Ever own a Ural?
 

My teenage sons are all over me to add a Ural to the stable. 60 year old technology made in Russia. I guess if you look at it like buying a vintage VW (stuff is going to break, but easy to DIY and parts are cheap), perhaps in a weak moment, I could see one in the garage. Our English Mastiff would look great sporting a pair of goggles riding along in the hack.

I've read wildly differing opinions on ADVrider. Can't think of anything practical about the idea, but the boys have me thinking. We live in a rural area and off-road, back and forth from the dock, etc., might be kind of fun. Anyone have one?

2013 Ural Gear-Up - Top Speed

Certainly wouldn't buy a new one, but perhaps a used 2011 or 2012? Nearest dealership is a little more than an hour away (Atlanta). Gotta get back to work...these slow days have the potential to get expensive.

New Years Day

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The thing is a hoot to drive.
Forget about speed, just take all the back/gravel roads you can. Mine cruises nicely at 48 mph. Totally another world from my other bikes.
Soviet Steeds is where I found my two year old one. PM me if I can be of assistance.
Jim

Its a Russian made copy of an early BMW. What could possibly go wrong?

Found a 2004 Tourist a while ago for a real deal and have been fussing with it. As I have been riding BMW bikes for years, this was easy as its a copy of a 1939 BMW that the German Army used.

Here is a pic of the bike after being towed out of a hangar where it had been sitting for years, dust, missing fender and so on. Friend of mine ridiing it in the pic enjoyed the ride so much he is looking for a used Ural right now.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1388710629.jpg

What I want it to look like after I get all of the bugs worked out...

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Just remember, this is not a touring bike. Its a fun bike to ride around town or on short trips but you are not going to hop on it and ride 75 mph for 500 miles. Its not designed for that and remember, this is a upgraded copy of a 1939 motorcycle.

I just saw one of those today, very cool

Here's a smokin' deal on one in Lakeland, FL. No idea how I'd get there to see it, much less get it home!

If anyone near Lakeland wants to have a look...and store it for me...well, never mind.

Ural Patrol 2wd

And the Lada was a copy of the Fiat 124. Why re-invent the wheel.

Cheapest car to run I ever owed.

ultimately it is not a very good motorcycle, and not a very good atv. but it combines the two in a way nothing else does.

i have a 2WD patrol. the dogs love it. the girlfriend's kid loves it. accept it's limitations going in and you'll have a lot of fun.




there is a tremendous do it yourself community online. spend a few hours watching the videos on youtube. if none of them disturb you go for it.



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my friend had one for a short while. he is MUCH more mechanically skilled than i am. it was a complete nightmare. he purchased it new. sold it several months later.

They say quality is much improved in the last few years. But, like you said, they are so darn simple that even if things break, they will be cheap and easy to fix. I think with the right expectations going in, a guy could have a ball with one of these. Seems to me you are the kind of guy who is just about perfectly suited for a ride like this. Get one and have fun.

US importer is in the Seattle area (Preston, Wa).....At a bike show, he let me watch a video taken at "Factory".......Was truly stone age.

I semi-wish I had purchased a moto buddy's 600-mile Ural when he had it up for sale last year. It doesn't look like it would be good for much other than putting around town, but the kids (and all their friends--shh, don't tell their parents) would probably love going for a spin around the block.

While it may be a German design, my friend noted the Russians would sometimes take liberties in actual assembly of the bike. Once he had some sort of electrical issue. To replace the faulty electrical bit under the seat he was supposed to pop off the seat and un-do 4 bolts. At least that's what the shop manual said. Instead of 4 bolts, he found 4 welded tabs. Maybe they were short on bolts that month. But that necessitated taking off the sidecar (a much bigger job, as the wheel on the hack is rigidly connected to the drivetrain) to obtain access to that part.

But, I have no place to store a rig that size, so maybe it's for the better for my marriage relations.

Sometimes you have to take a chance. :)

Won't fit in the back of a pickup? Then uShip it.

Ha. Been around long enough to believe the old adage...."If it seems too good to be true, it probably is".

Naw...without an eyeball on it, it's not going to happen. ;)

Complete pieces of crap with an atrocious reputation.... but so cool looking! I got my 3 wheeler endorsement a while back (separate from 2 wheeler, at least here in WA) and have been pining for a cool sidecar rig for a while.

I have a serious soft spot for the Lada Niva. Drove one across Costa Rica.

Always regret not getting one.

I've never owned a Ural but did have a Chang Jiang when I lived in China. Looks the same. Replacing all wiring and connectors made it somewhat reliable but I wouldn't consider taking it on long trips. Really cool to look at. FWIR it was roughly 4k. CJ750s turn up every once in a while here in North America.

I am amazed at the current asking price. They were available around here about 10 yrs ago for something like $3000 new. Some assembly required if I recall. Sidecar was an extra cost option .
Quality control as well as metallurgy is suspect from what I heard.

