Comments on: Ural Motorcycles – Another Retro

By: swbiker

swbiker — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 12:42:40 +0000

Good afternoon all
Been an all year round biker for 30 years and had a 2001 Dalesman for nearly 3 years. Still love it!!!!
I am a little concerned about
Jim 02.06.08 at 5:31 pm
Jim be careful not to make your Ural to Honda/Ducati/Bland, for me i like that that gearbox is clunky and quirky, i like that the brakes are not comparable with F1 Carbon disc. It is all part of the package that makes it so appealling and i would be sorry for Ural to end up diluted in ten years time. There are plenty of bikes that we can ride day in and day out without a spanner in our pocket (I have an XT600 for that) but that is not what i am looking for in my Ural. I even worry that they are ready getting to much crome, and trying to compete with the masses. For my money if you want crome and carbon dont look to the east and let Ural continue to make some thing with character and personality!!!

Cheers all
Mark

By: Mike Gozia

Mike Gozia — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 22:51:37 +0000

I am looking at a very low milage 06 Retro for around 9 1/2 grand. In addition to the Retro the owner has a patrol but says the Retro cruises at 65 all day instead of 55-60. He also says the Ural Retro is a great bike to riders new to side car rigs. I’ve been riding 40+ years but always up on two wheels; (till I totaled my Guzzi on the Blue Ridge Parkway last month.

I have 2 questions: 1). When needed, will the Retro “cruise on the Interstate? 2) Should I bite the bullet and consider a 2WD model? Are they that much more fun?

Thanks,

Mike Gozia
Louisville, KY
502-241-0337

By: old man jack

old man jack — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 20:00:54 +0000

I have a ural sidecar but no motorcycle. I’ve been looking but no such luck. If anyone has any suggestions I would appreciate it.

By: Jim

Jim — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 22:31:30 +0000

Just a followup to this year-old thread.

I bought one of the last-of-2007 Ural Patrols. This machine is just great. New western-made tranny gears have eliminated the ‘punch-n-grind’ shifting common on older models – shifts quieter than my Victory and it’s actually pretty easy to find neutral.

The latest-model electronic ignition (Ducati, I think) appears bulletproof and there’s a Denso alternator to replace the old Russian maybe-good/ maybe-explodes model.

The only ‘issue’ comes from Ural trying to meet pollution regs – the bike runs VERY lean and thus takes awhile to warm up. Jet kits are availible, though they’ll drop you from about 35 mpg to 30. I’ve yet to try a K&N air filter, that may lean it out just a tad and recover a few extra MPGs.
The Bembro front disk they added a couple of years ago has impressive stopping power, although it means the spare won’t fit the front. So, put SLIME in the front.

The 2-wheel-drive models are NOT “full-time” 2WD. It’s a solid axel connecting the two back wheels, no differential. So, like olde-tyme 4-WD trucks, you can’t use the 2-WD on hard pavement. Only engage it on something softer – dirt, snow, sand.

Break-in was fairly quick and painless, although you DO have to be a bit easier on these ‘old tech’ motors than a modern Honda. Slow & easy, build up to full power & speed over 1000-1500 km or so.

Mechanically the bikes are simple and there’s not much you couldn’t fix along the roadside. I’ve already put over 3000k on mine though and have had no reason to fix anything. Looks as if Urals have gone from being ‘commie junk’ to decent marketable affordable machines that will deliver long service with minimal pain & suffering.

The 2008 models are a bit pricier – a low dollar and a few extra anti-pollution tweaks are the cause. Still, Urals are hard to beat for the price – a unique neo-retro sport-utility machine.

New owners beware however … sidecar rigs don’t drive quite like anything else. Nearest equivalent would be an ATV. The thrust line is off-center and this produces odd effects. The triangular layout also means a hard right turn can cause the sidecar to ‘fly’. Practice. Oh yea, low tire pressure on the motorcycle half makes the sidecar more likely to ‘fly’ in a right turn.

Note – the faster you go the more the rig pulls to the left. This is because of wind resistance on the sidecar. If you’ve got no passenger, just lower the windshield – makes a big difference.

The first day you drive it, no matter HOW many motorcycle/atv miles you may have, you’ll be CONVINCED you’re gonna dump it over. The sidecar and suspension mean it ‘wiggles’ a bit on the hardtop, never quite stable-tracking. The urge is to try and fight every minor deviation from the straight line … and you’ve got to learn to just IGNORE that urge.

If it moves a few inches to the left one second it will move back to the right the next second, so don’t bother correcting. Just deal with the bigger-scale trends. After a week it will all be automatic and you can relax and enjoy the ride. And yes, you can ride pretty much *anywhere* … a street-legal ATV for most intents and purposes.

To wrap it up, now that the commie subsidies are gone, Ural actually has to make a solid bike for capitalist consumers. The past five or six years have shown considerable improvement in reliability and functionality without sacrificing the ‘retro’ look and feel. Urals are now “worth having”.

By: jim schroth

jim schroth — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 16:35:21 +0000

I just had 1963 Ural I just bought 1963 Ural Denpr from dealer in Russia, bike runs great, had to tighten nuts and bolts, nothing major. If you buy one remember fist 5 or 6 times limit ride to 30 minutrs or less (depending on outside temperature) I prefer (early) morning sessions, trick is to break bike in slow and don't (overheat) them, bike is not broke in till 1,500 miles (do not overrap engine), ride leisurly! let bike cool completly after each ride, check and retorque as neccessary any fastners on bike. am having a ball with mine it only had 10 original miles on bike (was found stored at military base by dealer! and histoticaly restored 1939 German military B.M.W.