There are discrepancies in the dates of his birth and death. But we know for certain his primary place in the history of domestic motorcycles. Ninety years ago, in early March, he died in Sochi under unexplained circumstances. His grave was lost and only found eighty years later. And four years ago he returned to his Motogorod as a monument.
The creator of the first domestic motorcycle, Pyotr Vladimirovich Mozharov (1888–1934), was a unique, powerful, and integral figure. His era was the turn of the century, a change of regime, a period of rapid development in the country and an industrial renaissance. His legacy includes vivid and promising design solutions, experience in refining technologies, and an example of quickly turning a dream into production. The forty-five years of his short, fast-paced life are full of sharp turns and leaps over obstacles, much like in motorcycle racing. Among historians, popularizing engineers, moto-enthusiasts and bikers, Mozharov's birthday is commonly observed on September 7. However, taking into account the calendar change after 1918, September 7 is the old-style date, and according to the current Gregorian calendar it falls on September 19. According to documents Mozharov obtained while studying in Germany, his date of birth is 7 (19) October. The family researcher, his great-grandniece Viktoria Leshchuk, considers the date recorded in the church book of the Mikhailo-Archangel Church in the village of Sayukino, Tambov Governorate—17 October 1888—to be the most accurate.
Hereditary nobleman Vladimir Petrovich Mozharov served as manager of the spirits and wood-processing factories owned by his brother Ivan Petrovich. The manager's son, Pyotr, from an early age got acquainted with technology, was passionate about photography, completed a two-class primary school in the settlement of Naschekino, and then the First Moscow Electrotechnical Courses. In 1910, funded by his uncle, Pyotr Mozharov went to study in Germany: he entered the engineering faculty of Leipzig University, but graduated from the Thermal Engineering College in Mittweida, whose diploma was equivalent to a higher engineering education but implied more practical skills. During his studies Mozharov mastered driving cars and airplanes, but he preferred motorcycles. He tried 27 makes from different manufacturers, took part in competitions, and covered more than 60,000 kilometers in four years. With the outbreak of World War I, Mozharov naturally returned home. He became famous across the Tambov province as an inventor (aerosledges, glissers, airplane). In 1915 Pyotr Vladimirovich took a position as a thermal engineer in military production at the Tambov Powder Plant. He was entrusted with designing and equipping the buildings for powder production. In effect, Mozharov rebuilt it. His technical solutions proved so progressive that Pyotr Vladimirovich received a patent for their fundamental part. He worked as a designer, shop foreman, and eventually became the plant's chief engineer. But in 1924, as soon as he learned of concrete plans to create a domestic motorcycle, he secured an appointment at the Izh steel works of the RUZ trust.
Engineer-designer Pyotr Mozharov arrived in Izhevsk with his wife Varvara Petrovna and their two-year-old son Boris. They settled in “Engineers' Barrack No. 22” (wooden upscale multi-family houses in the city center). Neighbors observed his daily morning exercise with weights and were alarmed by his wolf cub (in place of a pet dog). On a restored old AJS (Stevens) motorcycle Mozharov rode to work, from work and around town, startling townspeople and attracting the interest of boys. He began preparations to create prototype motorcycles at the experimental section (the “Motorcycle Section”) of the weapons plant. By assignment of the RUZ trust, from October to December 1927 P.V. Mozharov and his colleague G.I. Adamovich were on a business trip to Germany; they visited 23 motorcycle enterprises and brought back many parts, engines, assemblies and, most importantly, technical documentation. In 1928–1929 Mozharov worked on a series of three design projects for the first domestic motorcycles. He created a heavy motorcycle with a 1,200 cc engine (IZH-1), a machine with forced engine cooling and drive to the sidecar wheel (IZH-2), and the first solo motorcycle with a Wanderer engine (IZH-3). At the beginning of 1929 Mozharov was appointed head of the “Moto Section,” and under his leadership nine engineers worked on the team. They developed models of medium and light motorcycles: IZH-4, IZH-5, IZH-6. In 1929 Mozharov was again on a business trip to Germany. He worked for a month at the Bayrome-Motorenborne (BMW) plant, proposed 17 observations regarding motorcycles—especially concerning the BMW R-16 and its sidecar. The firm implemented several of his suggestions and ultimately rewarded Mozharov with a motorcycle and a container of spare parts. At the rally celebrating the rollout of the IZH-1, Pyotr Vladimirovich said: “What we did would be madness for the pedantic German. But this madness will end in the victory of the Soviet motorcycle. A structurally independent machine was created by us in only eight months. Twice as fast as they create in Berlin!”
