Why you should NOT buy a Ural motorcycle

[Marvin and towser]

Originally Posted by mgtibb

I completely agree. Don't buy a Ural if your a pussy.

My a pussy what?

[brstar]

Lets drag this one out all the way.
Any cheap Urals going?
With all the fixes done.
Cheers Bruce.

[RidingDonkeys]

Pretty happy with my Ural and haven't had any issues, minus a bent trunk key. I can see the frustration though.

What I can't see is anyone saying that Ural maintenance is complicated. This is the easiest bike to work on that I've ever owned, and I'm no mechanic.


Sent from my Droid 2 Global using Typotalk 2

[Eaglebeak]

I thought it was a gutsy (and pretty true post).

I thought long and hard about getting one here in Australia.

I'm a long time BMW airhead owner, and have a soft spot for flat twins, but I knew I planned to do a lot of riding, much of it in isolated country and decided they were just too risky to bother with.
(By isolated, try to imagine a country roughly the geographical size of the USA, but with only 20 million people in total and +85% of those people living on the coastal fringes).

In the end I bought a low mileage, second hand Suzuki GSX 1400 and with a couple of mates, fitted a leading link and aluminium bodied chair.

The whole thing cost me about $2,000 less than a new Ural in Australia.

That was three years ago and I've now done two west to east crossings of Australia plus thousands of dirt Kilometres.

Not a single mechanical issue. Not one. And I still get lots of attention from Joe (and Josephine) Public.

I've never felt the need for a reverse gear or two wheel drive.

I get fuel consumption figures anywhere between 10 kms/litre to 13.5 kms/litre. Depending on my throttle hand.
That's roughly 28 miles/imperial gallon to 38 miles/imperial gallon.

Plus I have the grunt to sit on highly illegal speeds if I want and can pass large semi trailers with ease.

Plus my boot is watertight and can double as a table, see below.

[viverrid]

Originally Posted by bokad

Still hoping someone from pro Ural land will explain how a Ural is in fact more reliable than any other new bike or why someone would want a Ural instead of something else attached to a Ural sidecar.

You seem to be the only person on the planet who was under the delusion that a Ural was expected or supposed to be more reliable than "any other new bike".

People want a Ural because they feel that it would be cool to have a Ural. Not because they thought a Ural would be more reliable than every other make of bike. I don't even have one, and I know this. People who want a Ural are often people who enjoy people coming up to them and saying" Wow, is that a Ural?"

Do they even sell Urals without sidecars? That should tell you something.

If you didn't know that sidecars can be put on other makes of bike, that is your ignorance. If you want a roadside assistance warranty, buy a car. Most motorcycles don't have such warranties (NONE of the numerous new motorcycles I've bought had one), but apparently you don't know that either.

You're just a self-absorbed crybaby.

[AlanCT]

Well, there's no accounting for taste.

I went in with my eyes wide open. I read/researched about them for many months - mostly regarding mechanical issues (not by reading mods and accessory threads). I fully expected my Ural to be less reliable and require more dirty hands and owner involvement than a conventional, modern bike and that was a large part of why I wanted one.

I have been surprised, actually, that my '05 has required less wrenching than I had anticipated - and I don't particularly baby it.


It sounds like the OP was expecting a Honda-like experience. If that is the case, no wonder he was disappointed.

[janner]

Sounds like your frustrated and angry at yourself for not doing your own homework before you purchased your first Ural and then doubled the problem when you brought your second.

Guess I would be pissed about that to. I have a Ural thats had its issues but its never been back to a dealer. They were simple enough that I could work it out myself.

I wouldn't buy a second one, ones enough :loll

[MotoJ]

I think the OP's basic point is that compared to bikes of similar price, the value to money isn't quite there. Back when the 650s were first being sold and you could buy a whole sidecar rig ready to go for a 3rd of what it might cost to build one, they were pretty intriguing. If it then turned out to really be a POC, you weren't out a huge amount of dough.

The quirkiness and breakdowns can be construed as "character" when you're not breaking the bank to buy the rig. At $12-16K things like leaking trunks, wonky speedos, and broken final drives should be unacceptable.

