Properly cold starting a Dnepr Motorcycle 

That's great! I love mine. I got the English language manual for it and went through it. The manual tells you to start it the way I show but it doesn’t tell you why, which I did.

@@n4zou took me a few more kicks to get it going. I notice it doesn't have the original carbs, maybe that's why. But it already seems like a fun bike!

@@den_bosmens_outdoor All right! If it's been sitting for a long while it will loosen up and run better. Bikes with carburators are all different in the way they start. You can tickle the carburators before you turn on the ignition and kick it three times. That will put fuel in the cylinders before you do the ignition kick so it may hit and run on that first real kick start. I did that until the bike was all loosened up and turning over freely except for the compression strokes. You can have a back fire in the exhaust due to fuel in the exhaust system from tickling before that ignition on kick. Now for a warning! If this is your first time riding a hack don't get overconfident. That sidecar is always out to get you by tossing you off like a real horse is apt to do.

@@n4zou As soon as it's registered I'll let you know how I did!

There are small numbers of them scattered all over the USA. Arbalet Motorcycles in Kiev Ukraine imports them into the USA. www.dnepr-kiev.com/ There is a warehouse in the State of Nebraska where they keep a few ready to sell. Mine came to Alabama directly from Kiev Ukraine after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1992 after the Government approved importing them to help the Ukraine Government. 125,000 were imported to the USA in that year. The agreement to allow KMZ Motorcycles and some Vintage Soviet Cars and Trucks made in Ukraine is still in effect. I have always wanted a UAZ 452 4 wheel drive Van often referred to as a Loaf because it looks like a Loaf of Bread. They are not approved for import because they are made in Russia and not Ukraine. I wish Russian and American Politicians could get along without blaming each other for problems they cause themselves. Then I could get a "Loaf Van". My Dnepr MT-11 had lots of problems made into it from the Factory. The original owner could not get anyone to fix it so it would run correctly and so it sat in his barn for 27 years. He was going to an old person home and so the State sold all his belongings to pay for that. That's when I got it. I took everything completely apart, fixed or replaced bad parts, and assembled it correctly. It had just 194 Km on it when I got it. Today I have 9,495 Km on it and will put many more Km on it.

@@n4zou Great story! Good luck!

Not too rare!!! Great bikes!!!

Arbalet Motorcycles in Kyiv Ukraine is where I got all my parts. Prior owners of the business were corrupt but the owners now and good honest people. Some continue to say otherwise due to the prior owners but I never had any problems and I made several orders with them. If you have an original points ignition system with the red ignition coil that looks like a rag was wrapped around it and coated with varnish you need a new coil. I junked all that and got an electronic ignition system the Arbalet sells. If you buy one get the one with the microprocessor control. After you install it and set it with the LED on the ignition unit leave the mounting screws a little loose so you can turn it with the engine running. The Unit has capacitors in it so it's impossible to get the ignition set exactly with it. You will need a timing light. Start the engine running, turn on the timing light, increase the throttle until the ignition advance is at maximum. Set the timing so the full advance marking on the flywheel is lined up with the mark on the engine beside the window hole. Then shut it off and tighten the screws on the ignition unit. Timing is now perfect. Make sure the carburetor's are set correct. This includes float height and the needle valves are not leaking when the float is holding them closed. Also pull the fuel enrichers to check that the rubber seals are good and the enrichers are not leaking when closed. You may need carburetor rebuild kits for them. Be sure to get the complete rebuild kit and not the cheaper kit just for the fuel bowls. It will come with new enricher plungers.

@n4zou mine came with boxes of extra parts and it runs but not as good as it should. I appreciate any help I can get this is my first bike like this and know very little about it. It's a 4 speed and has a reverse! What i didn't know is each side of gas tank has on/ off control. It ran good while test run but at home I took it off trailer turned gass on ( one side) & started 1st kick. I ran it across my yard and parked it under a shade tree to really look it over better. It was then I looked how much gas It was very low, so I bought the best gas i could. That rec.fuel new stuff. That's when I noticed the other tank valve. I was told that running only one side must have done something like flooded one carb? Two days of replacing gas lines, clamps, air filter hose,& started over with the new gas. Still no start only by pulling with jeep & popping clutch. And really ruff running, like the choke is in wrong position? I'm still not sure what I can or should do? My son sent me this link to listen too but I know it's more than that! One plug wire is bad & more. However I have boxes of parts that came with this, still going through looking for plug wires but i can see the coil unit is a sealed unit so couldn't just plug in new wires?? Any help greatly appreciated, thank you very much.

