Wildguzzi.com
General Category => General Discussion => Topic started by: twowings on January 13, 2017, 05:46:17 AM
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URAL Quality Testing:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UUZOzT4F0DI&feature=youtu.be (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UUZOzT4F0DI&feature=youtu.be)
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Some pretty gnarly stuff there, thought they'd drowned 'em
in that first scene - where the hell are their air intakes?
:thumb: Maurie.
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Thats is some crazy video.
I am impressed. Like Maurie said where is the intake.
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ah ah , does it come with those two pretty ladies at the end of the video ?
I could use some Russian lesson ...
Jokes aside,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IMZ-Ural
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Note to self...
Don't buy a Ural factory demo bike, under any circumstances!
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ah ah , does it come with those two pretty ladies at the end of the video ?
I could use some Russian lesson ...
Jokes aside,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IMZ-Ural
Watch out for those Russian women, better men than us have been taken for a ride when they had hopes for something else ....
The air intakes are right up under the seat on those, although you'll often see "adventure" Urals with a "snorkel" up over the handlebars. I suppose the air filter kept the engine from locking up with straight water, although I'm not sure what was mixing with the fuel to make it go!
A man could break an ankle in a heartbeat on those rock fields. Something like a "Combat Touring" boot or an equally tough one would be in order ....
Lannis
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Note to self...
Don't buy a Ural factory demo bike, under any circumstances!
I got the impression that all Urals go through these tests before they leave the factory. As the narrator stated, the red one didn't pass a test, so there won't be any red ones for sale this year.
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(http://thumb.ibb.co/iX8YWF/3_in_a_sidecar.jpg) (http://ibb.co/iX8YWF)
(http://thumb.ibb.co/bTXtWF/molotov_sidecar.jpg) (http://ibb.co/bTXtWF)
The after-test party.
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The problem is, most Americans don't buy a motorcycle/sidecar to do that kind of riding - they want something reliable out on the road.
If you go down around Pineville, WV, where the "Hatfield/McCoy" ATV trail is and ATVs are legal on the streets, you'll find plenty of ATVs and dirt bikes but no Urals.
A new Ural put through that kind of riding regularly would be a beat up rusty wreck inside a year ...
Lannis
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I think the better explanation is that the ural is russian, and WV -- well -- isn't. :laugh:
Interesting in the first photo, above, that with all the speed indicated by the blur (and the traction roostertail from the front tire), the girls' hair isn't getting blown around.
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I remember Carl Allison's Ural. What a POS. He got screwed by the warranty to boot.
So a bike with (feeble) sporting pretensions is undercut by its (poor) reliability.
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I think the better explanation is that the ural is russian, and WV -- well -- isn't. :laugh:
Interesting in the first photo, above, that with all the speed indicated by the blur (and the traction roostertail from the front tire), the girls' hair isn't getting blown around.
Well, maybe Russia isn't WV, but from some of the "jackass videos" you see from both places ("Hey, hold my beer/vodka and watch THIS!"), there are similarities ...
And those girls? They just used the same stuff on their hair as Marlon Brando used all over while HE was riding at 60 MPH and NOTHING was moving ...
(https://photos.smugmug.com/General/i-d7hvBwZ/0/O/WildOne-001.jpg) (https://lannisselz.smugmug.com/General/i-d7hvBwZ/A)
Lannis
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As a non" partisan" observer, I have to say the Molotov Sidecar crew is really hot.
Either that or its a special delivery from an x girlfriend. :evil:
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As a non" partisan" observer, I have to say the Molotov Sidecar crew is really hot.
Either that or its a special delivery from an x girlfriend. :evil:
Agree (http://fleshandrelics.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/BenzCyp_Rest-in-speed_KamilleLevequeJego.jpg)
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The problem is, most Americans don't buy a motorcycle/sidecar to do that kind of riding - they want something reliable out on the road.
Lannis
Damn Americans wanting reliable bikes :angry:.
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My V7 stone would have failed each test needed $15,000 of replacement parts and spent nine months in a garage.
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The problem is, most Americans don't buy a motorcycle/sidecar to do that kind of riding - they want something reliable out on the road.
Lannis
My goodness, you actually know most Americans??
Your Christmas card order must be huge...
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I remember Carl Allison's Ural. What a POS. He got screwed by the warranty to boot.
So a bike with (feeble) sporting pretensions is undercut by its (poor) reliability.
Let's recap:
1. A URAL is motorcycle.
2. I knew someone who had problems this his URAL.
Therefore:
All URALS are feeble and unreliable?
