Motorcycle "Ant" - cheap and reliable

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

Motorcycle "Ant" is a rare domestic vehicle, which even today can be indispensable for homeowners. Despite its "old age", it has several advantages over many models.

History of Creation

In the Soviet years, the Tula plant produced large quantities of passenger and cargo scooters like a scooter. Many of the modifications were limited to experimental series, never going into mass production. However, one of them - the Ant cargo motorcycle, affectionately called by the people, did not belong to their category. This small "hard worker" was very popular not only in the USSR, but also abroad. Demand for it gradually increased and in the nineties, the export of assembly models of these cargo motorcycles to Colombia, Argentina and Mexico began. In a short time, almost thirteen thousand complete pieces were delivered to these countries. The quality of this Soviet scooter was liked even by the Argentine special services, who ordered the Ant motorcycle with a special cabin for the police.and a covered body with windows for passengers.

Features

The closed cab that was installed on the Ant motorcycle was assembled from welded stamped steel sheets. She weighed fifty kilograms. A sufficiently large panoramic glass, equipped with a manual wiper, did not limit the driver's viewing angle. The cabin door had a rubber seal to close tightly and keep the heat inside. The driver's seat - soft - made this model very comfortable at that time. At the same time, the temperature in the cabin remained at eight degrees even in the bitter cold.

"Ant" - a motorcycle, the price of which was low even in the Soviet years, is quite maneuverable thanks to the reverse gear. Its turning radius is only three and a half meters, and its mass, when compared with heavy motorcycles with side trailers weighing three hundred and twenty kilograms, is significantly less - only two hundred and forty. This makes the task of the driver making unexpected repairs on the road easier: the motorcycle can be laid on its side without effort and effort.

The replacement of damaged tires is just as easy, since disc wheels consist of two halves, pulled together by bolts. Therefore, to mount a spare wheel with a camera, you only need to separate these halves.

Modifications

Motorcycle "Ant", in addition to the standard, had several other interesting modifications. For example, in the mid-nineties, a model was released that had a plastic cabin. Another, morecheap variety, produced with removable windshields. Of the other brothers of the Tula brainchild, the Ant-4 motorcycle can be distinguished. Its engine, designed for eighty thousand kilometers, ran on diesel fuel. In addition, this model has been equipped with a noticeably more spacious cab.

Motorcycle "Ant", a photo of which is stored in the museum of the plant, could tow up to six hundred kilograms of cargo, so it was supposed to be used not only in urban conditions, but also during rural work. However, things did not go further than development.

Today, many lovers of this rare vehicles buy the Ant very cheaply, restore it, upgrade it to their liking, and sometimes even carry out tuning. And he will be a reliable assistant in the household for a long time, especially in rural areas.