My review of Ural Motorcycles (2012)

Not to belabor this but this is from an email Gord just sent to me. He had just upgraded Cha Cha's bed.

"There just seems to be a LOT of things happening with this rig. It’s such a beautiful day, I’m going to load Cha Cha into the tub (to try out the new bed I made for her) and go for a spin.

When I get back, I’m going to see if I can follow the directions on the toe-in of the tub and the lean angle of the bike to check them as best I can. To ME, this feels like it never had a proper PDI. Every time I brake harder than normal, the tub REALLY pulls to the right. So yesterday when I got home, I looked at the rear wheel brake fluid reservoir and it was almost at the minimum so I topped it up. There is still lots of brake pad. When I checked the adjustment on the rear brake pedal, versus the linkage to the brake on the tub (they’re connected) the tub’s brake was actuating sooner than the bike. I made an adjustment but haven’t taken it out to ride. Today will tell if I’ve made it proper or better. I also found out yesterday that the parking brake does NOT work. The actuator is hooked up by cable to an arm that attaches to a rod going into the rear caliper. I disconnected the arm and put the actuator in FULL lock mode with a set of vise grips and could still easily move the bike. Not my top priority right now because I can leave the rig in gear when I stop. Just one more thing ☹️"

This does not dissuade me from wanting a Ural but it seems the rig is better suited for riding the back roads of Moab than highway touring. With that said, the friend of a riding buddy who lives not far from me, an older gent and one who has a shop full of vintage/classic bikes, bought a new Ural a few years ago, rode it to San Diego from Seattle and then set off on a cross country round trip tour. He had absolutely no issues and videoed almost every mile of it. He has it all on 8 DVDs.

That was how I ended up with my Ural, previous owner felt it under powered so he put a full exhaust system on, performance carbs properly jetted. That was how I bought it and almost went deaf on the ride home across the coast mountains of BC, even with ear plugs. Ran out of gas before Princeton, having just filled up by Hope, (about 100miles) which thankfully was on the downhill side. I coasted several kms into the first gas station for a whopping 21mpg!

Couldn't remove that exhaust fast enough, bought a set of take off OEM exhausts and rejetted the carbs so that I was back to original mileage and I wouldn't deafen myself. Simple point being, there's no point really in trying to milk more performance out of a Ural, so your advice to hack a modern bike is spot on.

Once you put aside the notion of highway touring, Ural ownership will be a lot more satisfactory. That said, a friend bought a carbureted (2010?) Ural GU a few years ago. He's the type who likes to tinker with vehicles and does all of his maintenance. After a month or so of getting used to the ride, and making sure the maintenance was up to date, he rode it from central California to Mexico, Canada, and the COBDR...20k kms in that first year. He just didn't go anywhere fast, but I followed him sustaining 60+ mph from Fresno to Paso Robles, and he and his passenger were each over 250 lbs, and they were loaded up with gear on both racks. It's a tractor, and tractors don't belong on the freeway.

^^^^^^^^
And actually I don't want to belong on the freeway on any motorcycle. I got that out of my system long before I bought my first Ural in 2012.

The brakes like everything on a Ural are easy to adjust. Which is good, as they likely will need it periodically. The problem with the parking brake is that you forget it is on and only realize on down the road. Guess what, it doesnt work anymore and so back to adjusting until you forget again in a week.

In 10 years of riding Sara the Hack, I can't remember ever using the parking brake.

You’ve probably just had it on for the last ten years

What's amazing is that those drum shoes still look almost new.

I'm sorry, but your friend is not as smart as he thinks he is and certainly not very wise.

For example, the parking brake on my 2017 GearUp WORKS PERFECT, every single time I use it which is every single stop. Why? Because although I have wrenched on motorcycles for 40+ years, I had to get a big dose of humble pie from here and other places and people.

The Ural is a Ural. It is unique in all the world because NOTHING is like it. NOTHING.

It's not a motorcycle and it's not a sidecar strapped to a motorcycle. It's a sidecar-rig, an integrated unit, with more quirks and oddities and "why in the hell did they do it that way?" type of engineering, than you can believe. Nevertheless, I promise you that there is a correct way of doing things on a Ural, and there are good people out there who really know how to do things properly as evidenced by the reliability of their rigs. There are MANY high-mileage owners here with very good running histories on their rigs.

Case in point, the parking brake. The first time I had my bike at Heindl Engineering for warranty repairs, Jon Heindl taught me exactly how to properly adjust the parking brake, and since then it works perfect every time. Naturally, the pad wears some over time (if you use the rear brake in any fashion, then the pads wear more quickly) and I have to do a quick touch-up on the rear brake and it works perfect once again. It's proper URAL technique and nothing more. (BTW: NEVER use Vice grips on any part of the brakes)

As to what you friend claims he bought the bike for, I can only surmise that he lied to himself. It is unrealistic to believe that a 750cc 39 HP Russian built Military style sidecar-rig its an appropriate choice for a medically compromised sidecar rider and a pilot who is used to going fast, on a trip to Alaska. WRONG. It is what it is, and there are limitations. There is also a learning curve of operator/owner skills to make the bike perform with some consistency. After the recent piston and cylinder repair on my rig, it's running the best it ever has, and I am trying to build her up to a successful string of 300-500 mile weekend tours of the local Ohio byways. So far, so good. But to contemplate jumping on this rig and headed 2-up to Alaska with somebody, no way.

