How important is 2 wheel drive

[brockoli]

full time (differential'd) will be great when you're putting 180+hp to the ground (more if I do get that turbo). One wheel drive in the dirt with that much power will shred tires. But this topic is about a ural with 1 or 2wd and not even half that horsepower so it's more comparable to 2wd vs 4wd truck in the dirt/sand/snow. Hit it a lot of speed in 2wd or chew your ay through in 4wd. Same goes for the bike. Just my thoughts.
-Brock

[CBRider]

Thanks for all the opinions. I'll probably be looking for one with the 2wd.

[Montague]

I have a 2006 Ural Gear Up and often take it down unmaintained logging roads/closed township roads. You don't need 2wd until you need it.

And often the deployment of 2wd takes you to a place where a winch or rope puller/and/or monkey have to push to get back out.

You don't NEED it, but you may WANT it sometime.

Get it if you buy a Ural, you will certainly use it, albeit not often.

But you can live without it.

Either way, if you plan to drive off of maintained dirt roads, you will get stuck so have a back up plan of mechanical or human help.

Heck, I have even managed to stick a Rokon and an Argo in mud and swamp, so even 8 wheel drive won't save your *ss sometimes. But a winch will.

Originally Posted by CBRider

I've never ridden a bike with a sidecar, but have a growing interest in getting one soon. Been riding motorcycles since the early 1970s. I'm thinking about a Ural, primarily because they have a reverse gear. I don't want to start another debate over the reliability or maintenance requirements of a Ural, there are plenty of threads here on that subject. I can handle working on my own bike.

What I am not sure of is how important 2 wheel drive is. I'll be riding a lot of small county roads, many will be dirt/gravel, but not real steep or rocky. Also I will occasionally head out to the Big Bend area. I think a reverse gear is important, but how about 2 wheel drive? Will I regret getting a hack with single drive?

Any input is appreciated...

[claude]

Originally Posted by Mr. Cob

Howdy CBRider,

This issue comes up every other week it seems and the same answers are given. Those who have a vested interest in one wheel drive rigs will constantly say its not needed, some who have it will tell you its indispensable, so the decision on who to believe is up to YOU.

As you asked for opinions, here's mine. If I didn't want reverse AND two wheel drive I could have bought a nicer, faster rig for the same money as I paid for the Ural Gear-Up. In fact I have in my stable a very nice BMW-GS rig that Jay has hacked and it serves me well in a very civilized environment compared to what I usually ride the Ural in.

What do YOU want to do with the rig, think about and answer that question; an honest answer to that question will provide you with the information you need to make and educated decision on what type of rig to spend your money on.

In the 6 years and well over 100,000 klicks I have been beating the holy HELL out of Ural's I have probably used two wheel drive in total perhaps 2-3,000 of those klicks, HOWEVER I would NEVER have been able to cover those klicks with a one wheel drive rig. To me and the type of riding that I enjoy a one wheel drive rig with twice the horse power and a tire twice as wide could NOT go on many the trails or places I usually take my Ural. Then again a rig with twice the horse power and a tire twice as wide as the Ural would in some instances go place and at speeds my Ural wouldn't. Thats why I have more then one tool in my tool box.

An additional note, to me REVERSE is used much more often then two wheel drive. Again you will hear that its easy to push a sidecar rig backwards, on level ground I will agree. Try doing it in mud, or snow, or deep sand, or backwards up a hill that is covered with rocks. Better yet try to turn a rig that doesn't have reverse around on a road 8-10 feet wide carved out of the side of a mountain when the road is slick for whatever reason or sloped toward a 500 foot DROP over the edge of a cliff.

Very good points made here. 100,000 miles with 2-3000 in two wheel drive. Food for thought: Most global travelers get by without two wheel drive. And as I stated before we have considered doing a two wheel drive setup for the GS bikes. I am just not sure if ther eis really a market for it.

[Strong Bad]

Mr. Cob is without a doubt one of the more "extreme" sidecar drivers around, the fact that he only uses it 3% of the time shows how little 2wd is "needed". Being that the OP will be on dirt/gravel roads that are not steep or rocky, I would say that a Ural Tourist would fit his requirements very well.

[HogWild]

Originally Posted by Strong Bad

Mr. Cob is without a doubt one of the more "extreme" sidecar drivers around, the fact that he only uses it 3% of the time shows how little 2wd is "needed". Being that the OP will be on dirt/gravel roads that are not steep or rocky, I would say that a Ural Tourist would fit his requirements very well.

That's exactly what I was thinking. I was going to write a big long post, but you took care of it in two sentences. I want 2WD, but only for the absolute most extreme situations.

[Mr. Cob]

Originally Posted by claude

Very good points made here. 100,000 miles with 2-3000 in two wheel drive. Food for thought: Most global travelers get by without two wheel drive. And as I stated before we have considered doing a two wheel drive setup for the GS bikes. I am just not sure if ther eis really a market for it.