Isn't faulty logic? Don't you need another valid premise?
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I remember Carl Allison's Ural. What a POS. He got screwed by the warranty to boot.
So a bike with (feeble) sporting pretensions is undercut by its (poor) reliability.
I went through the process of Ural ownership. You are correct. See if this sounds familiar. "Well, there is no dealer network, so to speak. Don't let that stop you though, they are really simple machines to work on. There is a terrific online community to keep you rolling.The machine has SO much character, it is worth the few flaws that it has. It has Brembo brakes." :wink: The Ural fanboys are just as gut hooked as any other motorheads, 'cept they become mechanics MUCH faster than Guzzi owners. I keep wishing some reputable company would buy the rights to Ural, then produce the machines using up to date drivetrain and QA. Til then, I'll keep on grafting their sidecars onto other bikes.
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Let's recap:
1. A URAL is motorcycle.
2. I knew someone who had problems this his URAL.
Therefore:
All URALS are feeble and unreliable?
Isn't faulty logic? Don't you need another valid premise?
There IS a thing called "statistical sampling".
Last summer I saw more than 2000 motorcycles.
Of those motorcycles, about 5 of them were Urals.
It makes sense to assume (statistically) that the next 1000 motorcycles I would have seen were NOT one single clump of Urals, but would be approximately the same ratio as the 2000 that I saw. Probably not 0 and probably not 50, but something around 5.
Therefore I'd think it would be safe and accurate to say that MOST Americans buy other than Ural motorcycles.
In addition, having been to not 1 but TWO Ural motorcycle rallies, in order to learn about Urals first-hand from people who actually own them and ride them to rallies, and having heard almost everyone AT THOSE RALLIES (not every Ural owner in the USA but a reasonable sample of them) laughingly talking smack about their own bikes, responding to my questions about 'touring on a Ural' with sardonic laughter, and hearing the stories of rebuilding their new bikes ....
.... well, I don't need to survey every American in the country to draw a reasonable conclusion about Urals ....
You don't either, but it's fun to discuss, I suppose ... !
Lannis
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I saw a Ural gathering(like a Guzzi gathering), except most the Urals got there being pulled on trailers. :huh: Reminded me of a Harley rally where most are trailered too. :rolleyes: Not many trailer queens at a Guzzi rally. :thumb:
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Thanks for reposting the vid. Worth watching again.
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Well according to the video, Ural beats the crap out of every Ural before they deliver it to a customer.
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:thumb:
R -rrrr Rural Ural!
Strong like bull.
But gentle enough for the ladies!
(http://i1299.photobucket.com/albums/ag77/Penderic/Penderic004/ladies%20in%20sidecar_zpsgybqdaec.jpg)
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Great video - not to be taken too seriously - they jest :boozing:
I find the preoccupation with Ural reliability amusing. It's a highly over-rated property. There's no adventure without little uncertainty IMHO.
Isn't that's why we ride Moto Guzzis?
Nick
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Is the basic Ural copied from Zundap or BMW? Probly subtle difference, esoteric for sure.
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Is the basic Ural copied from Zundap or BMW? Probly subtle difference, esoteric for sure.
The Russians took LOTS of stuff back with them in 1945 & '46.
Among them were completely factories, sans the building.
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The Russians took LOTS of stuff back with them in 1945 & '46.
Among them were completely factories, sans the building.
I'm sure they did take lots of stuff back with them in 1945 & '46, just like we did (e.g., Wernher von Braun). However, in the case of the Ural, the Russians actually licensed the design from BMW in 1940, which Nazi Germany provided to the Soviet Union after the countries signed a nonaggression pact in 1939. The pact didn't last, but the BMW copies did.
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Do the Chinese make a version of the Ural? Years ago I heard they did but have not seen any mention of it since
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Do the Chinese make a version of the Ural? Years ago I heard they did but have not seen any mention of it since
They did; the Chang Jiang CJ750. Now that trade relations with China are sort of normalized, I don't think they're mass-produced any more. There were a really old sidevalve design.
Lannis
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The Chang Jiang
the Chinese army had over a million of them
I think they were made using the machinery from the Russian Ural factory
I visited Jimbo's Classic Sidecars near the Beijing Airport, he had a business restoring them using BMW engines
http://s1304.photobucket.com/user/Kiwi_Roy/slideshow/Chang%20Jiang
The side valve engine is a genuine Chang Jiang
Note the high state of polish they get on the old beamer mills
On a trip through Beijing I took a sidecar tour with Beijing Sideways to the great wall, highly recommended.
