My review of Ural Motorcycles (2012)

Oh I can tell you all about problems with Bavarian Money Wasters. And like you I wouldn't take a new one. Bricks on the other hand - they made good outfits and I never managed to break one, though I know of a few that broke big time. Harleys, my only experience is alloy Sportsters and always solos. Never had any problems and wanted to do a dual-sport conversion on one, problem is they always sold for more money than bricks and I'm a thrifty man. Dneprs were CHEAP and if you knew a little bit and accepted the limitations - reliable. Ural were the same, different problems but easy to sort out. Using BMW, KMZ, IMZ and CJ parts you could fix most problems on the air-cooled flat twins. Now the oil-heads are getting cheap and tempting experimentation. If my leg ever gets better - who knows what bastardry I'll concoct. I'm not a proud person, if it's got wheels I'll give it a go.

And thats one of the main reasons I ended up with a Ural, I love the older BMW's and Harleys, but cant stand the new ones. I preferred my AMF shovelhead over the Evo Sportster even though the Sportster was far more reliable.

Personally I appreciate how Ural is evolving the rigs, refining function without changing the basic design. I know many people like how other manufacturers do major redesigns every few years to keep up with the latest technology or fashion trend, but thats not for me.
It's amusing that no matter what a manufacturer does, someone will come out of the woodwork to complain and criticize. "too many changes", "not enough changes"," too crude and unrefined", "too complicated and high tech".
I remember when folks criticized Ural because they didn't market their product and weren't making enough changes, now there are some folks criticizing them for marketing their product and trying to improve it.

internet forum 101,
If you like something your drinking Kool-Aid
If you don't like something your a hater.


Who cares about fluff, advertising is fluff, thats just the way it is regardless of the product, why even think or comment on it?

<iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/0la5DBtOVNI" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" width="420"></iframe>

Nah, thats nothing, they all do that.

+1

That's funny, because I think a lot of the Chinese bikes are better built than the Russian stuff!!!
I ordered a lot of CJ-750 parts to rebuild an M-72 that I found. Almost every Chinese part (forks, fenders, final drive, throttle, carbs, levers, wheels) had a better build quality than the Russian part it replaced! Heck, even one of the Ural/Dnepr dealers in Germany said that the Chinese PZ knockoffs of the German Bing carbs were better than the originals!!!

If only the Chinese could come up with an EPA compliant engine and fuel delivery system and then some brakes to pass DOT testing, a new and improved CJ-750 could give the Ural a run for it's money in the sidecar market! If the Indians could do it with the Royal-Enfield...

If only..........

My dad's bigger than your dad..........

This thread just keeps on running... unlike the OP's motorcycle!
Until this began I didn't think there was such passion left in the motorcycle world, whatever you may think or feel about Urals they certainly inspire strong emotions, and not the sort of phoney hype the "lifestyle/ character" brands like Triumph and Harley spend a fortune faking to get us to buy their latest goodies. To all you Ural riders out there, Ride On, (if you can) to all the Ural haters, don't lose sleep over someone else's choice of bike, and to everyone else, grab a beverage of your choice and watch the entertainment! Now can we have some more critical engineering analysis and gratuitous insults please.

Mal

Pah, I walked past a Ural once and it just fell apart.

With statements like that your gonna start some sort of feud ....

Howdy Bill,

Is that the disassembled one I walked past and it magically bolted itself back together......................

Don't be so damned reasonable! Your father was a hamster and your mother smelled of elderberry!

If it was the green one with purple spots, then NO!

They all do that...

1st soldier with a keen interest in weedwackers: Who goes there?
King Arthur: It is I, Arthur, son of Uther Pendragon, from the castle of Camelot. King of the Britons, defeater of the Saxons, Sovereign of all England!
1st soldier with a keen interest in weedwackers: Pull the other one!
King Arthur: I am, and this is my trusty servant Patsy. We have ridden the length and breadth of the land in search of knights who will join me in my court at Camelot. I must speak with your lord and master.
1st soldier with a keen interest in weedwackers: What? Ridden on a motorcycle?
King Arthur: Yes!
1st soldier with a keen interest in weedwackers: You're using a weedwacker!
King Arthur: What?
1st soldier with a keen interest in weedwackers: You've got a weedwacker and you're revving it like a motorcycle.
King Arthur: So? We have ridden since the snows of winter covered this land, through the kingdom of Mercia, through...
1st soldier with a keen interest in weedwackers: Where'd you get the weedwacker?
King Arthur: We found it.
1st soldier with a keen interest in weedwackers: Found it? In the 14th century? A weedwacker is from the 20th century!

+1

I like Urals. I looked at them hard before I built my rig.
I feel the best thing about them is they have revitalized an interest in sidecars in the US. Unfortunately, many buyers expect them to be more than what they are (outdated technology and potentially mechanically problematic). To me, they are more than utilitarian transportation wrapped up in a cool package, they are a hobby for Dad, a pastime for Mom and a craft for the kids, like the Ronco Rhinestone and Stud Setter.
If they came with a really good manual, tool kit, copy of "Zen and the art of Motorcycle Maintenance" and a 6 pack of chilly malted beverages, it might help new owners understand their quirks....
D@8K'

I didn't know you knew my parents!

Mal

My NEW Royal Enfield dropped a valve just cruising around my neighborhood with 300 miles on the clock. Complete POS. Dealer rebuilt it under warranty and I sold it. Tank was also starting to rust fromt he inside WTH? It did look cool though, so it sold quickly.

My Ural leaked oil in my garage. It was new. Only new bike that ever leaked oil from where the engine cases came together. It was a beast though and I rate it higher than the RE in terms of quality, but really, they do battle it out for last place ;-) It also looked cool and after 2 years I was able to sell it in 2008 (it was a 2006 Patrol) without losing too much $$ because they were popular and fairly rare.

OK this may be harking back to page one or even the OP's ride reports but I am just back from working a couple of weeks near Surabaya which is the other end of the island from Jakarta. From what I saw the traffic in Indonesia is frightful but the roads are not that bad, the biggest bike I saw was a 250 ninja most are 125's or 110's, they have premix for 2 strokes straight out of special petrol pumps, various local made Hondas and the like can cope with no problems, Not being able to go on the toll roads would have cost a lot of time when trying to get anywhere. We went from one end of the island to the other from central Jakarta to the wild woods outside Surabaya in a daihatsu luxio with no problems that's a small wheeled 1500cc people carrier. I would think that the marketing of the Ural as a roughty toughty vehicle would have seen the OP in better stead than us. From most of this post it may be possible to infer that time spent updating the engine was well spent, then maybe time would have been better spent finishing this and then addressing quality and staff training before instead bringing out special additions. I would add that Indonesians drive on the correct side of the road so the nerve of the OP for driving a wrong way round rig in that traffic at least deserves some respect.

+1

Respect goes to my monkey that bravely sits on the side of incoming traffic!

Still can't figure out why they drive on the left? After all, they were a long time Dutch colony.