My review of Ural Motorcycles (2012)

Thank you kind sir!

I will have you know my Internet dick is fucking huge.

Setting the valves frequently (keeping them very accurate) and balancing the carbs carefully make a real difference. My Ural can go 65 mph (GPS) for hours. Not into any sort of head-wind, of course. My experience has been that about a 10-12 mph headwind will knock about 3 mph off of that (so running about 62 all of a sudden if it's a gust of wind).

Or behind a semi! Mileage goes way up too

Mine goes at 65 just fine under its own power, when there is no head-wind. My Ural does prefer 62 vs 65 for any real length of time.

I can't agree with the above. On the freeway, I've shoved my Ural around very rapidly. It does steer very, very quickly (for a very small input) that makes it "feel" unstable. It's harder to run a straight and predictable line with this unit, due to the large effect that a small amount of steering input has. But having only a +/-2" for a "zone of control" over my exact lane placement is not the same thing as "unstable".

Turning left and braking hard on the front WILL(!) put the sidecar nose to the ground. Note that on a 2-wheeler, full braking combined with turning also causes a crash, so much the same. Nose to the ground is usually followed by total loss of control. So DON'T DO THAT! Either turn or brake but NOT both at the same time (true for all vehicles).

An emergency swerve to the right (toward the sidecar) WILL result in the sidecar wheel getting less loading and it will want to come up. Weight transfer is required to avoid this, but HEY it's an emergency, remember? I.e. I'm swerving NOW, not waiting 1/10 of a second while I slide my butt over to the right first.

Having the sidecar tip up in an emergency swerve can be disconcerting, even if one has practiced this (more typically at slower speeds than 60mph!). Due to my experience practicing this maneuver, I run ballast if I don't have any other stuff to carry. I like having 40-50 lbs in the hack because turning quickly to the right on an elevated freeway with a strong side wind is interesting, let alone the emergency swerve NOW situation.

Braking, it's not as bad as some say. I do different than (against) factory recommended settings and crank the sidecar wheel up a fair bit more (tighter) than the drive wheel (shared foot pedal). Note that front floating ventilated Brembo can really effect the front wheel, slowing it down a lot! Having the sidecar wheel tighter allows me to balance the braking on the left/right sides with just my right foot, thus having better directional control while stopping.

StoneAge Man

Yeah, my Ural would truck along at 65 (GPS) with no problem. I have a CHT gauge on it. Push it any harder and the temps go up quickly. In all seriousness, I think the Ural is a safe machine. The brakes, the construction, the bike is well balanced.
I really want to love this bike, the looks, the practicality of having room to carry stuff (riding to work), the ruggedness of its construction ... After crapping an engine at 3,400 miles I'm a bit dissatisfied. After finding out that engine/tranmission/FD failure is still the rule, hmmmm. I'll keep the bike, fight through the issues, keep making the 10 hour round trip to the dealer for the next 3 years. I'll have an airhead BEEMER engine on the shelf for the time I need to replace the enigine on my dime.
The thing I wouldn't do is recommend a Ural to a friend....

Geez, I wish these guys would just stay down in the basement. It's sad
when they show up topside and crap all over the floor.

WTF guys? Someone has an opinion that differs from yours and he must be an ass? Talk about a wolf pack mentality.

I bought a Ural in February of this year and I absolutely love it. I have 3600 miles on it.

It has left more stains on my garage floor than all my other bikes put together in the last 20 years. The quality control is not there, you all know it, lets stop pretending. I have become accustom to "going through" all of my machines periodically due to race prepping or extreme use so Ural ownership didn't require anything above and beyond what I like to do.

I'm a proud Ural owner but not too proud to admit they don't have problems and definitely not so proud that I would contribute to a collective attack on someone who is rightfully pissed that they are having serious issues with a motorcycle they paid good hard earned money for.

Again, I am stoked that I bought my Ural, it is the first bike I jump on in the garage. It makes errands that would be otherwise impractical or boring on two wheels much more enjoyable. Do I feel safer in an emergency situation at freeway speeds than any of my other motorcycles? He'll no I don't! I use the same mindset driving my Ural as I do when driving my motor home, plan for hills, slow down in corners and leave enough room to come to a stop. This is the first time in my life I actually reference the recommended yellow corner speed signs.

This is my opinion and I could give a shit what my post count is, what tone you perceive I'm using or care how you quote and misinterpret my post. I don't care to get into an Internet argument feverishly typing away excited at how I'm going to tell you what's up. I'll either be stuck at work, riding one of my motorcycles, eating or trying to spend some alone time with my girlfriend, respectively....Mike

You have missed the point entirely. Not one person is saying he shouldn't be pissed ect. He has made blanket statements that aren't true. That is the issue.

