The Motorbike Archives

Siberia! The very name has sounded a challenge to every traveller, in my own erroneous pre-conception it always conjured up visions of a vast snow covered wasteland interspersed with the occasional friendly wooden cottage, of course, oil lamps were always burning inside. Little did I expect to find an excellent railway system spanning the continent 6,000 miles in length, fine large industrial cities with well kept streets and excellent facilities for sport and recreation, including motorcycle racing on ice! Though the train journey was a poor substitute for motorcycling; when I crossed Siberia, December, 1971, the whole experience was a revelation. The final blow came one bitter night as I walked in the streets of Irkutsk battling against the wind of a Siberian winter, the other people were hardly visible under their heavy clothing. After half an hour I staggered into what looked like a restaurant gasping for breath. I would drink anything tea, coffee, soup, as long as it was HOT! After the inevitable language barrier had been broken down, I got the message, they only sold ice cream! And sure enough, as I looked around the room, there they were, all eating ice cream! I thought, "Those crazy Russians," and my feelings were reiterated a few days later in Novosibersk, as one Sunday afternoon, with the thermometer reading —20, I watched the stars of Russian ice racing performing in front of over 5,000 frozen, but delighted spectators!

In order to appreciate the essential details of the motorcycle scene in USSR it is necessary to start near the end of my Russian journey in Moscow at the office of "Za Rulom" (At The Steering Wheel) Motor Sport Magazine. Here, through an interpreter, I was able to speak to the chief editor Mr. Shugrov. I asked about the basic economy of motorcycle ownership in the USSR and obtained some rather staggering information. The highest salary that a young technician working industry age (around 22) could hope to earn would be 120 rouble/monthly (the highest salary in USSR is reputed to be 600 rouble/monthly for the president of Moscow University!), and the cost of a 350cc machine is 550 roubles. (The official exchange for the rouble is 1 rouble equals 1 U.S. dollar, though on the world market outside Russia it is worth considerably less.) According to Mr. Shugrov the average boy would have to save for at least 1 to 2 years to buy a 125cc and 2 years to obtain a 350cc.

To the average westerner the outlook must seem rather bleak for motorcycle sport and the necessary home market support for one of the world's largest motorcycle industries (claimed output 2,000,000 units annually). How can our sport flourish without high incomes and the absence of machine, tire, and oil sponsors? We, in the West, would be justified in considering this a pretty grim situation. However, when comparing our way of life and their differing idealism it is all too easy to fall into the trap of seeing everything from one point of view. It can be far more constructive and realistic to examine results, then, at the same time, take an avid interest in their contrasting methods of achievement under a system that is more highly organized to the achievement of results at the expense of a certain loss of individual freedom. In theory, the rider's wealth should have no bearing on his ability to obtain the best equipment, and become proficient in a particular sport, whether it be moto ball, moto cross, reliability trial, etc.

As in the West, the basis of motorcycle sport is the club, after this, the resemblance is difficult to relate. In Russia, the club receives a large grant from the appropriate government committee of Physical Education and Sport. It can also receive some money from entry fees at race meetings and other events. New riders who enter a club to receive training in a particular sport must pay a small fee around 30 cents/yearly. The main qualification for entry to a club is a good school record which is essential!

On being accepted for entry to the club, the new member, assuming that he does not own his own machinery, receives a motorcycle according to his particular interest, i.e. moto ball, moto cross, ice racing, speedway, trial, touring, etc. This machine will, in the first instance, not be the latest model but rather one that has seen service in the hands of older club members, nevertheless, it will have been well maintained and be in good condition. The member can keep this machine at his own home and is responsible for its maintenance though he receives the necessary spare parts from the club, also, clubs have workshop facilities for their members. An experienced clubman is required to be responsible for the training of each new member. As the new members' ability increases, especially his proficiency in a particular sport, then he should receive a better machine.

The club member is also supplied with motorcycle clothing, helmet, etc. and fuel for events and training. There will be many Novice events for the new rider to compete in before being lip-graded to the more advanced and specialized branches of the sport. While some of us might not like or agree with such a system one has only to look at the legendary achievements of Russian riders in ice racing, speedway and moto cross to see that, bearing in mind their country's much lower standard of living, such a system gives fine results. Motorcycle sport is well established in the USSR and apart from government support is well accepted by the general public.

The following sports are practiced by motorcyclists throughout the USSR: Moto cross, using Czechoslovakian CZ machines for International Events; Russian lsch for National competition; moto ball is popular using 175cc Khabrov machines; endurance and cross country time trials with various types of motorcycles; ice racing and speedway draw the largest crowds—the riders prefer Czech Jawa and ESO 500cc motorcycles for this type of event. Road racing is not so well established in Russia as in most western countries. There have, however, been some interesting attempts to produce a machine suitable for International competition. The most recent example which comes to mind was the four-cylinder Vostoc 500cc, rather like the MV in layout. It started at the lmatra International race around 4 years ago and was claimed to develop 80 horsepower; after this initial showing, development of this interesting machine does not seem to have been continued.

