Motorcycle "Izh Planet 5": the history of domestic motorcycles

Probably, the desire to ride a horse, even a steel, got to us from our ancestors. Now the motorcycle is a kind of symbol of freedom and independence, which is probably why many young people (and not only) dream of buying their two-wheeled unit. But before talking about specific models, it's worth to plunge into the history of creating such a wonderful vehicle.

History of motor construction

For the first time the Russian Empire learned of motorcycles at the end of the 19th century, but there were foreign models, nobody could think of their production. But already by 1914 in Riga, at the Lightner plant, the first light motorcycle on the basis of a bicycle was assembled. True, the details for them were brought from Switzerland (firm "Motorev"). The subsequent revolutionary events and the First World War did not allow the development of this industry.

Everything changed when in 1928 a talented young engineer Mozharov took up his job: he built a whole series of motorcycles, they were called "IZH 1-5" (prototypes "IZH Planet 5"). Over time, the technology was improved, but the war stopped production, forcing the plant to release weapons again. And only after the victory motor-building began to rise uphill, a lot of different models and their variations were released, to have their motorcycle became popular. Unfortunately, the success did not last long - after two decades it became fashionable to have a car. In this regard, production began to die and eventually came to an end. But even to this day, the old "Ural", "Java" and "IZH" (including the legendary "IZH Planet 5" with a stroller) serve faithfully and truly motorists. Attempts to reanimate the Russian motor industry continue, who knows, maybe we will also hear about a new model from the Izhevsk Motorcycle Plant.

Motorcycle "IZH Planet 5"

The line of "Planets" resulted in the creation of this two-wheeled unit with a single-cylinder engine. Serial production began in 1987 and continued until 2008. The main characteristic of the model is a high thrust at low rpm, as well as the possibility of attaching a passenger stroller, cargo module, trunk or knee protectors. This motorcycle has undergone many upgrades, for example, the version of "IZH Planet 5-01" had a non-contact ignition system, that is, it could be started without the help of a battery. Standard characteristics did not change during the entire period of production: the mass was 160 kilograms, the volume of the gas tank allowed to fill 18 liters of fuel, and the maximum speed of the car was 120 Km / h. The engine "IZH Planet 5" is two-stroke, single-cylinder, its capacity is about 22 horsepower, and the working volume is 346 centimeters in the cube. The cooling system is the same as that of most motorcycles - air cooling. Gasoline consumes sparingly: at a speed of 60 km / h 4 liters of fuel burn, in city conditions it reaches 6.5. In general, "Izh Planet 5" was positioned as a third-class motorcycle, intended for Russian roads. He has found application everywhere: both simply as a city vehicle and as transportation for country trips (for dacha or fishing), and also as agricultural machinery. It is also noteworthy that, despite the modifications, it has practically not changed since the beginning of the issue and some of the owners are presented in the original form.