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IT WAS A SCENE OUT OF 1941… EXCEPT THEflag was wrong. We were charging down an airstripaboard what looked like 1939 BMWs. But a lot hashappened since Josef Stalin gave the go-ahead tobuild imitation BMW R75s in the Soviet town of Irbit,east of the Ural Mountains. Stalin, World War II, theSoviet Flag, and even the Soviet Union have come andgone, while Ural motorcycles seem here to stay.

Gary Kelsey of Irbit Motorworks of America hadshipped us three models. The bikes were delivered byAlbert and Ruth Menzi, a delightful Swiss couplewho are experts in Ural care, feeding, and riding. Firstoff the truck was the Gear-Up rig, a Russian militarymodel that’s also used by NATO countries. It comescomplete with a cammo paint job, searchlight, gascan, entrenching tool, machine gun mounting point,and driver-engaged driven sidecar wheel. Next up wasthe Troyka sidecar rig, the most luxurious Ural withits two-tone paint, chrome wire wheels, padded side-car interior, and conventional drive. Finally, there wasthe solo Wolf model — which Ural refers to as a“chopper” — inspired by Moscow’s Russian NightWolves biker club.

With two million bikes on the roads worldwide,over 95 percent of Ural sales are sidecar rigs.

That’s Ural’s niche: tough rigs at easy prices.Ilya Khait, CEO of Irbit Motorworks ofAmerica, says he divides models/buyers intotwo categories. The “family recreational”motorcycles are represented by the Troykasidecar rig at $8,995, and the Tourist rig withleading links for only $8,195. Ural’s “sport-

utility” motorcycles include the $10,195 Gear-Up and the $9,695 Patrol, also with a driven

sidecar wheel but lacking a searchlight and someamenities. The Wolf goes for only $5,375.

It’s ElementalLooking at a Ural up close, every mechanical bit thatmakes it a motorcycle is visible. Nothing hides thecarbs, in-line fuel filters, or automotive-styleNippondenso alternator. You can even watch the shaftdrive coupling joint spin. But these are stout machines.“This is the highest quality steel anywhere,” boastsAlbert, an ex-engineer and Swiss military motor-cyclist. The company’s goal is to keep the bikes simpleand strong, not slick or sophisticated. 20

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Ural AmbassadorsAlbert and Ruth Menzi have put200,000 miles on a 26' trailer, showingUrals throughout the US. “Crowds formwherever we go,” says Albert, especiallywhen he “flies the chair” (lifting thesidecar off the ground — see page 47).“The bikes are 500 percent improvedover the first models imported in ’94,”he claims. The bikes travel from Russiato Redmond, Washington, where side-cars and motorcycles are mated, test-driven, and shipped out to dealers.

By George P. Blumberg n Photos by Bob Feather

Road TestOn my first ride, I headed toward the beach with the Gear-Up,coached by Albert in the sidecar. I started out with the sidecarwheel driveshaft engaged. On pavement, it was almost impossi-ble to steer, because the wheels are equally driven. But when weheaded into a large, muddy puddle, I could feel the driven side-car wheel at work, and everything lightened up. I drove out ofthe mud, disengaged the driven wheel, and rode toward the

linked to the regular foot con-trols. There’s a lot of linkagethere, but they work. The trans-missions are clunky, and neu-tral can be hard to find. Yousoon learn to shift by pushinghard [Read: stomping — JP]into the next gear, and that’sjust the way it is. Relax and tellyourself, “These machines willnever break.” This is as ele-mental as it gets, and it’s fun.

With its leading-link frontend dedicated to rough terrain,steering on the Gear-Up isheavier than on the Troyka,which has telescopic forks. Youdon’t need to cinch down theGear-Up’s steering dampermuch, because the driveshaftthat runs from the bike’s trannyto the sidecar wheel, whenengaged, mostly keeps the rigtracking straight ahead. Getmoving over 40 mph, and the bikes start to weave a bit. You haveto pay constant attention, but that’s also part of the fun. Thesemachines require a firm hand and foot.

Above all, remember that these are sidecars and thereforerequire special riding techniques. As the detailed owner’s man-ual delicately points out, “Left-hand and right-hand turns maybe dangerous.” The manual also mentions the tendency for anunweighted sidecar to lift in too-fast turns.

