Description

Based on the pre-war BMW R-71, this heavy Soviet motorcycle was produced from 1941 until the mid-1950s. Its development began in 1939, when the Soviet government, concerned about Hitler's ambitions to expand German territories, began rearming the Red Army. The Germans were quite successful in the development of heavy motor vehicles, so in order to save time it was decided to copy the existing design solution.


Soviet Minister of Foreign Affairs V.M.Molotov organized a secret purchase of five BMW R-71 motorcycles in Sweden and Soviet engineers began their work. In winter 1941 the Red Army's Main Armored Vehicle Department (GABTU KA) conducted field tests of the new M-72 motorcycle.

Here are some other motorcycles with guns mounted on them. You can scroll through the pictures in this window, or click on an image and open up a new window in Flickr.