Looks like we all bought the wrong thing

[SpyderSkeets]

Well, according to Cycle World and Ural, that is.

[Bob Denman]

Whatever drugs you're taking: I want some!!

[ARtraveler]

A lot of us have a "secret" desire to have a sidecar rig. The Ural has always been a contender there. They are starting to spiff up the model a bit. New colors, two wheel drive on the rears, etc. They do not cost am arm and a leg either. I believe about $14K will buy the top of the line.

The fine print--they ride a bit rough. Expected--they were not meant for the touring elite. Sidecar handling is a whole different ballgame. One side bottoms out and the other side will get airborne--depending on which way you are turning. Also the steering is affected--will it pull to one side or other? Again, depending on the direction of your throttle--up or down. They are also not good for higher speeds. They like 60 mph or less.

Like the Spyder, there is a learning curve. Once you get it figured out--it will become "natural."

They do come with the most complete tool kit in the industry. There are a couple around here. Both driven by old guys with beards. The word "hippie" comes to mind.

I do not hesitate to check them out when I encounter them in the parking lot. Secret desire yes, buy one, not now anyway.

[ofdave]

I had a Ural (2011) and it was the most fun non-automobile ride I ever had.
Mine was one wheel drive (I think less than 25% are one wheel drive).
Top speed 65, cruise 55. The post 2014 are 5-10 mph faster.
Very easy to work on which is a good thing because you do it often.
Oil changes are at 2500 km., that's right km not miles.
Since 2014 they've had fuel injection.
They do handle differently than anything else. Flying the chair (raising the sidecar off the ground) is fun.
Accelerate and the sidecar drags so it pulls right. Decelerate and the sidecar freewheels faster than the bike so it pulls left. You get used to it in a few miles.
Never had a problem with mine in 10,000 miles.
Just couldn't get used to 55 all the time along with snail acceleration.

[UtahPete]

Well, according to Cycle World and Ural, that is.

Russians define 'fun' differently than we do, I think. This thing is perfectly suited for their road system.

[Peteoz]

We have a couple of Urals in our riding group. The wag who organises weekend rides always sends a special email to them a week earlier than everyone else to “give them the chance to get to the departure point on time”. They go places we can only dream about......and come back without a DESS error or LIMP mode in sight

Pete

[PistonBlown]

According to my parents I was conceived in the sidecar of a Panther outfit parked out the back of a pub in Ireland. As my dad puts it they'd "Had one too many pints of Guinness and threw precautions to the wind". So Cycle World could be right;-)

[Spyder 42]

We had a Kawasaki Concours /Hannigan sidecar rig before the spiders. I learned enough to retrain my brain and that made the switch to the Spyder painless.

[Chupaca]

They have been around forever but are in a class of their own.. wonder what Ann and Joe charge for laser alignment on one...

[SpyderSkeets]

I think you folks missed my point in posting. See what it says? "The most fun you can have on three wheels".
I don't know about you guys, but to me, the Spyder would be pretty hard to beat in the fun on three wheels contest. Then again, I've never rode a Ural.

[Peteoz]

I think you folks missed my point in posting. See what it says? "The most fun you can have on three wheels".
I don't know about you guys, but to me, the Spyder would be pretty hard to beat in the fun on three wheels contest. Then again, I've never rode a Ural.

Nope, I don’t think most of us missed your point, SpyderSkeets. You really DO need to ride one before dismissing their significant “fun” levels. Urals are a LOT of fun on 3 wheels and can ford streams, travel very rough dirt tracks and do all sorts of fun things that the Spyder can’t . Horses for courses . Mind you, being passed by pushbike riders while on the freeway is a bit embarrassing

Pete

[Fat Baxter]

When I was considering moving to three wheels (bad knee), the Ural was at the top of my list. I was tired of BMW's complexity and uber-expensive maintenance. Yes, they run for long distances and can rack up incredibly high mileage, but when they break, ... be ready to take out a small loan! That, and their very thin dealer network eventually soured me on the marque.

I read a lot about Urals. Yes, they need more frequent maintenance (checking for loose fittings, etc.), but the bike itself is stupid simple to work on (kinda like BMW airheads used to be). If you can work on a lawn mower engine, you can work on a Ural. In about 2002, the Ural work force bought out the company and went on a quality improvement kick, with great success. They started using Japanese electrics and carburetors; the handlebar controls came from Italy; the gears are Swiss or German. They now have disk brakes.

Yes, they are quirky, but their relatively small ridership is fiercely loyal. That counts, in my mind.

My wife surprised me by recommending the Spyder; she didn't see the sense of a sidecar rig. I had seen a Spyder at a dealer and thought them rather odd. And the dealer admitted they were hard to work on (shades of BMW again?). And not cheap -- easily twice the cost of a Ural.