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a top speed of 59 mph for the Gear-Up and 65 forthe Troyka. The Wolf is the road rocket, weighing inat 551 pounds with a top speed of 81 miles per hour.But anyone who complains about a Ural being slowis missing the point. It’s not about speed; it’s abouthaving fun, seeing the countryside, and being seen.

Controls are standard fare with some addi-tions. There’s a reverse gear on the sidecar mod-els, engaged by a lever aft of the brake pedal. Justpush it down with your heel, and disengage bypushing forward with your toe. The Wolf’s reverseis locked out, since you’d probably kill yourselfgoing backward on two wheels.

Another lever on the Gear-Up engages the driveshaft to thesidecar’s driven wheel. The Wolf has forward controls, which are

To start the bikes, you pull out the choke knob oneach of the two Keihin carbs. Then you turn the keyon the headlight-mounted ignition switch, and thumbthe starter. Or, if you’re feeling adventurous, you canuse the kickstarter. Our low-mileage testers seemed abit cold-blooded — according to Albert, they hadn’tyet been broken in and retuned. The motors are noisybut the exhausts are quiet, a combination that soundslike the two-stroke Jawas of the 1960s.

All Urals use the same 745cc, overhead-valve,air-cooled, four-stroke flat twin engine with a man-ufacturer’s rating of 45 horses and 38 ft-lbs. oftorque. This modest power, along with a square boreand stroke, 8.6:1 compression, four-speed transmission, 739-pound weight, and slick-as-a-brick aerodynamics, results in

Ilya Khait, CEO of Irbit Motorworks, filled us in on Ural’s origins. “There’s alegend that five 1939 BMWs were bought through Sweden, then takenapart and measured, and machine tools made. Another version says that

the Germans gave Stalin the blueprints. But there’s no proof. Personally, Ilike the first version better.

“At its peak in 1992, the Irbit factory had 10,000 workers and produced132,000 motorcycles. They made everything from the steel to the rubber forthe tires. The Ural was the utility vehicle for rural areas, and the majority ofUrals were purchased by the Russian domestic market. But owing to politicaland economic refor ms, people were able to afford cars for the same money.In 1993, sales dropped drastically, and five years later they dropped 60times. Ural restructured the factory to be more specialized, shutting down or selling off the shopsthat specialized in stamping, casting, and forging.

“The company lost the domestic market completely, and by the end of the ’90s sales were 90percent export.” Overall production had dropped to 2,000 units in 1998 and 850 in 2001.

“The first Urals came to the US in the 1970s through Soviet export organizations. Seriousimportation was started in 1992-93 by an independent American importer. Then, after 10 years, thefactory decided it wasn’t satisfied with an independent distributor. Today, the factory and importer/distributor are the same. But over those 10 years, we learned a lot from the distributor and the mar-ket, about things from reliability issues to the paint and finish quality. Urals now have different,more reliable engines. We’ve introduced electronic ignition, electric start, an alternator, and Brembofront disc brakes, and the finish quality is much better. It’s a totally different motorcycle, though itlooks almost the same.”

Now the factory is on track to sell 400 units in the US in 2004, through about 50 dealers.Today Ural produces about 3,500 motorcycles, and sales are climbing. As Ilya says, “A Ural is not atime machine; it’s a new vehicle. We think 400 motorcycle sales this year in the US is just thebeginning.” n

Once Upon a TimeOnce Upon a Time

from kids, cops, and businessmen. I found the Troyka drew itsshare of crowds also, everyone gawking at the “antique” rig.Cars even slowed down on the highway to gape.

Assistant editor Steve Lita just couldn’t get enough of theGear-Up. “I’ve got it down,” he shouted to me at one point.“Just bang it into each gear. The front end comes up in first andsecond.” The bike made him smile. What did editor Jessicahave to say while riding the Troyka? Not much; she was laugh-ing too hard.

The Ural warranty is two years parts and labor, with nomileage limit. There are currently about 50 US dealers, but theseare simple bikes that owners can wrench on themselves. In fact,the owner’s manual encourages it. “An owner who is qualifiedand capable of doing his or her own service work is allowed todo so, without voiding the manufacturer’s warranty, providedthat you sign the Service Coupon and date it after the work hasbeen performed.” Ever seen that paragraph in a Honda manual?