For those interested in statistics Mr. Shugrov informed me that the first Russian Ice Championship was in 1922 and the highest motorcycle speed record was 230 km/hr. (138 mph), by a Kometa 3 500cc.

As I entered Siberia early December, 1971, I looked from the train window at the frozen landscape and wondered just how much motorcycling could I hope to see in Russia? Sure enough, in the first town that I visited there were some police and other riders plowing through the snow covered streets on rather old Ural sidecar outfits; due to the language difficulty it proved extremely difficult to approach them and they were reluctant to have any photographs taken! One afternoon while looking from the window of the TransSiberian express at a small Siberian village I saw two solo riders on a small two-stroke approach an icy corner too fast and slide off across the road. However, one of my main ambitions was yet to be realized. For many years I had wanted to visit and photograph an ice race and what better place to start than Siberia!

At every town I asked the In-tourist guide, "Could I see some motorcycle sport instead of the usual sightseeing tour of buildings and monuments?" In Irkutsk they kindly arranged for me to visit a school training teenage boys to learn how to maintain a motorcycle. However, when I arrived at Novosibersk on the weekend of December 18 and 19 and found that it coincided with the annual Ice Race Championship between Novosibersk and Ufa, a town in the Urals, I persuaded the Intourist guide to accompany me and give an introduction to the motor sport organizers. The event was taking place at a course known as the "Moto Drome" on Sunday afternoon. Mr. Kooznetsov trainer of the Novosibersk team gave some interesting information about the event through an interpreter. It was the traditional meeting with the Ufa team which had come many miles from the Urals. There were two meetings every year and this was one of the most famous of Russian ice racing competitions attracting their best riders of International status. The Championship was named after Nerasov (I never dared ask who he might have been). Novosibersk meets three cities in the Championship every year in Novosibersk. I learned that on the previous day there had been a team competition which had resulted in a win for Novosibersk with a score of 45 to 33. A crowd of 5,000, which Mr. Kooznetsov described as "disappointing," waited in the —20 temperature, anticipating some exciting racing in the individual championships on Sunday, December 10. This was more or less assured with the ice racing World Champion for four years running, Khaderov, matched against such stars of International fame as Dubinion and the latest "find" Paznikov who, at 22, is Russia's finest prospect for the World Championships in ice racing and speedway.

The Sunday races would be run in a series of 20 heats with the complete teams taking part, 7 riders from Novosibersk and 7 from Ufa, making a very full and exciting program. Points would be awarded as follows: Win — 3 points, 2nd — 2 points, 3rd — 1 point and 4th-0. The organization seemed very thorough, before the race each rider received a medical examination from an attractive female doctor! And in view of what lie ahead, this was well justified!

All facilities were extended so that I could take photographs. The machines were brought out from the warm garages and I had the extreme pleasure of meeting many riders. Mr. Zooznetsov guided me across the ice to the center of the circuit, which would be a good place to take photographs. Trying to stand on the smooth ice surface of the track I thought, "How can anyone walk on such a circuit, let alone ride!" This was the first time that I had had the opportunity to see ice racing at first hand, coupled with that it was my first visit to a motorcycle sport event in the USSR. It is difficult to describe adequately what I felt at the time, the racing seemed like speedway though much more dramatic and exciting using machines with large spiked tires. The riders completed the course at great speed, seemingly under perfect control, throwing up a shower of splinters as the rear wheel spikes dug into the ice. I was warned not to approach the course too closely as a rider might slide out of control. However, during the whole event, this never happened. Between each group of heats a large truck with plough and scraper attached to the front drove around and levelled the course off. This was necessary as the spiked tires had, by this time, torn the course up into a series of rough grooves.

Only the week before I had been in the relatively warm winter climate of Japan, the cold seemed intense. I tried to operate my cameras with gloved hands and had little success. At one point film became so brittle with the cold that it broke and I never felt anything wrong until I had missed many exposures! Between heats I was lucky to be invited into the club house before the start of the next races. As I came into the warm room the camera lens steamed up and it was possible to thaw out a little. I wondered how the spectators managed to sum up enough enthusiasm to stand out in the cold for four hours with little protection from the cold Siberian wind.

The racing was extremely exciting. As in speedway the start seemed very critical. The riders let the clutch in as a wire across the track was lifted, too much power and the front wheel lifted and the machine tended to go out of control. Too little power and the rider came late into the first corner. The atmosphere surrounding the meeting was friendly and enthusiastic; the critical heats were numbers 13 and 17 and, at this time, the crowd cheered with excitement.►