I've always liked the Ural Solo, much more scarce, but for a while it was the darling of the custom shops. What's top speed on these? Reports seem varied.

I've heard it described as follows: You can go slightly above 60 before it starts to feel like it's shaking apart (with sidecar). If you re-gear the diff...it won't start shaking apart until 70. But there are other bikes for that kind of riding. Different tools for different jobs!

Out of curiosity I checked the local Craigslist by typing in Ural. There was one listed for $5,500 with 2,500 miles on it. I'm not interested, but is this a reasonable price?

What year/model, etc?

Actually, I'm not concerned about serious speed, as I've got other bikes. But one of my joys in life is torturing my accountant siblings by showing up on more and more impractical modes of transport, and I'd love to putter up on a dirty, sputtering Ural Solo, as it already looks a hundred years old. Just curious if it actually could manage the 400-mile trip on county roads doing 50-something mph. :)

Guess it was worth it. Just tried to look on Craigslist for it again & it was gone. So I guess it may have sold sometime today.

My buddy (in the above post), sold his 600-mile bike for $6K. He thinks he bought it new for about $10K, and that they now go (new) for about 12.

web site said $14,099 was list.

You can buy a BMW R90 and put a hack on it for less than the price of a Ural and have a better rig. Just sayin'. A Ural LOOKS cool, but they are broke-down pieces of crap sitting on the floor new. At one time I considered one...before I talked to owners and did my homework. Do not be the mythical lemming.

An R90 won't make tracks like this

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1388837809.jpg

Jim

Well than, this one is for you...

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1388839970.jpg

More a matter of expectations. If you expect Honda reliability and smoothness, you'll be very disappointed. These are mostly hand made by vodka-laden Russians (unfair stereotype, admittedly). Many have great experience but not without a hands-on maintenance and repair mentality....much like buying a 30 year old 911. Having other bikes in the stable, I'd love to have one. But would never expect it to tour like my HD or carve mountain roads like a Duc or K-bike.

Lots of rural unpaved roads around here that would be fun to explore with the dog, a kid, etc.

BTW....the one down in Lakeland sold already too. One day...

Uraling the great divide.
Soviet Steeds &bull; View topic - Uraling The Great Divide (now with more dogs!)




for me the deciding factor was meeting several guys over the last few summers who'd made it up to alaska on urals. i know this is not a scientific survey. for every one who made it twenty could be bleached bones on the alcan. but it was worth taking a shot.

as for the idea of buying an old beemer and attaching a sidecar; i looked into this. i do not want to destroy a classic. i'm hard on machines. i've taken the rig down twenty miles of beach and up hellish fire roads. the two wheel drive and reverse have gotten my ass out of a few tight spots.

i am not here to defend their build quality or reliability. they have issues. just be prepared and don't be in a hurry. then they're a lot of fun.

Very good point, agreed, and thank you for not wanting to destroy a classic.

Well hate to burst a lot of people's bubbles here but a long time friend of mine searched all over the country and finally was shot a good deal on a new Ural three years ago. He lives and worked at that time for the Harley factory in Wisc. And no he did not work the line... he was one of the engineers who designed the engines for the last 25 years, so he knows a thing or two about how things are made.

He got on the airline and flew to Logan, the local dealer here in Phoenix. Made a deal on the bike and the owner said "put 500 miles on it right now and bring it back and we will do the first service free"....

Two days later Tom came back and Logan smiled, handed him the keys to his personal Ural to get around on, and said "it will be done tomorrow mid day!" He then took Tom out to dinner and a ball game.

Tom then hopped on the bike and over a week or so rode the bike 1900 miles to Wisc... all without a hiccup but then he did keep it under 60 or so and said he had an excellent time taking back roads almost the entire trip. He said it was an adventure, not a race.

Its been three years now and aside from several tire changes (he really rides the thing a lot) and a battery that went bad this last fall, he has not done a thing to the bike other than usual maintenance. Anyone on Facebook... look up "Tom Berry" and you will see him and the bike on his profile. Or look up Jim or myself...

And for all of you saying its a piece of Russian junk... well it has the same front brake that many of our Porsche's have, a BREMBO disk. Newer ones have the ignition off of a Ducati and the 2014 versions have fuel injection and so on... they have been steadily improving them and making them more reliable.

Joe A

PS you want to really hot rod a Ural? Find an older BMW engine and stuff it into the frame. It fits but takes some adaption but there are several guys around the country who do this. Then you can ride the bike 80 mph for days and keep smiling. You want to keep the Ural gearbox because of the reverse gear.

The Chinese started building the CJ years ago under license from Ural. Their quality is not what the Ural is but you know, for cheap transportation in their neck of the woods they work fine.

Some spares from the CJ fit the Urals, and some not... but its good to have options.