Ok, I've searched my buns off, and found the answers to most my questions, just have a couple left. Please bear with yet ANOTHER Ural questions thread. I live in the 'burbs of Seattle and currently have a little Ninja 250 that I love the heck out of. I just won't ride when there's ANY chance of ice, black or otherwise. I'm thinking to get a 2012 Ural Gear Up. Mainly to use to commute 15miles to work downtown during the icy parts of the year (and quite possibly more), and to go camping/adventuring up in our mountains with (or without for heavy adventuring) my dog all throughout the year. Ok, first the more general questions. I've heard several times of swapping out the coil for a Japanese one. What other mods are common and should be considered more or less standard upon arrival of a new Ural? $14,000 MSRP is pretty steep. Do Ural dealerships expect you to haggle, or is the MSRP what I should expect to pay. Do they ever do good Sales? Or is it the same price all year? Do any after market fuel gauges work good in 'em? Weight: Me, my dog, and my motorcycle camping setup weight together easily over 400lbs. Does the Ural have enough Ooomph to get that much weight up into the woods? (Mt. Rainier Natl. Park mostly) Is the factory or dealership Warranty really worth anything? And my local question. There are two dealerships in Western WA that I can find. The one in Bellingham, and the one in Fife. Is one a clearly better choice than the other? The Fife one is a LOT closer to me, but for that kind of money, Bellingham is doable if it's a better place. And why is one better than the other? On a side note, I'm taking the S/TEP course for endorsement in a few weeks at the SuperMall, and they said they usually have Urals, but not always. May turn out that I really HATE them. But we'll see. :) I doubt it.
Don`t worry about doing any modifications unless you find a particular problem or a personal need/desire for something to be changed. You`re in danger of being like all the other internet worriers who think they need to alter everything on a bike they don`t even yet own or haven`t travelled further than the end of their postal area. Or those who simply have to add all sorts of needless or complicated gizmos and gadgets to what is a simple,durable and dependable machine....and then they get problems of their own making. However,regarding the ignition coil,yes,a twin outlet Jap coil is a cheap and easy fix for a failed Ural one...but you`ll need to make some brackets to hang it from the frame tube under the tank (unless you`re a rougharse and use zip-ties,of course). The Ural will lug you,your dog and camping gear....even my 650 will take me,my girlfriend,her daughter and all our gear wherever we want...and my 750 does it even easier. What the hell do you want a fuelgauge for when you`ve got a reserve tap ??? You`ll never get a totally accurate fuelgauge,fitting it will likely be a lash up and it`ll only end up giving trouble. See what I mean about too many and un-necessary modifications? Can`t help with your dealer questions over that side of the pond.
It would pay to visit both dealers. At the end of the year there has been an effort to do a quick sale by giving an extra year of warranty on that yrs model but you still pay retail. I'VE FOUND MSRP IS LIKE THE TEMP. Seems they are all a little different. The BS fees can really add up like, shipping, set up, even the admin fee........here is where the BS really starts. Sometimes a dealer will deal on the add ons, tank shifter, etc. I have checked at one dealer who wanted 450 for an item installed & another dealer wanted 175 for the same item & free installation if bought at time of sale. Go on line after you have checked your local dealers for their best price. You might want to look for an inmate sale of a unit that has an owner who has to sell off the toys.
Don't know about changing the coil. Mine runs fine with a stock setup. No haggling, but don't pay anything more than MSRP! Some dealers charge more + setup fees and such, don't buy from them. Don't know about aftermarket fuel gauges. Just reset your odometer at each fillup. I fill up every 150km and usually have ~1 gallon left before hitting reserve. It has plenty of torque to haul whatever you can load on it. It just doesn't have the HP to haul it faster than 65mph. Yes, the warranty is great. They'll cover parts/labor at your dealer or overnight parts to you if you want to do the work yourself. I can't speak to the reputation of either of those dealers. I doubt you'll hate them. After riding them, no one ever does.
I used a sidecar bike in the Seattle area as my only transportion for 7 years. It was a 1983 Honda GL1100 Goldwing with a California sidecar, I put over 150K on this bike. Only a few times a year did the snow give me any real issues. I was running a studable automotive tire on the rear however I never had it studed. If I were to do this again I would go with a BMW GS with a sidecar. There are many people in our area with BMW GS type bikes with sidecars that I am sure would be glad to show you thier bikes. We also have one at our shop. The other bike I might go with if I did not have to run every day on the freeway is KLR with a sidecar. We have one in our shop right now however it will be gone by the end of the week. Jay G DMC sidecars www.dmcsidecars.com 866-638-1793 jay@dmcsidecars.com
As others have said, the mods you've described aren't worth the time or effort unless something breaks. Something isn't terribly likely to break this early in Ural life unless you happen to get a friday afternooner. As for intended use I dream of one day taking my wife in the Ural with our camping gear to Rainier. At the speeds all the roads go there, the Ural will kick some butt. In general Ural speed/power reminds me of a Volkswagon bus (Though you will be able to SMOKE those jerks. ) You won't be making mad acceleration up hills, but you'll get there. You won't be hauling ass on highways, but you'll get there. Anywhere under 55mph (which most of the rainier area is) the Ural does awesome.
Different people define value in different ways, I have no regrets going the route of getting a new Ural, it has worked out very well for me.
When it comes to the Warranty from Ural I can not speak highly enough about how well they have treated me. My rig has taken a lot of abuse off road. They never once denied or complained about fixing a problem. I have never had to wait for parts. The longest I waited was 3 weeks to have my transmission rebuilt. This three week period also happened to be the same time they were moving their entire US operation. Get the extra warranty from Ural. Now onto the MSRP. BountyHunter posted about this a few years ago and it still rings true today.