These bikes are in a class by themselves. They don’t haveoutstanding brakes or notable performance. But most Ural own-ers also have modern bikes as daily riders. They love the simplefeel, straightforward technology, and ruggedness of the Urals,which they use for relaxed touring, family fun, or off-roadcamping. In an age of complex computer technology, whereelse can you get your hands dirty working on a piece of machin-ery that you understand? Personally, I think every motorcyclist’sgarage should have a Ural. RB

For more information, contact Irbit Motorworks of America,15411 NE 95th Street, Dept. RB, Redmond, WA 98052,425/702-8484, www.imz-ural.com.

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It was cool the way the forward controls were linked. But it’snot a kick-ass bike, and not really a chopper.” Terry O’Brien,sales associate for RoadBike and AIM, agrees the Wolf is fun ifyou don’t expect big performance, and you don’t have to mergeon the highway much.

While folks may stare at the Wolf, it’s the sidecars that drawthe crowds. Riding the Gear-Up, Joe K. got the right-on sign

sandy beach, where we quickly bogged down. I engaged thedriven wheel again, eased on the throttle, slipped the clutch, andthe rig clawed its way through the sand.

We swapped the bikes around. Bad boy biker Joe Knezevic,American Iron Magazine’s associate editor, had fun zippingaround on the solo Wolf. “It’s a throwback to when motor-cycling was an adventure,” he says. “But there’s no great power.

I’m used to the seamless competence of my ’97 Gold Wing, andeverything on my ’02 Ural is different. Everything is honestlymechanical and feels like it looks — cast, hammered, and welded

from Russian steel and aluminum. It leaks a little oil, and I have totinker with it often. It helps to repeat, “It’s Russian,” while tinkering.But there’s the simple pleas-ure of riding an honestmachine. There is no insula-tion between me and themechanics of the bike, andno filtering of the road orenvironment. It reminds me ofthe bikes available 32 yearsago when I started to ride.

While my Wing drills themiles, the Ural lets me ridemore often and in more cir-cumstances. I use it for errands and carrying stuff like groceries. I can show off and fly the car in parking lots. The only thing I can’tdo is run with the big dogs on the freeway. I’ve seen 75 mph with a tailwind and drafting a semi. — Alan Bond, Michigan

Ibought a new Ural with a sidecar in ’02. That was the first year forthe 750cc engine, which is totally revised and improved, along withthe transmission. Outside of the technical stuff (like an alternator

failure of the old design unit, which has been replaced with aNippondenso unit), this is an enjoyable motorcycle. I always getsmiles and waves. Children, especially my nephew Sam, are mesmer-ized by it. The Ural alwaysgets the Beemerphiles’ atten-tion. Some love it, somedon’t. Ride quality is a bit likean ATV. In Pennsylvania, theleader of the free world inpotholes, the Russian hackgets a little bouncy. You needto take a break after an hour.But I never planned on anygrand touring with my Ural;that’s what my ’05 TriumphTiger is for. — DerekRosenberg, Pennsylvania

Ibought my 2WD Ural Patrol in 2000 as a winter bike. I hadheard they were old technology and needed lots of maintenance,but I broke it in carefully. I used it to commute to school, about

50 miles a day. It made snow days fun in up to 8". And not onlycould it reach 65-70 mph, if properly maintained it could run forhours at those speeds. Before long, my “winter bike” was myfavorite year-round bike.

I’ve ridden fromGreensboro, North Carolina,to Daytona, Florida, (600miles) for four consecutiveyears. I went on my first IronButt SaddleSore 1000 inApril ’03. After completingover 910 miles in 18 hours,a lean fuel condition burneda hole in the right piston.But on March 25, 2004, my bike became the first Ural sidecar tocomplete an Iron Butt 1000 ride.” — Ed Paynter, North Carolina

List Price: $5,375/$8,995/$10,195Engine: Air-cooled flat twinValvetrain: OHVDisplacement: 745ccBore/Stroke: 78 x 78 mmCompression: 8.6:1Fuel System: Twin Keihin L22AA carburetorsMFR HP Rating: 45 at 5600 rpmMFR Torque Rating: 38 ft-lbs. at 3750 rpmTransmission: Four-speeds forward, plus reverse (except Wolf),

plus 2WD Gear-UpFinal Drive: Shaft Overall Length: 99.6" (Wolf)/101.6" (Troyka, Gear-Up)Wheelbase: 58"Rake/Trail: N/ASeat Height: 30.9" (Wolf)/33" (Troyka, Gear-Up) Fuel Capacity: 5 gallonsDry Weight: 551 pounds (Wolf)/736 pounds (Troyka, Gear-Up)

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