Anyone who looks at or treats a Ural as if it were just another motorcycle is in for disappointment. It isn't a "motorcycle". It is a sidecar. You can't shift it like a Ducati. You can corner like a BMW. It is something entirely different. If you treat it as such you won't be disappointed.

On the quality control front there are valid points. That being said IMWA doesn't have the cash behind them like other companies. I will say, what they lack in quality control, they make up for in customer service. They stand behind their product more then any other company I have dealt with. Take a trip over to G-spot if you want a refresher.

I beat the shit out of my Ural and it has left me stranded once. I blew my rear drive out off road and I had a new one put in the same day. BMW sure as fuck wouldn't do that.

Great post. I agree
I don't think he came from the basement and made valid points. I really don't get the piling on from this thread.

I think he should just be ignored. I feel bad about the Ural being in the shop (if it's true), but the rest of what he's saying makes him sound like he's never ridden anything other than a Grand Marquis before.

Is it "kind of a big deal" Mr. Burgundy?

We all know Urals are not Honda's, and sometimes require patience and understanding, its not about that.

It seems that it didn't get amusing until his comments about unsafe speeds, and he got feisty in response to some replies mostly from non uralists.
When you post on ADVrider like you're addressing a bunch of first time riders at a MSF class, and respond obnoxiously to those who disagree, you can't expect it to go well .

My penis, sorry post count on this thread is very small, like tah-dah - 1. My post count elsewhere is what it is. How does that alter the validity of any comment I'd chose to add?

On the whole, I don't find too much disagreeable with The Rat's generalised statements. No idea on Urinals, never even sat on one, let alone ridden one.

Take a deep breath, have a think and consider what he's trying to convey in a few typed lines.

Irrespective of what you ride, the what is only part of the story. There is the where, then when and the how that will have some influence. Then there are the uncontrollables. In truth, the only thing that is, or should be, in control is yourself. Everything else is out of your control. So, when shit happens anything can become unstable, unsafe, dangerous etc. On that score, I agree with him. It's not black & white and, arguably, that may be where he erred. I don't think he deserved the serve that got him wound up.

So, now that I've taken five lines to partially express what could engage an hours discussion, it's back to service as usual.

Oh yeah, don't we have speed limits and rules and stuff because we don't understand that when things go tits up, it's usually we that can't get them back in shape?

Not that rules are necessarily a good thing.

Just curious about your temps... have you re-jetted the carb from its stock configuration?

I have a Suzuki 650 and notice that above a certain speed that the temp dramatically goes up as well. I "think" my (stock) bike is running too lean. As the rpm (throttle setting) increases the bike ends up with more air than it should... Thus even more lean and hot.

Perhaps you need to re-jet as I am getting ready to do...... Just a thought, and I hear the Urals (like all bikes) come into the states running lean to pass EPA regs.

Hey ! Don't go knocking the Grand Marquis. I can't count how many little old ladies take out their teeth and wave at me as I cruise by...o

LOL.... This is great. (I haven't logged on for awhile) Yes, no shit, my Ural is at Frontline Eurosports in Salem Va. It's the green Patrol with the blown engine (not the green Gear Up with the blown engine. It's been a month, there may be another blown engine in there by now...) stop by, take a look. They're great guys, good coffee.

My only purpose to post on ADV was to inform people that might want to buy a Ural. The endless discussion on the stability of sidecar rigs and demonstration of the lack of public schools teaching basic physics only manages to keep my Ural review at the top of Google results. F*cking hilarious.

I'm going to go ride now, please discuss quietly among yourselves.

I read on this page, (will not quote the inmate)how the Ural management stands behind their product. Sure wish that were true.

Sometimes they do, & sometimes they don't & they have the most sorry of reasons.

I too am proud to ride a Ural & the fun factor is the highest. But the QC is in need of help.
There are several little things that the factory could & should do to correct current problems or Management should warranty these breaking parts.

Some of these Urals are billed out as off the road ADV vehicles.
Even in some of the ads a buyer will be swayed to buy because of the rough terrain shown as the Ural goes bouncing over & through places no other sidecar should undertake.
Now if an owner enjoys this kind of riding, they should know that warranty stops somewhere much earlier.

I will help out other Ural owners who have problems w/ the Ural Management.

Urals are improving but what do we do when the old guard does not honor their promise of a most impressive warranty ?

What Ural lacks in quality, they do make up in honoring the warranty. Turns out, bad main bearing, they did a 100% rebuild (with a new crank) AND new pistons, cylinders, oil pump. PLUS reset my warranty for 6 extra months.

Bastards are making it hard to be pissed about the whole adventure. I sure do miss the ugly little bike....

I've been dealing with Jason. I got to tell you, with this clutch and now the engine rebuild, he's been 100% standup kinda guy. Props where props are due. Now, as always, YMMV...