Howdy Claude,

I think there is a viable market for a two wheel drive system for the GS sires of bikes, the problem as I see it is that anything now on the market puts it will beyond the means of the average GS hack pilot.

I have followed the Aussie builds, with the sidecar mounted on the left getting two wheel drive is a MUCH easier and cheaper thing to do then for us who have the sidecar mounted on the right hand side.

I really like my hacked GS but every time I have to manually push it backwards or turn around on a road because I don't want to chance getting stuck as it doesn't have two wheel drive, my Ural's are sitting the garage laughing the Russian ass-arses off.

[rebelpacket]

As many others have said, its not needed. Until its needed.

I only use it sparingly, usually to get me out of situations. Mud. Snow. Sand. When it IS needed, it works very well. I suppose its a lot of extra cost and complexity for those every-now-and-then situations. However, I prefer to dictate where I'm going to ride, rather than let me rig decide that for me. I don't turn around often.



I should mention that it does put some added stress on the final drive, having the driveshaft moving about. If you plan on riding 60-65mph everywhere on pavement and only doing a few miles on gravel roads, I'd get a single wheel drive model. I don't go much above 55mph on pavement, and wherever possible, stick to fire roads.

[Mr. Cob]

Howdy All,

Barry and I were in one wheel drive up to this point. This was where Barry stopped and I put my rig into two wheel drive. Easy riding up to this point good solid snow to get a grip on, the snow was much softer where it got deeper in front of where we stopped.

Because of the break in the tree cover more snow hit the ground ahead making it deeper, it was a fairly nice day so more sunlight had hit the snow making it softer in the drifted area ahead of us.


As they say a picture is worth 10,000 words. In this photo you can see Barry's ( windmill ) rig is about a 100 or so feet behind mine. I decided to see if I could blast through the snow drift to get to the less deep snow on the other side of this area.

Shift into two wheel drive, winder up, drop the clutch, dig through the snow down to the gravel and GO. Well go until the snow I was pushing lifted the front of the rig up to where it was skiing on the skid plate and packed up under the sidecar which eventually resulted in no forward movement.

However, stuck as the rig was, I put the rig into reverse and backed it up under its own power with NO human being pushing involved.


Look how the snow is packed up between the bike and the sidecar, and still the rig powered itself backwards out of this situation.


As you can in this photo there is a DEEP ditch on the left side of the logging road, and a very steep LONG drop on the right side of the road. I wouldn't even consider taking a one wheel drive rig with out reverse into such conditions.


Barry and I have a habit of riding in this type of environment, during this ride we probably used two wheel drive for a mile out of the 50 or so we spent on the logging roads, sometimes only for a distance of 20 feet but without it we would not have been able to continue to the point where we were forced to turn around. So the whole one verses two wheel drive AND reverse thing really boils down to how far do you want to go and how much physical labor do you want to expend doing it.

[bmweuro]

I have about 250k miles on sidecars and probably 30K of that is off road. There are times I wish I had 2WD for the those adventurous spots on the trail.

[claude]

Originally Posted by Mr. Cob

Howdy Claude,

I think there is a viable market for a two wheel drive system for the GS sires of bikes, the problem as I see it is that anything now on the market puts it will beyond the means of the average GS hack pilot.

I have followed the Aussie builds, with the sidecar mounted on the left getting two wheel drive is a MUCH easier and cheaper thing to do then for us who have the sidecar mounted on the right hand side.

I really like my hacked GS but every time I have to manually push it backwards or turn around on a road because I don't want to chance getting stuck as it doesn't have two wheel drive, my Ural's are sitting the garage laughing the Russian ass-arses off.

Again all good points.
The 1200GS bikes would be an easier conversion for 2WD than the earlier GS models for right mount sidecars.

Those of us who have actually been in the push it back/ dig it out/ turn it around / find the shovel/ jack it up/ wonder how far it is to walk outa here/ it is getting dark soon/ I am a fool/ wish I would have listened to that little voice in my head/ should I laugh or cry situations can relate to the good points of 2WD and / or reverse.

It is still amazing what even a one wheel drive outfit can do off road but knowing that one can engage another wheel would be a good feeling.
My worst experiences with one wheel drive have been on steep uphills where you cannot maintain a decent speed. Shift weigth to get steering back / lose traction/ shift weight back yadda yadda. Then lets roll back and do a turn around keeping the sidecar on the downhill side if possible. LOL...Are we having fun yet?

[4PawsHacienda]

I've been taking a Ural swd on some logging roads recently, hate to think how my stupidity would be rewarded with 2wd.

[ReCycled]

Originally Posted by 4PawsHacienda

I've been taking a Ural swd on some logging roads recently, hate to think how my stupidity would be rewarded with 2wd.

This is similar to my experience. I would venture off road and do stupid things by myself when I had 2wd, I still off road with 1wd but I only do so when others are there to help push.

[SamRus]

So this ride shows all the stupid off-road things you can do with a 3-wheel-drive Ural :-)))
Hope the video works :-)




">

[madeouttaglass]

He needs five wheel drive.