The IZH-1 still amazes with its powerful, austere beauty. It simultaneously resembles a strong beast and an armored launch. Like the horns of a mighty animal, the large handlebar is intricately curved, with special covers (“ears”) at the ends to protect the hands. Shining bolts, rivets, a ribbed cocoon. And a completely cavalry-style saddle for a “compact seating” of the rider, to merge man and motorcycle into a single whole. According to recollections, Pyotr Vladimirovich could sit for a month at an empty drawing board, thinking and sometimes jotting notes in a tiny notebook. Then, in a day or two, he would produce an elegant, precise drawing showing the entire layout of the machine. A man of generous talent, he worked like a sculptor, creating not just a single figure but a whole series of works.
In September 1929 the first Izhevsk motorcycles set out on a long motor rally: Nizhny Novgorod–Moscow–Leningrad–Pskov–Bryansk–Kharkov–Moscow, a total of 3,300 km. Returning to Izhevsk with many plans and new projects, Mozharov learned of the State Commission of the Supreme Council of the National Economy's decision to curtail motorcycle production in Izhevsk. The engineer himself was sent to Leningrad to organize motorcycle production at existing factories. Without its inspiring leader, the people of Izhevsk finished construction of the Experimental Motorcycle Plant by communal effort. On May 1, 1933, the Izh Motorcycle Plant (IzhMZ) was officially registered. In Leningrad, at the “Red October” factory under Mozharov's leadership, the Tremass-300 prototype was created, modeled on the German DKW Luxus-300. After further trial runs and necessary improvements, mass production of the L-300 motorcycle began in January 1931. Mozharov himself moved to Moscow, where he headed the Motorcycle Engineering Bureau at Bauman Moscow State Technical University and began developing the first domestic army motorcycle, the NATI-A-750. The first batch of these motorcycles was planned to be produced in Izhevsk. In 1932 Mozharov returned to the Motogorod that had become like home, bringing his team. Izhevsk designers undertook a thorough revision of the imported documentation for the L-300, making significant changes. As a result, drawings for a new model, the IZH-7, were created. By decision of the People's Commissariat of Machine-Building, heavy machines were to be produced at the Podolsk Mechanical Plant, and Mozharov left Izhevsk a second time to organize motorcycle production at the new location.
Of course, after many years of intense work Pyotr Vladimirovich needed a thorough rest. Officially, he had been given a voucher to a party sanatorium in Sochi. But neither fatigue nor despair was the cause of his death. As Pyotr Vladimirovich wrote in what turned out to be his last letter to his wife: “I devilishly want to work at a time when my life’s work ‘Sovmototsikl’ is finally riding proud at the Party Congress exhibition.” On March 11, 1934, Varvara Petrovna was informed that Mozharov had shot himself in his room and that he had already been buried at the Zavokzalnoye Cemetery in Sochi. Documents concerning Mozharov’s death that were held in the KGB archives have not yet been studied. According to his biographer O.V. Kurikhin, Mozharov, with his boundless enthusiasm and absolute devotion to his cause, likely became a serious nuisance to someone in the NKVD and the People's Commissariat of Defense.
The history of domestic motorcycle production and the activities of P.V. Mozharov are presented in Izhevsk in several permanent exhibits: at the National Museum of the Udmurt Republic, the museum of the Izhmash factory, the Aksion Expo Center, and the private motorcycle museum of brothers Artyom and Pavel Kozhushkov.
