IMZ-Ural has officially announced sweeping changes for 2014 including EFI and disc brakes on all wheels. From the August Irbit informer newsletter, "The Boss just came back from China, told us to rename this issue from "Dear Friends Here's Our August Informer Edition...blah blah blah" to "Great Leap Forward"...in Chinese. If you are real smart (or if you read Wikipedia as we did) and know where the Great Leap Forward ended, you'll agree he has a sick sense of humor...or he just overheated: Anyhow.... Welcome our new subscribers for whom this is the first Informer issue and especially, if you still have no Ural. People, listen carefully: owning a Ural is the best decision you'll make in your life. Got it? There. Done with the selling part here. Long time Uralistas - hello again, today we're leaping forward! J Seriously, we have important changes coming up. Among other minor cosmetic uplifts, we're coming out with an EFI Ural and it's going to be really cool! Here's what you need to digest in a nutshell: 2013's are the last of the carbureted Urals. 2014's will be EFI (developed and built in Michigan btw), with disc brakes all around, adjustable steering dampener and a million other things. More expensive, too. Slated for production beginning of December this year (disclaimer: this timeline is only for US market, schedule for other markets is to be determined). Passionate about the carbureted simplicity? This is the last of them, before we become all fancy - pricey. Think quickly and rush to the dealers who still have the carbureted ones. Now, one more thing. Kurmachov, factory-slave-driver-in-chief (and a big fan of Johnny Depp), refuses to paint Gobi. "Takes too long", he says," Forget about it". So...that Gobi or the Forest Camo paint job really does it for you? Call the dealer today. The last, but not the least: financing is available. Life is short. Might as well enjoy it riding... The Team at Ural PS: Meet Darth Vader - one of those "minor uplifts" for when we get one year older".
Stop the madness!!! Urals and Dneprs usta be a cheap, cool hobby until all these interlopers started crying for Honda reliabilty. Before the new 750cc engine came out about 10 years ago, an brand new 650cc Ural engine was $450 and a gearbox $250! Even at that time you coundn't buy a set of HD chrome pipes for that! I don't know the actual price, but I'd bet a new 750cc engine and gearbox will now set you back $3K-$4K!!! Hell, the flippin' alternator on a Ural now cost $650!!! :huh Now, thanks to noobs wanting EFI, disk brakes, jet propulsion and flux capacitors the average guy who could turn a wrench has been priced out of a cool hobby. Thanks for making the Ural into something it's not. Ustabe, if you broke something on your Ural or Dnepr YOU replaced it dirt cheap and moved along until the next break down. Not so anymore; tow it to a dealership hundreds of miles away. I understand that there's some EPA and DOT regs that Ural has to meet to sell in the USA and similarly abroad, but if you want a bike with all that crap on it, go buy a BMW or something.
Buy a new one in any color, bring it over one weekend, and I'll show you how to hook it up... P.S., Ural hasn't made a military bike in 50-60 years! And the real ones would've never been painted in small camo pattern. You could always buy a Zundapp KS-750 or BMW R-75, they have them. Why stop with five?!?!? Go ahead and make it a six-speed because most everyone else wants a five speed with a better top gear for riding them on the highways like they were never designed to do. It shouldn't cost much to add a granny-lo and an overdrive gear and still keep reverse.
It's kinda like with the new Indian, some folks are afraid of change and having choices. Still plenty of old rigs and cheap parts if thats your prefrence, no reason to deny others their prefrences.
gspel68--- RomaDakota----you nailed it --just as others were "seeing the light " of owning a reliable ,easy to maintain and repair, old school machine-{that's why sales have encreased}- now the management is going to chase after a younger set of yuppy types who neither appreciate or have the ability to own and enjoy maintaining a motorcycle like the Ural --- with the gas I get around here they aint gonna like that FI --BUT, once out of warranty the dealers will do good on mechanic charges though
I like old stuff and I like some new stuff; check my sig. FI on a roller type bearing motor is a bit like turbocharging a push mower; well, that's my vodka induced opinion.
Hey you kids................get off my lawn....... Says the guy who mows the lawn with a 1964 Gravely tractor, and cultivates the garden with a 1936 Handiman tractor.
I was only interested in seeing the possibility of a lower first gear. I don't own one, but before I ever did I'd like to see a lower first to avoid burning clutches - which I hear they do one long off-road pilgrimages. Then again, perhaps I am misinformed.
The clutch has been upgraded to one built by Sachs. Still not a rock crawler, but will withstand far more abuse.
Crap. I just said somewhere that if they offered financing I would get one. tears of joy. Maybe they will offer 0% promotions I love the disk brake upgrade. Any reason to shy away from the EFI on this? Maybe wait a year and hope any hiccups are resolved? I like carbs and I like EFI. Both have pros and cons.
Well, you stopped the madness... you are demanding Ural build a bike that can't be ridden on the road. Good call!