@@michaelsullivan9615 my fuel tank has only one petcock that splits into two nipples for fuel lines. BMW gas tanks have two petcocks like you describe so it may have a BMW gas tank instead of a Dnepr gas tank. Leaking fuel enrichers on the carburetor's will cause poor running condition as it's running too rich and flooding the engine with fuel. If you have an original ignition coil with a covering that looks like a rag was wrapped around it and soaked in varnish you need to replace it. They are unreliable junk. You can replace it with a Harley Davidson ignition coil mounted under the gas tank and run a wire from the points to it. It's better to buy a microprocessor ignition kit from Arbalet Motorcycles that has a new coil made just for it that mounts to the same place as the old coil inside the ignition cover. With good carburetor's and a good ignition system it will start and run good as long as the valves in the head are not leaking, valve lash set properly, and good cylinders and pistons.

It depends on what carburetor's you have. I have original K65 carburetor's on my Dnepr. The first thing to do is check for spark at the spark plugs. Remove both and lay them on top of the head's where the metal part will be in contact with the head and where you can see the spark jump across the gap. Both plugs will spark at the same time if everything is working correctly. Turn on the ignition and kick the engine over watching the gap on one plug and then the other. If there is a nice blue spark then the ignition is working. Put a little gasoline in the spark plugs holes and replace the spark plugs. Kick the engine over with the ignition on. The cylinders should fire the gasoline you dripped in. You will know if it ran for a moment on that fuel. If it did you may not be getting fuel to your carburetor's. Make sure there is gasoline in the tank, disconnect the fuel line from one of the carburetor's at the carburetor, and open the petcock. Fuel should flow. Then check the other carburetor. If fuel flows freely your carburetor's may need to be cleaned. Do open the throttle and hold it open as you kick start the engine. They usually will not idle when first started without keeping the throttle open slightly until the head's have some heat in them even in warm weather. In the winter I have a clamp that holds the throttle open a little while warming the engine long enough to idle without keeping the throttle open slightly to keep it running.

@@n4zou hey thanks for getting back to me . Yea I’ve got these mikuni carbs which idk if that was standard when this 1997 URAL was built . It doesn’t have that tickler fuel pump button like yours ...so I am assuming it has a different design ? I bought one of those inline spark testers ...the one where the light goes on from the coil voltage ..I am going to use that to see if I get the spark . I definitely have fuel flowing . Do you think spraying starting fluid is a good idea ? I’m pretty new to urals so my motorcycle knowledge is limited unfortunately ...but I know engines a bit ...enough to get by I guess 😊!

@@n4zou also wanted to ask ...I have that master switch under the seat also . Although it looks new so I am assuming it was installed by a previous owner . I really don’t know what position I should have it though...on or off? Is that strictly to keep it charged and turning it off will stop the charging ?

@@smgri there are enrichment lever's on the carburetor's. You pull them up to "choke" the carburetor's when cold starting. Each carburetor has one. It should be a black knob you pull up or sometimes they are located on the side of the carburetor's. Those ignition test lamps can sometimes not work with all ignition systems. When kick starting the engine you may not see it glow. Removing the spark plugs makes kicking the engine over very easy and it will rapidly turn. Those ignition lamps only work properly when the engine is running and let's you see if the ignition is causing an engine skip or something is not letting it spark every time it should.

@@smgri it is a battery isolation switch. It disconnects the battery from the bikes electrical system. When the switch is open it's like not having a battery in the motorcycle. Usually they are connected to the ground or negative side of the battery. If nothing comes on when you turn the key to on then the switch is open. If you have warning lights come on when you turn the key to on then the switch is closed.