My review of Ural Motorcycles (2012)

let me try to finish his sentence.

he got as far as a w ....so, it has to be "_hy am I banned?"

There are ways to downshift that don't involve slipping the clutch, thus avoiding any wear on the plates. The primary one being to correctly match the engine speed before letting the clutch back out. The bearings/springs would get more usage, but those are typically pretty-long life.

StoneAge Man

Probably it is good to try first. I am planning to join this crowd - http://www.dnepr-kiev.com/home/ukraine-carpathians-mountains-2012

Might pay to read this thread http://www.russianiron.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=14171 before spending any money with Arbalet. She doesn't have the best reputation. There are also some threads on b-Cozz about her honesty (or lack thereof).

I did , quite mixed comments there. Some people liked it and some got frustrated. I am aware that things "normal" there could be way way out of normality here. Old bike breakdown? Its normal, use your hammer. Take tour in Asia with local agency and you will get similar impression. I am not trying to defend them - I just sought it in other places and it was considered by locals as a normal trip. About honesty - mixed reports as well. More positive ones than negative. Is there any recent topic about Arbalet and their dishonest behavior?

I met a group of about twenty Australians in Istanbul trying to ride back to Australia on Ural Outfits.

They had purchased the bikes in Europe and had given up with the journey by Istanbul. Total rubbish was the verdict. Even with a support vehicle they couldn't carry enough spares. This was the opinion of a small group of owners but relevant.

Was it about Arbalet or bikes? Bikes are shit if of unknown origin. However they work charmless in proper hands.

This was interesting reading about the new 2013 1200 water cooled GS.
Comparatively speaking as I am sure it has a great ride and flies, I still prefer our 1996 1100GS and our 2012 "Crusty". [Gear-Up/Ural]
The technology is scary. One minor "thing" can go wrong and on the side of the road or no road no repair is going to be possible. I am not a great mechanic, I have ridden the GS till it's engine no fault of mine finally gave up at 281,000 miles, but I found this read fascinating.
I think we can consider ourselves lucky that they still make the Ural!
Here is the article
http://www.mcnews.com.au/2013_Bikes/BMW/R1200GS/Intro.htm

:eek1
Thats all?

And I would not be going out on a limb if I said they were not easy miles...

They were easy miles, yes. [RT engine now with only 30,000 miles]. The fear or better "apprehension" breaking down with so much electronics in the guts of a machine in the middle of nowhere makes me very uneasy.

I often read BMW thread being a happy owner of R1200GS. I must assure - if you read it , it wouldn't give better impression than the current thread. People bitching about electrics, final drive failure, engine etc etc showing "numerous" examples of pure engineering solutions and poor quality of craftsmanship. Is R1200GS bad bike? I dont think so... I am familiar with Ural/Dnepr rigs and they always have small problems to fix on the go. However they can be fixed on side of the road with hammer and piece of the tin can. Modern bikes if they r dead - they are dead, game over. I have heard only about one bike than can go and go and go without problems - Honda Transalp. Take one of them if you don't want problems with maintenance in long trips. Russian bikes are for mechanically oriented people. They can take you where you want if you give attention, maintenance and care in return. They are not "plug & play" modern devices from the box. People who buy them assuming that they are Hondas are naive and badly informed. I still remember stupid angry discussion about how bad are Harleys - piece of crap, slow, ugly etc etc comparing to jap bikes. Hmmm... you can hear it from people who made their own bad decisions buying bikes that are not meant to be what they expected. If you want to race - dont buy Harley, take R1 instead. You want go for long trip around the world - make your research, MEASURE YOUR ABILITIES, know the bike and ONLY then make the decision.

This thread inspired me to buy a Ural

I've been looking for one

Dumbass question. Is that a small GM alternator on the engine or just a copy of one?

That is a Russian 35A "hand-grenade" alternator.

Ah, I have read of this one. I think the words were"it will destroy your engine"

Do these bikes have a weak electrical system? Could a GM alt be retrofitted?
I have one on my Suzuki Samurai, the original 36 amp :huh went out and they are about $160.

The 80 amp GM was $10 at a salvage yard, easy hook up.
I'm guessing in this application it is gear or chain driven, by it looks like there is room for it.

The new ones come with a Denso alternator

That should be fine then, I doubt I'll buy new if/when I get one.
Seems like I would be better off getting one that someone has had a few years and mostly sorted out.

The Denso alternator is rock solid. I believe Ural has their own bracketry, mounting, etc, but I believe it is a pretty standard alternator for several models of fork lifts. Appears to be identical to the one in our Kubota and our Nissan at work.

Didn't pay much, did you!!??
Did you talk him down??

$1300. It was a steal.