Still, like your friend, my very best times are taking my handicapped son for ice-cream and riding in the country with my dogs.

Peace.

The parking brake is an off the shelf Hayes Brakes Rhino 1.5" hydraulic mechanical brake also used on the Can Am Spyder, ATVs, UTVs, and power equipment. It's very basic and robust, if it's not working it's almost certainly operator error in adjustment.
https://www.google.com/search?q=ura...refox-b-1-m#kpvalbx=_WAjZXrPdN8rc-gSZzY2YCg20

What absolutely revolting comments to make. You know nothing of my Canadian friend and you make comments like that. "Not as smart as he thinks he is and not very wise" and "lied to himself". He's ridden throughout the US, some of the most beautiful and worst places in Mexico and down into South America, repairing his bikes alongside of the road in places most people have never been. H speaks fluent Spanish and survived capture by Venezuelan bandits years ago, because of his wits, and physical strength to survive even being under 5'6" tall.

Let me repeat again, in case you missed it the first time. He's a superb mechanic, working on everything from huge boilers and oil extraction heavy equipment in the Tar Sands, cars, trucks and every bike he's owned. He finds the Ural primitive and not well engineered. They are not for everyone, which he is finding out. I regret posting anything in the thread. And again as I said, whomever gets this Ural when he sells it will get a much better one that he did.

URAL...bringing folks together since 1941

You missed the whole point of what I said.

Especially the part about having had to eat a big slice of humble pie...

I don’t have to know your friend. What he writes and also that which you relayed, told me what I needed to know with regard to the Ural and him. I’m sure he’s a great guy, but he’s HUMAN too!

I’m sorry you find the truth to be “revolting”.

Lot’s of Ural riders have excellent riding pedigrees and mechanical skills, myself included. It means very little because the Ural is a Ural!

I knew going into it, what the bike could theoretically do; I can read and evaluate a specification sheet. I can only assume that your friend did not or he choose to not be realistic with himself about what a Ural is and is not.

As to being not as smart and unwise, and my example of the brake, again you missed the message entirely.

Even I myself, a highly educated and trained mechanic of motorcycles for over 4 decades, screwed up in my analysis and adjustment of the rear brake / parking brake mechanism. Most everybody does, BECAUSE like I said, it’s a URAL and unlike anything else. No motorcycle I know of has a parking brake. I had to learn the URAL WAY from somebody who actually knew what was going on and then I was able to do the same thing.

I had to “empty my cup” of ego in order to allow somebody who knew better than I did, to fill it with proper knowledge.

Sorry I didn’t communicate that better to you.

Peace.

And besides, if you're a coward, like me, afraid to go Whole Hog -- you can get an Almost-Ural! One third the price and 1/10th the frustration! There's always a place in the world for cowards like me! ... Damn. I love my silly three wheel machine! The Japanese KLR motorcycle and the Russian IZH sidecar seem to be a strange but strong couple, ugly as sin, but happy together -- kind of like an old ranch hand and his late night bartender girlfriend... Neither much to look at but a lot of fun to have around! It's easy to take sidecar rigs too seriously, huh?

Fixt for ya!

Don't know that I'd call it "cowardice" to buy a better bike for less

Have you ever seen me with a wrench? Enough to make a grown man cry! I once timed a Goldwing 180* out, twisted the key, and bent all the valves! Once I wrestled the heads off, you could see daylight through all of them! Whenever I get my tools out, my wife goes to visit her mother! I like the whole idea of Urals, but I know I don't have the skills, the patience, or the will to keep one going.... If my KLR ever blows, I'll just buy a replacement off of Craigslist, and carry on … Cowardice, you see?

I know it's subjective, and my experience with KLR rigs is limited, but I would consider one a downgrade from my 2020 spec M70.

That's the great secret! KLRs are a downgrade from everything! No expectations! But something that isn't a secret is that I can buy two, three, or even four of them for one new Ural rig-- and when it comes to BMWs with Expedition cars? Five, six, maybe more! Like every thing Russian, my Sputnik is simple. rugged, and like the Red Army, unstoppable. I can keep it and replace the tug from Craigslist almost at will and for cigarette change. My rig fits me perfectly: a simple rig for a simple guy!

I suppose if cost is ones first and foremost concern, but then one can buy Urals used too.
For me a Ural isn't about being the cheapest or best, it's all considerations, a Ural checks the most boxes at the right level for me, I like what it does, and how it does it better than a KLR.