, the camshaft is ready for installation on the engine
Then I returned to polishing the engine and heads, bought all sorts of attachments, which was not enough for me, I ordered more convenient and more necessary attachments on Aliexpress, I bought a bunch of attachments for the grinding machine, of different grain sizes and diameters, as well as felt wheels and polishing pastes
I decided to put an inscription on one of the covers, first I rubbed everything with 500-grit sandpaper, since a pencil does not draw on a polished surface, so I wrote the inscription by hand, having previously marked the horizontal, removed the aluminum with a drill, then polished it and I liked it) maybe I I’ll draw something somewhere, but I’m still thinking)
At the same time, I decided to look at the oil pump, I bought one gear in the store, we selected one with the smallest clearance, the new pumps were no better than mine, I had the idea of buying a pump with increased productivity, but this will happen if my pump does not produce normal pressure, then I polished the cover, but as it turned out, the gears left the mark they needed, after putting the cover on and tightening it with bolts, I poured oil into it, twisted it with a drill, and it will do)
Gradually the engine took on its own look, I liked it more and more) in this image the track and ignition cover are not polished, but still, how cool you are, my OPPOSITION!
The time has come for forks and wheels, when I saw them I just went crazy) The donor for the Dnepr was a Yamaha V-Max)
Of course, I couldn’t resist and put it on the frame as is) I was in seventh heaven with how it all looked, and Jessica helped me in assembling the Dnepr)
The fork needs to be modified, spacers made for tapered bearings, there is nothing complicated about it) But in installing the rear wheel on the Dnepr I had to use my imagination for about 3 weeks, it is 170 mm wide, and did not want to slick) -1 idea: buy a swingarm from Yamaha, then create a shaft displacement gearbox somewhere (after all, on a Yamaha the cardan is on the left, and on the Dnieper on the right), buy a cardan and somehow assemble the whole thing, and this idea seemed too expensive to me) -2 idea: I came up with the idea of assembling weld and come up with a new collective farm pendulum, and yes) I really liked this idea)
It didn’t take me long) armed with a saw and blocks, I made this divine pendulum, lengthening it by 15 cm, and the shock absorbers would be at an angle, and in general I liked everything)
All that's left is to make a pendulum)
The next task was to connect the Dnepr gearbox with the Yamaha wheel, and here again different ideas came to me)
-1 idea: grind out a spacer with splines, connect it to the wheel and everything) -2 idea: remove the cast wheel and put the rim on the spokes on the original hub) I settled on the first idea) I forgot to say about the brakes on the front wheel) it will be a gun, excessive force on the brake will definitely lead me to the Dnieper-stoppi)
So everything seems to be there, but there is still a small problem) we need a slipway for the pendulum), but we assembled it without any problems for a couple of days)
Everything is ready, we can start) In parallel with all this, I sorted out the box) and everything is ok with it) I was pleasantly surprised), and why didn’t I do this before?)
In general, a lot of time has passed and let me continue to fill in the information a little bit. They sent me the frame, tank, pendulum and many other goodies
painted the rims, and yes - I refused to rebuild with V-Max, I will do a standard Dnepr
it's time to paint the heads and cylinders
polished the stiffening ribs, basically did it like everyone else does
I painted the head studs silver, I think it turned out great
then I rebuilt the fork and assembled the motor, and of course they started it
I struggled a bit with the fork, bought another fork with chrome cups and assembled one out of two, then put oil in it and everything works.
In general, I bought tires, spliced the wheels and assembled everything to the heap, it seems to be ok so far.
I came to make wings, first I bought two wings from Izh, cut them off and started making the rear wing, found a stainless tube, bent it and made a mount
there was a lot of work, then I began to work on the front wing, the fastenings of which were made from connecting rods of the same engine
and here's another photo
Next, I installed a Hydraulic steering damper on my motorcycle
A day was enough for it to stand on my moped)
Tomorrow I will be working on a custom seat.
Engine boost
Many motorcyclists like to improve their engines and always have something to offer to increase power. Thus, modification of the Dnepr engine has several options. One of them: replacing worn parts and consumables that reduce the engine’s capabilities. Carrying out such manipulations will not greatly increase performance, but will significantly improve performance.
For greater effect, many owners install spare parts from foreign cars on their bikes. For example, the Dnepr 16 motorcycle, whose engine modification is very difficult in stock condition, receives carburetors from other brands. Even a simple replacement of the exhaust pipe for any engine will add a little power to your pet. Don't be afraid to experiment if you have a strong desire. Start replacing the ignition and fuel supply systems. This will not only help improve performance, but will also significantly change the dynamics and handling of the motorcycle.
