It's all emotion

The bike from your childhood, from a family member or from your dreams. There are many reasons to drive in a classic way. Even if you get a kick out of motorcycles that look like insects or barbed suppositories, or are touted as 'The ideal platform for your smartphone'. But nostalgia is for a very good reason. So like in your father's motorcycle.

Motorcycles instead of cars

In the former Eastern bloc there were also fathers with motorcycles. With - for example - Ish (orIZH) Jupiters or Planetas. Because it was significantly easier to get an Izh than to score a car, more than 11 million Izh motorcycles were eventually made. You then had a simple, reliable two-stroke that offered a range of betting options. Especially if he got a third wheel. Because the Izh had enough power to function as a sidecar tractor. Such a reliable Izh didn't care much about bad parts of the road either, and even went off-road bravely, although as a solo machine he still came out on top.

Youth sentiment

In his memory, this motorcycle was part of everyday life for owner Georg, just like the smartphone or the E-bike do for us today. It was simply a necessary means of transport, and not a lifestyle or gadget like the motorcycle is today. In principle, the situation in 'Russia' in the XNUMXs and XNUMXs was similar to that in Western Europe in the XNUMXs, shortly before the car became affordable for most people. But until then, owning an Izh was quite a thing. Almost everyone was able to tell an anecdote about his Izh.

Back in the USSR

In the Soviet Union, where the now 43-year-old Georg comes from, an Izh with a two-stroke engine and sidecar was part of almost every household in his neighborhood. Even in the 70s and 80s, cars were scarce among the local population. And youtube is still teeming with drunken Russians on Planetas and Jupiters.

A steel asylum seeker

Meanwhile, nostalgia struck the owner of this Izh. With a production like the IZH factory, there are still plenty of these two-stroke for sale. They often have so much patina that it makes you feel a bit sad. But the owner was happy with his find. And his approach is that the two-stroke twin should be as good as new again. He has to lean heavily on his Russian roots. Because the parts for these machines are hard to find in the west. And in the former Soviet Republics, as an outsider, you have to be pretty lucky to get stuff there after you've bought it. At local post, parcel deliverers and the controlling authorities, parcels and parcels tend to get lost somewhere along the route. The safest thing to do is to call in a friendly, internationally driving fleece truck driver.

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Also read:
- IZ, ISH or IZH Planeta
- 1.000.000 Jawa 634s. And half went to Russia
- The Ural and Dneprs: risers with a dot
- Riding an army motorcycle: It can be cheap
- BMW vs IMZ and KMZ: What is in a name