My daughter just sent me a link to their 2012 fancy pants catalog. They have a Ural on the cover. Where can we buy stock before all the hipsters go running out to buy Urals? I guess if we all knew that if we waited long enough we'd be cutting edge. www.Hammacher.com
I took a look just for the heck of it.......THIS looks interesting if you were wondering how to drive a hack and film/photograph at the same time........ Of course, it then says.... Price $249.95 <label for="__input_qty_79051"></label> We regret that this item is no longer available. But SOMEBODY has to be making these and you could probably get a better price..... Like, for instance: http://www.google.com/products/cata...a=X&ei=G9z4TqWSD4f9iQKz0qiZDQ&ved=0CGgQ8wIwAA and: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&...i=&aql=&gs_sm=&gs_upl=&btnmeta=search=search=
They showcased them on some U.S. morning TV show too, I think someone had a link to a Youtube clip of it. I wouldn't worry about it, it's still a niche bike.
I'm willing to bet there's going to be ton of lightly used Urals on the road shortly. . . Bargain time?
Motorcycle sales have been on life support for a while now. Some would blame the economy which is no doubt a factor but the lack of interesting product clearly is part of it. The whole pirates & power ranger thing is largely played out now, the manufactures just haven't figured it out yet. A bike like the Ural is way out in left field but in a sea of chrome and molded plastic, it stands out, why it's presence in the popular media far outstrip it's sales. I've had a number of bikes over the years but only two have had people following me down the street to ask about them, the Ural and the W650 before it. Both I guess are the kind of bikes people like to dream about. Now, if they'd just by enough of them to support that dream....
There was a fancy pants catalog based in Lexington, Ky. while they were in bussiness . They went by the name J.Peterman and sold all sorts of odd ball stuff at highly inflated prices. They were so trendy for a while they were even parodied on the TV show Sienfeild. When they hit a rough patch, i. e. the yuppies quit buying in , I went to the local branch and tried to buy the Ural they used as a display and as a prop in the catalog. They said they couldn't sell it because , [a] they weren't dealers. it wasn't leagal. Bottom line . No extra Urals sold due to this conection.
But these guys are selling them and if they get trendy for a while it will be easier to buy them cheaply.
Don't really want to argue the relative merits because I know NOTHING about either really. Just posted it for general interest. The SCUBA goggles are very interesting.
Strangely, every time SDAMC goes for a ride lots of people stop and talk to us. Must be the Nortons, BSA's, and Indians. You do know that the appearance of a Ural on the cover of the H-S catalog will completely destroy any hope of street cred. There appears to be a typo in the catalog, or it's a special edition Ural for H-S which they described as a 5 speed (in fact it is a six speed with 4 forward, 1 reverse and Russian OD).
My first car was a '59 MB180a that a Sargent had brought back after his tour of duty in Germany. It was in sorrowful shape but had soul, in marked contrast to the other cars in the HS parking lot at the time. It was just a 4 banger with 3 on the tree and much like the Ural you only needed one of those gears about 98% of the time. Most of the stuff you think you need you eventually find out is superfluous. On the Ural that would be 4th I think.