Then the 2014 RT hit the market and got rave reviews; reliability was way up. So I got an RT-S. And shortly thereafter, one of the local bike dealers added Spyders to their floor.

And if the Spyder gets too expensive to keep running, there's a Ural dealer up-state.

[Bob Denman]

According to my parents I was conceived in the sidecar of a Panther outfit parked out the back of a pub in Ireland. As my dad puts it they'd "Had one too many pints of Guinness and threw precautions to the wind". So Cycle World could be right;-)

I have a question: Does this mean that you're allowed to possess multiple Passports from differing Countries?
Guinness: the language of love!

[asp125]

I was traumatized by a Ural.

We were gathered around a campfire, having beers and swapping the day's ride stories one time. Out in the inky darkness, a motorcycle started up. Putt putt putt... a lone headlight came bouncing across the pasture. As it got closer, we could hear Wagner's "ride of the valkyries" blaring out. Suddenly, Nerf bullets came whizzing around our heads! Wisssshh... boink, boink. The foam bullets bounced off our heads and bodies. In the beer hazed confusion we hear maniacal laughter coming from the sidecar; the two shadowy figures retreating into the night from whence they came.

We got even, though. We made him give us monkey rides around the field all evening.

[CA Railwhale]

When I was considering moving to three wheels (bad knee), the Ural was at the top of my list. I was tired of BMW's complexity and uber-expensive maintenance. Yes, they run for long distances and can rack up incredibly high mileage, but when they break, ... be ready to take out a small loan! That, and their very thin dealer network eventually soured me on the marque.

I read a lot about Urals. Yes, they need more frequent maintenance (checking for loose fittings, etc.), but the bike itself is stupid simple to work on (kinda like BMW airheads used to be). If you can work on a lawn mower engine, you can work on a Ural. In about 2002, the Ural work force bought out the company and went on a quality improvement kick, with great success. They started using Japanese electrics and carburetors; the handlebar controls came from Italy; the gears are Swiss or German. They now have disk brakes.

Yes, they are quirky, but their relatively small ridership is fiercely loyal. That counts, in my mind.

My wife surprised me by recommending the Spyder; she didn't see the sense of a sidecar rig. I had seen a Spyder at a dealer and thought them rather odd. And the dealer admitted they were hard to work on (shades of BMW again?). And not cheap -- easily twice the cost of a Ural.

Then the 2014 RT hit the market and got rave reviews; reliability was way up. So I got an RT-S. And shortly thereafter, one of the local bike dealers added Spyders to their floor.

And if the Spyder gets too expensive to keep running, there's a Ural dealer up-state.

Aren't Urals basically WWII era BMW R75s? From the photos I have seen, they look like the Russians just looted the BMW tooling and started producing them in 1945 without the blackout light and machine gun mount.

[Fat Baxter]

Aren't Urals basically WWII era BMW R75s? From the photos I have seen, they look like the Russians just looted the BMW tooling and started producing them in 1945 without the blackout light and machine gun mount.

Sorta/kinda. Back before WW2, when the Nazis and Rooskies were buddies, the Germans gave the Soviets the blueprints for their R75 sidecar rigs. During the war, the Soviets produced them by the crapload, essentially using them the way we used Jeeps; i.e., a small utility vehicle. After the war, they kept producing them, with some minor upgrades as technology got better (but not much). They also produced some for their domestic market, as there weren't a lot of options for Soviet citizens to buy cars.

Throughout the Cold War, Urals continued to see military duty within Warsaw Pact countries. Here's a video showing some rigs with machine guns, and even an anti-tank rocket launcher: .

The current Urals still look and function much like a BMW airhead (part of their charm and central to their simplicity), but their build quality nowadays is way ahead of their past reputation as a "Russian POS." I read one review a few years back that compared current Ural reliability to Hondas of the '80s .... which actually isn't that bad a compliment.

The really funny thing is, after WW2 when the Soviets were bestest buddies with the Chicoms, they gave all their old Ural tooling to them, and the Chinese subsequently built their own BMW-cum-Ural knockoffs, which are known as Chang Jiang. They kept the old tech flavor going for many years (i.e., very little improvement), but their build quality is even worse than the Russians'. Still, if you like fiddling with your machine, and can live with only 22 HP and a 45 MPH top speed, they too have their adherents.

[sidecarrick]

I have one and it's a blast to ride. I like riding it in the winter while it's snowing. People think you're crazy
IMG_0436.jpg
I have a Dnepr and a Chang Jiang too.

[PistonBlown]

I have a question: Does this mean that you're allowed to possess multiple Passports from differing Countries?
Guinness: the language of love!

Already have two passports, any more would just be greedy:-)

On the Guinness front, my mum was also advised by the midwife to drink a bottle of Guinness a day through her pregnancy - advice has a changed a little bit since then:-)

[IdahoMtnSpyder]

No wonder they're so good. They're put together with Bondo! See it at 1:40 in this factory video.