Motorcycle "Kovrovets" - peaceful products of the arms factory

2024 Author: Erin Ralphs | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-19 11:42

After the victory in the Great Patriotic War, the Soviet leadership decided to launch the production of light and medium motorcycles based on the technology and equipment of the German company DKW, which ended up in the zone of Soviet occupation. In 1946, a corresponding decree was issued on the organization of motorcycle production at the Degtyarev plant in the city of Kovrov, Vladimir Region, which had previously produced weapons (including the famous PPSh). So the famous "Kovrovets" appeared on Soviet roads - a motorcycle, the price of which made it the most affordable and massive two-wheeled vehicle of the post-war period.

The DKW RT 125 was chosen as the prototype. This light motorcycle was considered the best in its class at that time. In addition, during the war, this model was significantly modernized by DKW specialists. The first Kovrovets-125 motorcycle was produced in the same 1946, and by the end of the year 286 of them were produced.

A similar motorcycle called "Moscow" was produced at the capital's MMZ plant. While superficially similar, there were slight differences between them, concerning onlyelectrical equipment.

Model range of motorcycles from Kovrov

The Kovrovets motorcycle was produced from 1946 to 1965 and had the following modifications:

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• K-125 (years of issue: 1946 - 1951). The motorcycle was equipped with a two-stroke single-cylinder engine with a displacement of 123.7 cm3 and a power of 4.25 hp. The engine was located in a block with a three-speed gearbox, which were switched using a foot handle. The rear wheel had no shock absorbers and was attached directly to the tubular welded frame. The front fork was a parallelogram shape with stamped feathers. K-125 could accelerate to 70 km/h.
• K-125M (years of production: 1951 - 1955). It was a minor modification of the 125th - the parallelogram front fork was replaced with a telescopic fork with hydraulic shock absorbers, but the rest of the design remained unchanged.
• K-55 (years of issue: 1955 - 1957). The new motorcycle "Kovrovets" received a somewhat forced engine. By installing a different carburetor and muffler, it was possible to slightly increase the power of the motorcycle engine to 4.75 hp. In addition, the K-55 began to install a pendulum rear suspension.
• K-58 (years of issue: 1957 - 1960). The K-58 differed from its predecessor by an increased gas tank capacity and a more powerful engine (5 hp). In addition, a batteryless ignition system was used, and the speedometer was built into the headlight. Motorcycle "Kovrovets-58" had a maximum speed of 75 km/h.
• K-175 (years of issue: 1957 - 1959). This model was produced in parallelwith K-58 and received a new engine made of aluminum alloy with a volume of 173 cm3 and a power of 8 hp. The first Kovrovets motorcycle, the K-175, had a rounded fuel tank (like the Java motorcycles), on which an elongated instrument panel was located. Subsequently, they began to install a gas tank identical to K-58.
• K-175A (years of production: 1959 - 1962). This model was distinguished primarily by a four-speed gearbox. In addition, for the first time they began to use an emblem on a gas tank, which depicts two running hares - the same as on the coat of arms of the city of Kovrov.
• K-175B (years of production: 1962 - 1964). This model had a 9-horsepower engine that allowed the motorcycle to accelerate to 85 km / h, as well as a new carburetor and alternator.
• K-175V (years of production: 1964 - 1965). This model did not last long - only one year - and was produced with two engine options: cast iron (with one exhaust pipe) and aluminum alloy (with two exhaust pipes). In the same 1965, the plant was retrained to produce the Voskhod motorcycle, which later became one of the most popular in the USSR.

In addition to serial motorcycles, the plant’s specialists also produced sports models in small batches (K-55S1, K-58SK, K-58SM, K-175SK, K-175SM, K-175SMU), which successfully performed on numerous, in including at international competitions.