[madeouttaglass]

Originally Posted by bokad

Still hoping someone from pro Ural land will explain how a Ural is in fact more reliable than any other new bike or why someone would want a Ural instead of something else attached to a Ural sidecar.

Yep, total pieces of shit. I've owned about 40 bikes over 30 years. Just came back from a cross country ride on a 2010 Ural while my FJR1300 and GL1800 sat in my garage. I documented ALL the problems in my ADVRider ride report. http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=781149

By the way, I have AAA RVplus to cover all towing needs including bikes and sidecars. Something like $100 per year but I've never used it.

edit- don't bother with looking at the ride report. 6,000 absolutely trouble free miles, plus another 1,000 since then.
I do have two things that I'd recommend to Ural though. The intake should be redesigned for less drone and the odometer should be in miles in the US. Other than that I see no issues. Both of my other road bikes have had one or two government mandated recalls. None for the Ural.

[SprintSix]

Things I would buy both reliable and Russian.

Mosin-Nagant rifle.

AK-47

Winter clothing.

Vodka.

[Marvin and towser]

The original poster has taken his bike on quite a journey, he doesn't seem in any way like a pussy, just some one who wanted to ride. Ural is making bikes in small volumes (not one off) and with the best will in the world probably have to concentrate quite hard on getting sales to pay the work force. Some dealers may be in the dark ages but the good ones could probably help get the standards up (probably have been doing). Its easy to get something made right and to a good quality when your order quantities are 10,000 parts and up. When Ural are selling a few hundred bikes they are in an unfortunate valley between mass production and easy engineering changes to one off bikes. They are also popular because the design hasn't changed much which puts another layer of complexity into the decision to change any part. I know people objected when the drum break went from the front meaning you lost the complete interchangeability of all wheels, some people prefer the old 650 engine. It must be a nightmare for Ural figuring out how to update the design and not lose the magic.
Sidecars are a niche market and urals are a niche within that, I really doubt many off these bikes are bought with a spock like logical mind (he would probably buy a second hand low mileage corrola). People pay a lot of money for these machines I can see why there would be a tendency to be a brand ambassador. Its pretty brave to come out in public and say I wasted a load of money because I didn't do enough research and the bikes not for me, you open yourself up to ridicule which has all ready started but you might save others a lot of hassle. I think its a pretty useful thread people will read it along with others ride reports and can now get both parts of the story. From his ride report it sounds like he has encountered most problems in high humidity countries at slow speeds with a lot of slogging through heavy traffic / bad roads. I think a $10K should be able to handle this but I doubt the factory gets much chance to test in these conditions.
He has had two of these bikes he seems to have ridden them quite a bit and wanted to ride them more but can't due to break downs he isn't just knocking them with no experience.

[Sailing Rider]

Its a Ural, they do that

[Wannabee]

Ural does sell solo bikes.
Most people that buy them are never gonna take a cross continent trip , or even leave their county with it . The fringe that does either loves the challenge or hates it , probably the same as any other bike .
It would suck being stranded somewhere , especially since the ural support system is great . Even here in the states , the dealerships are scattered about , but the ones that love these rigs don't count on them . I guess it's what you want , if I was going to travel in far of lands , I doubt I would own one .
Your right , that m70 is a sexy beast .

[Cat Daddy]

Ha !

I'm a Royal Enfield owner and hopefully future Ural owner. We Royal Enfield guys look up to you Russian bike owners like you're the gods of reliability. If I can ever get my bike up to the level of a typical Ural for reliability I shall be a contented (and broke) man.

It's just like marrying a big titted redhead. You have to know up front she's gonna cause you heartache. Only you can decide if the thrill is worth the pain.

[bokad]

Complex things (like taking out the transmission) are probably easier (and more frequent) than doing so on an ex. Honda. But regular day to day simple things like getting at the battery are much more complicated on the Ural.

Originally Posted by RidingDonkeys

What I can't see is anyone saying that Ural maintenance is complicated. This is the easiest bike to work on that I've ever owned, and I'm no mechanic.