Here's the story. As soon as I found out Mr. COB had a spiffy new Ural GearUp I raced over and begged a ride. He said something like "well I'm pretty new with this thing, but lets go!" Loaded up some ammo... er, not really... For the dainty I won't post here, but for the required FYYFF shot go here: https://cyb.smugmug.com/photos/30554101-M.jpg Mr. COB, being a new Ural sidecar owner, decided to try out some rough roads with a guinea pig, er.. passenger, me. I heard "haven't tried this before" more than once. I held on tighter when I heard that! Heading out on the Russian Road near Granite Falls on a Ural Gear Up. Passenger view. Road climbs to a nice viewpoint. An then, "steeper than it looks" along with "haven't tried this before"! Nice narrow roads through the trees. Passenger ride was remarkably comfortable even on really rough stuff. Uhh...uhhh...uhhhhh...yeeeesssss... the-e-e ri-i-i-ide got-t-t-t buuuuum-py at times. See that puddle in the distance? Mr. COB decided to park in it, spin it up and fling some mud. We found out what happens when you suddenly get good traction on slippery conditions in a sidecar. Lets just say a) The Ural and we survived just fine and b) I had to pick out a lot of brush from my sidecar... wish I could have captured it on video ;-) Fun roads All of a sudden we were being abducted by aliens! However, the Ural, being so primitive, kept on running and we escaped. Zipping throug the forest! It's pretty damn fun as the passenger. Other than one projecting root that went into the sidecar crash guard and hung up the entire rig (had to back up while extracting it) the Ural plowed through everything. Sometimes the 2-wheel drive had to be used, but mostly not. With no rear differential, you have to be careful where you use the extra sidecar drive wheel. Headin' back after a fun ride! Dave, thanks for an excellent adventure! -=Clif
Hmm... this is much like watching some dude get to nail a hottie in a porn! Those things sure look fun.
Looks like a lot of fun. Sat in a Ural at one of the bike shows here in DC... I don't think I fit very well. My right foot had a hell of a time getting into postion with all the engine and structural bits on that side of the bike. Regardless of how *I* fit on 'um - they still look fun as hell to thrash off road. I bet the other dualies do a double take when they meet ya on the trail!
It definitely gets a lot of interested looks! Except for really narrow trails, the Ural sidecar can handle stuff that woud be really hard on anything with just two wheels. Snow comes to mind. I was constantly suprised by how easily it went over some really tough stuff. Damn, now I want one!
Great pics Cyborg. You and Mr. Cob are going to have to stop posting pics. Must...not....buy....one..... Errin
Howdy Cyborg, I just got back from my Idaho road trip so this is the first time I have seen your report, good job on the write up What Cyborg failed to mention is that I scared the livin shit out of myself when playing in the mud hole :huh I was totally unprepared for what happened when we reached the far end and the bike got traction. The rear tire had spun up to a good speed while in the mud, when we hit solid ground it got traction and the front wheel climbed into the air :eek1 the rig jerked violently to the right and into the brush, darn near throwing me over the handlebars, I hung on and rode it out till we came to a stop At which point I almost felt a need to relive myself Of course not wanting to excite my passenger I made like it was not really that big of a deal as I slipped the rig into reverse and backed out of the brush and onto the road again Thanks for riding along Cyborg, it was a learning experience for me and I hope an enjoyable jaunt in the country for you
Yep, was fun and good thing I had full armored gear on during your brush expedition. I don't get ruffled easy, and I didn't encounter anything too extreme in the sidecar seat. It was pretty comfortable in fact. -=Clif
Oh great another rig for me to lust after, always had a soft spot for sidecars. So how is it on the highway???
I can hear Mr Cob laughing his ass off over that little run in. Sweet rig, now if you could get Creeper in that sidecar and repeat that mud hole experience, the laughter would never stop!! Great pix..... Darin
Howdy Mr. Annoying, The Gear-Up, will run "comfortably" on the open road anywhere between 45 and 55 mph. The faster you drive, the more work it is to keep everything going in the proper direction. A lot of how the rig handles and how much work is involved is the condition of the road, a road that has a steep crown on it is a lot more work to ride at speed then is one that is relatively flat.
Jurgen must stop looking at Mr.Cob and the Ural threads. Jurgen must stop looking at Mr.Cob and the Ural threads. Jurgen must stop looking at Mr.Cob and the Ural threads. Jurgen must stop looking at Mr.Cob and the Ural threads. Jurgen must stop looking at Mr.Cob and the Ural threads. Jurgen must stop looking at Mr.Cob and the Ural threads. Jurgen must stop looking at Mr.Cob and the Ural threads. Jurgen must stop looking at Mr.Cob and the Ural threads. Jurgen must stop looking at Mr.Cob and the Ural threads. Jurgen must stop looking at Mr.Cob and the Ural threads. Jurgen must stop looking at Mr.Cob and the Ural threads. Jurgen must stop looking at Mr.Cob and the Ural threads. Jurgen must stop looking at Mr.Cob and the Ural threads. Jurgen must stop looking at Mr.Cob and the Ural threads. Jurgen must stop looking at Mr.Cob and the Ural threads. Jurgen must stop looking at Mr.Cob and the Ural threads. Jurgen must stop looking at Mr.Cob and the Ural threads. Jurgen must stop looking at Mr.Cob and the Ural threads. Jurgen must stop looking at Mr.Cob and the Ural threads. Jurgen must stop looking at Mr.Cob and the Ural threads. Oh and thanks for the excellent-if inticing pics Cyborg. Jurgen
cool story, those sidecars really are the best, I have ridden a Dnieper with a sidecar, same bike I think but without that neat earls fork or the disc brake, did you add that yourself or do they come with it, is the bike still a 650 or did they bump it up, I was working for a motorcycle dealer at the time and he decided to deal in those bikes, they had these weird russian made carbs that wouldn't stop leaking, finally put german bings on the bikes which seemed to fix them, the sidecar was the best piece of the bike, I remember riding on the westside of okanagan lake before it was paved and bouncing up and down generally shaking the hell out of myself, my wife who was like 7 or 8 months pregnant sitting in the car telling me how smooth the ride was
Howdy Vanveen, The "Dnieper" and the "Ural", are two very different machines. The Ural, is being built "now", the Dnieper was being built many years ago, the bikes that are available now are just a bunch of left over parts that are sold as "kits". The Ural being built now is a MUCH improved bike over what it was in the past, they now have a 750 engine, much better electrics, fit and finish, they come with Japanese carbs and Italian switch gear and seals, way better then the old Russian stuff. The only way to judge the new Urals is to go to a dealer and drive one, they really are a hoot
Anybody got one of these within, say 150 miles of Topeka Kansas? I have a good friend whose Parkinsons keeps him from riding much at all on a two-wheeler. He's getting some serious interest going in something with a sidehack, and likes the Ural for it's twd (lives out in the country where there's woods and stuff to use it). Would sure like to see one in the flesh.