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So I watched the video and came away impressed. Right after that one finished a second one came up with a guy giving the pros and cons of this bike. The pros, presented first, had me interested but the cons convinced me this is not ready for prime time. Rear tire life of 2000 miles, 40 HP pushing 700+ lbs, and transmission full of neutrals.
https://youtu.be/bB8PhQRmc7g
Pete
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Now there's some serious Russian hacking. :thumb:
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That there's some funny chit.
I love the Blue Ridge Parkway. One of my annual BRP projects is my Johnny Sotweedseed tour (sotweed being King James' word for tobacco). Instead of apple seeds, I ride up and down the ridge sowing Pirouette cookie cans with six or eight cigars in each. One of these excursions, I bumped into a Ural rally at Willville, several years back. An affable bearded fellow stood smoking at the bonfire, I bombed him with the sotweed. He came strolling over to our camp site later with a bag of Russian beer. I think it mighta been called Baltika, or some such. Cyrillic label and all. This cat was such a hard core Ural fanatic he'd even done the factory tour in Irbit Siberia, and even the Dnepr factory in Kiev. We had a great time swapping stories, getting lit, and lighting stogies. He was perfectly aware that Urals suck donkey dongs; he just got off on the fact. Half his stories were hilarious breakdowns and the ingenious jury rigging that got him home.
(http://laterdudette.com/images/ural_ed.jpg)
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Long as we're swapping Ural Willville rally stories ... I did the same thing.
Rolled into Willville and it was full of Urals. Stayed and got to talking when in comes a loaded-to-the-gunwales Ural sidecar outfit. Rider gets off and sets up a BIG tent. Takes a cherry-picker engine lift off the bike and assembles it. Uses it to help his paraplegic wife out of the sidecar and into a wheelchair. She rolls into the big tent and they set up camp for the weekend.
The moxie it takes to own a Ural must be part of the pure guts it would take to go motorcycle camping together as a couple when one is paralyzed from the neck down!
Another time, two of us were riding in the Rockies (around Netherland, CO) on a two-lane road when we saw a sidecar outfit tipped up on its left crashbar with the chair in the air, on the opposite shoulder. Like Moses, we said "I will turn aside, and see this great sight ...", and behold, it was a Ural with the rider under the sidecar, turning wrenches.
We asked if we could be of help, and he said no, he had it, he was just doing a quick repair. We asked if he would need someone to follow him to his destination, and he pointed back down the road and said "No, I live about 1/2 a mile down there."
One of us made the unnecessary comment (it might have been me) that this could be a record for long distance travel on a Ural. It was a joke, but the owner sighed and sort of agreed with me as if I were serious ....
It's those kinds of things that make you wonder ....
Lannis
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The moxie it takes to own a Ural must be part of the pure guts it would take to go motorcycle camping together as a couple when one is paralyzed from the neck down!
Awesome!
Bout as good as the fellow from Merryland rides a GoldWing trike ... cause he has zero legs! Both snipped off by a train. Forget his name -- we call him Wheels. No cherry picker, but he does have a wheelchair rack that deploys from the side of his Wing. He also tools round on his knuckles and ass, bragging he's the only guy you know whose stuff drags in the dirt. Great guy.
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He should zip up his pants when he goes for a knuckle walk.
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Loved the video. Thanks to the OP.
Heck, even Kathi watched it and laughed.
She did ask if I one in mind. I equivocated, and will not let read the rest of the thread. :wink:
Bill
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Not too many(10?) years ago we rode our Guzzi hack(CX/Velorex car) from Yuba City, Cal. to Stevenson, Wa. on the north side of the Columbia river 60 mi. east of Portland, Or. on the north side on Hwy 14 to a sidecar rally. Ural was there with demo rides. We camped with other PNW Guzzi hack riders and witnessed many hack owners riding the demo Urals, lifting their chairs repeatedly. There were all kinds of hacks there, some from Canada, and it was a good time. But I never saw a Ural going more than maybe 45 mph. I had even ridden a 650 Ural in town and there it was acceptable. But those motors are so ancient they just were never made for 65 mph constant speeds, no matter what they claim. Every year they claim they're better than the year before. That may be true but they are never completely gone thru to really be bulletproof like 90% of other brand products. If you just putz around town in them they're probably OK. But they have never been made for hiway speeds even now. Even the solo Ural bikes don't hold up @ 65 mph speeds for long. They were originally made for dirt roads where you constantly accelerate/decelerate, not constant speeds.