The M-72 is a Soviet military motorcycle from the interwar period, World War II and the post-war period. The first prototypes of this motorcycle were made at the end of 1939 or in 1940. On the other hand, serial production started in 1941 and lasted until 1961. The drive was provided by a single 2-cylinder engine with a power of 22 HP and a capacity of 746 cm3. The maximum speed was up to 110 km / h.
The M-72 motorcycle was developed for the needs of the Red Army as a new, heavy off-road capable motorcycle. It can almost certainly be assumed that it was a modernized version of the German BMW R-71 motorcycle. According to some sources, the documentation for this motorcycle was provided to the Soviet side under the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact, but the majority of it states that the work on copying the BMW R-71 started after the purchase of several copies of this motorcycle in the Third Reich at the turn of 1939/1940. It is worth adding that the production of these motorcycles during World War II was relatively small and probably did not exceed 10,000 units. However, after 1945, production continued, and from 1954, motorcycles of this type were also sold on the civilian market. It is worth adding that the M-72 motorcycle was also used by the Polish People's Army, and its first copies appeared in the period 1945-1947.