The Ural warranty is first class, more importantly the folks behind it are first class. They have been more than fair in all my dealings. You are very lucky to have Ural Northwest in your neighborhood. IMHO they are a very good shop, I could go on and on but I wont, if it were me I would buy off of them in a heartbeat. I am not sure who it is that says buy a Ural for what it is, and keep it that way, regardless I agree its fine the way it is. Mine is a '07 and its been on every kind of road you can imagine. Its not likely to get you any speeding tickets on the expressway but it seems to keep up and the rest of the time its more than enough. best of luck
Though I've never bought a Ural from him (I've ridden some of his though) I've bought other bikes from Jim at Raceway Services in Salem Oregon, just a few hours down the road from you. If you look at his website it says he charges MSRP but does a bunch of other stuff. From my experience with him he is really a straight shooting guy that knows his stuff. I've just never "got" the whole Ural thing. As another poster mentioned, there are some other options that I think make a whole lot more sense. A used BMW GS with a DMC sidecar would, in my humble opinion, be a much, much better setup. The maintenance intervals on the Urals are really frequent, in my case it would mean doing maintenance once a week during some trips. For the price they get for those things now (obviously fueled by demand) I think there are other options worth looking in to.
The ural warranty is the best in the business. I can't speak of the other dealer(still worth a visit probably), but when I was in Washington with my ural last summer, the folks at ural NW were top notch. Good Luck! -T
The reason I decided on a Ural is the same reason I would choose a Triumph Bonneville, Moto Guzzi V7, or Suzuki TU250, because of all the things they are not. These bikes are for people who desire new, old school bikes where performance is not a major priority. I have been through a lot of bikes, and the Ural is one of the very few that just feels "right" to me.
On the MSRP thing I would expect to pay it. You might get some additional accessories tossed in or some other incentives but doubt you'll get a break off MSRP. The B'ham dealer(UralNW) has a good reputation but I've never dealt with them. Don't know anything about the one in Fife at all. I bought my 011 from from Jim at Raceways in Salem, OR. A most excellent dealer and they KNOW Urals. I bought there because Jim had dealt with my 06 in the past and I was very happy with the service and the quality work done. Jim is one of the good guys. And as mentioned this is Ural heaven here with a couple good dealers and the mother ship close by in Renton? You've got the Cascades, I've got the Olympics. I don't know about your STEP class I took mine via Evergreen Safety in So. Seattle. They used Jap hacks and trikes and the class was excellent. I already owned a Patrol which I could have used but figured for the learning their lighter bikes was the way to go for a noob. After the classes and the smaller outfits I liked my Ural even more. If you have to finance the bike, once the payments roll in there may be some buyers remorse but it's a payment/locked in thing not a Ural thing. If you can cash it out you'll have no after purchase regrets. On the fuel gauge thing I'd forget it you don't need it. I just watch the trip meter and fill up at about 200km and it usually takes about 4 gal(US) to top off. Don't worry about problems that don't exist and go have fun.
Aside from maintenance intervals, what other reasons to you have for feeling there are more "sensible" choices? Not at all being combative here, just genuinely curious. When a person makes a claim it's always good to know where their opinion is coming from. If it has anything to do with power/performance then I think Windmill gave the perfect response. Not all rider are interested in the most power, performance etc. I think Urals are the type of bikes that speak to some of us in a language others may not understand. I'd love to have a Ural. I'm a big fan of functional, non complicated machinery.
I think it is maybe a little bit of a stretch to put "sensible" and sidecar in the same sentence for many folks., but there is some merit in what he is saying depending on your expectations. A Ural isn't like a contemporary bike that only requires service twice a year. With 2500km service intervals it's not the best choice for folks who are unable or unwilling to do their own maintenance. Its freeway performance is what you would expect from a RV or VW bus, if you want to make miles quickly or are a destination oriented rider you may find it limiting. Handling is biased towards utility, not bad, just more like a truck than a sports car. For me, these few disadvantages are more than made up for by it's many advantages, so really "sensible" is different things for different people.
This always happens on the Ural threads, some guys don't get the Ural thing, That's fine and really who cares, we all like different stuff. But even if you built a used BMW rig and hack, then what's it cost to put the 2WD and reverse on it? And without those two things it's apples and oranges. That why some of us buy Ural Gear Ups and Patrols, for the 2WD, and reverse is excellent. Now if you say you don't need or want those things, then yes, a Beemer rig would be fine.
Thanks for the response Windmill. Everything I've read about the Urals, both on forums and just doing regular research indicated you just said, which is why the Ural is a machine that appeals to me. They seem like perfectly functional machines that a shade tree mechanic can work on.
Whatever you do, don't buy a Ural. You will be very unhappy. This is my standard line now that the brand has gone mainstream with the likes of Brad Pitt and major retailers getting press about Urals. I have hated every day of the 6 years I have owned mine and every minute of driving it (while the other bikes gathered dust in the shed) but I did enjoy being seen as an eccentric old crank driving a unique machine that caused attention and smiles everywhere we went. Now, every Tom, Dick and Harry wants one. That might ruin everything! Oh, and my dog hates the Ural too, along with my Grandson and everyone who begs for a ride. I hate mine so bad that I intend to keep it until I die and then perhaps remove the sidecar and use it as my coffin.......... Don't buy one, you or you will suffer the same anguish. You have been warned................
I felt like this when I had my 03 Victory V92C before Victory got popular with the Vegajackhampin models I still plan on getting a Ural when the money permits, Brad Pitt be damned!