ural sidehack

[kneedrachen]

anyone have experience with a ural?

[Howboucha]

I have logged several hundred miles on one. It's a friends, and I taught him to ride on it. Neat bike, massive attention getter. Now about the quality.........

[kneedrachen]

see and that's what kind of throws me for a curve. I know it's an antiquated design, and I know it's far from powerful. I figured that such an archaic design must be easy to work on, but then I read these stories on various forums, and it seems like riding one is playing russian (no pun intended) roulette with reliability. I dunno, I guess their charisma outweighs their value as transportation?

[kamloopsal]

Friend of mine had Dnepr with a sidecar - I think it was also sold as a Cossack or a Ural? Anyway, it refused to die. Parts were not a problem - but we're talking 20yrs ago.

Al

[kamloopsal]

OK, I just looked it up in my trusty Encyclopedia of Motorcycles. It's spelled Dneiper and was a 650cc BMW clone - with reverse gear!

Al

[kamloopsal]

Me again. Didn't realize they were still available!

http://www.imz-ural.com/

Al

[kneedrachen]

only NJ dealership is where I bought the Wee and a few other bikes....they look fun but i dunno if its worth the $$$$$

[water warrior]

All of my bikes came from the Land of the Rising Sun. Probably always will.

[BCSTROM]

Dnepr is half the price of a Ural but, you have to assemble it yourself.
If I have my info right the Ural is a slightly newer design.
Google Dnepr and read the guy's story of assembling one. 8)

[Furious Stylz]

I had a Ural for 9 months before my Wee. In fact, I sold it so that I could get the Weestrom.

Urals are good bikes if you like working on bikes. I don't. That's why i bought the Suzuki. I wanted to ride, not wrench.

I rode home 30+ miles on one cylinder. I had rod come out of the little cup thing on the rocker arm. So on the one hand, yeah it's a tractor of a bike, and I always got home.

On the other hand, in the 9 months I had it I replaced:
- Alternator
- Carb Manifold - 2
- Air Hose from Filter to carb - 2
- Carb

And with two old float style carbs, there is the constant adjusting and tuning that never seems to end. Further, those russian tires suck. You will air them up every 2 or 3 days, without fail.

It was finally too much for me and I just had to get away from it to avoid all the nickle-and-diming, and not having my bike running for weeks at a time.

But me and the family did love riding together. 2 kids in the hack, wife on back, and picnic lunch in the trunk was a great start to family day. Everywhere you go, people wave at you, kids wave, and everyone wants to talk to you about it. Merging into traffic was never a problem because it is such an unusual vehicle, that it breaks driver complacency.

So get it knowing it will take a lot of wrenching to keep the fun rolling. But if you are good with that stuff, its not an issue. If you're more of a gas-and-go like me, get WeeStrom.

I'd love to put a hack on my Veestrom.

[kneedrachen]

ugh i guess i'll just enjoy looking at them throw rose tinted glasses. . .i'd rather ride! don't get me wrong, i don't mind working on bikes if it's a labor of love, but limping home on one cylinder is NOT my idea of a good time. . .
thanks for the input and glad to see you moved to a weestrom!