Urals

[NuGuzzi]

Anybody out there ever experience an Ural……?
Am I even crazy to consider this tractor…..?

[JJ]

Anybody out there ever experience an Ural……?
Am I even crazy to consider this tractor…..?

Talk about Guzzi's being a tractor!!

[guzzisteve]

 My opinion, they are junk, one step above Chinese. Bad alloy metal you can't use a torque wrench on. Junk, Have at it if you like. My opinion from wrenching on them, never again. Best look at the welds & see if all is strait.

[Dave Swanson]

I love my 2 Urals!  I've been a Ural owner for 5 years and ride them regularly, usually with my dog.   I have found them to be well built and very reliable. 

If you want the best Ural resource on the planet - join this forum.   https://sovietsteeds.com/

My Urals go as fast as I would ever want to go on a sidecar.  They cruise easily at 60 mph which I consider their 2 lane highway comfort zone, but will get up to 80+ with coaxing.  In my opinion they are the greatest fun you can have on 3 wheels. 

If you are new to sidecars be very diligent about learning to drive one.  During the familiarization period you will think they are death traps because you will have the crap scared out of you a few times before you adapt and learn how to properly drive one. 

I will always have a Ural.  I really enjoy them.

[Dirk_S]

Ron Cichowski (n3303j on here) is a longtime owner of one and also a longtime member of the Soviet Steeds forum. Serious rider (doesn’t drive a car anymore). Quite a few of us on here have owned a Ural or custom built rig.

I bought a 2015 Gear Up model about 5 years ago. It was great fun learning how to drive a sidecar, which I still do, just not that Ural. Too much of my emergency funds were used to buy it, and I had anxiety that it would break down one day and poof! goes that money. Well, it broke down (cracked rocker arm), but thankfully it was a warranty replacement and an easy fix. I sold it soon after and decided to wait until I had more funds and more space to own a sidecar + cager + my single track Guzzi…3 months later, I had my next sidecar rig (BMW F800GS mated to a custom-built sidecar), and started working on the idea of living without a cager. Today, I’m entering my second year living without a car.

Sidecars in general are not for everyone. The steering sits somewhere amongst trikes, cars, and single-track motos, but uniquely asymmetrical. A left turn is not the same as a right. Many newer Urals will be bought and ridden as a novel mechanical horse around town as a form of entertainment for kids, dogs, the missus, etc. Seems like few keep them for more than a couple years as the novelty wears off and the need for responsible maintenance of such a niche machine kicks in.

Urals are THE true agricultural motorcycle of today, even with fuel injection, disc brakes, updated block castings, etc. on the newer models since 2014. The torque is lovely. Ron has a better idea of what years to avoid, but even such, issues can arise, and it’s almost expected as coming with the territory. They’re built to be fixable with more common tools, but that’s really only a positive so long as you’re willing to do the work. Don’t expect all day freeway speed, especially with luggage weighing the rig down. That’s how mine broke on me. These machines are still best used as you would assume—the sweet cruising spot lies under 60 mph.

I miss having reverse, 2-wheel engageable drive (GearUp model only), and a parking brake, but I like my BMW R80/7 because there’s more support for airheads, and I can easily pull the sidecar off and run it solo. Not something easily done with a Ural due to the leading link forks causing such minimal trail that driving solo can be a bit dangerous.

I’d buy a model newer than 2014 because of the disc brakes and fuel injection, but if you like drum brakes and carburetors, go older!

Be mindful of the spoked rims. Bad metallurgy in the casting throughout the years; I see lots of owners sharing pics of cracked wheels. One of mine cracked, wasn’t covered by warranty, but I think Ural covers up a known issue. Oil weepage/leaks are common.

 Also note that a certain lingering war you may heard about has led to a current cease in production of the classic models. The future is unknown. Currently the only model being built for the time being is in partnership with a Chinese company. Who knows what that’ll lead to.

The classic models? Fun, easy’ish to work on, but expect potential issues.

I made two bigger trips on mine when I had it—a 1,000-mile round trip from New Hampshire to Pennsylvania to visit family using mostly secondary roads with a little bit of freeway, and a 450-mile round trip to Acadia National Park, similar riding.

I love sidecars and hope Ural survives. We’ll see.

[Dave Swanson]

Anybody out there ever experience an Ural……?
Am I even crazy to consider this tractor…..?

Where in the world are you located?  That will help when steering you toward a Ural resource.

And they are not tractors.   

Here is a little walkaround video of my 2012.

https://youtu.be/SHKxN-F6dBc?si=rvUzCsz1sFdEaxKa

[Clifton]

I think sidecar rigs are kinda neat and for a while I considered looking for a used Ural. One problem with them is they take up about as much space as a small car. I discovered another problem when I was riding up 311 from Pant Bank on my motorcycle and I caught up to two Urals going very slow. I could have easily passed but I just wanted to watch them to see how they did through tight corners. And after doing so it pretty much got the idea of getting one out of my mind.

Both slowed way down for curves and the riders leaned their bodies way over, left then right back and forth at every curve, accelerated up to maybe 35mph at the short straights then back down to 10-15 for the next set of curves where they had to again lean their bodies way over. Both riders looked like they knew what they were doing but oh my were they slow plus it sure looked like work. Meanwhile it was effortless for me on my motorcycle with the bike doing all the leaning.

[Dave Swanson]

I think sidecar rigs are kinda neat and for a while I considered looking for a used Ural. One problem with them is they take up about as much space as a small car. I discovered another problem when I was riding up 311 from Pant Bank on my motorcycle and I caught up to two Urals going very slow. I could have easily passed but I just wanted to watch them to see how they did through tight corners. And after doing so it pretty much got the idea of getting one out of my mind.

Both slowed way down for curves and the riders leaned their bodies way over, left then right back and forth at every curve, accelerated up to maybe 35mph at the short straights then back down to 10-15 for the next set of curves where they had to again lean their bodies way over. Both riders looked like they knew what they were doing but oh my were they slow plus it sure looked like work. Meanwhile it was effortless for me on my motorcycle with the bike doing all the leaning.

They may have been riding their rigs a bit conservative but you are correct in your observation - driving a sidecar is a lot of work compared to a 2 wheeler!  Even on straights that on a 2 wheel you can have fingertip pressure on the bars while relaxing a bit or even hands off, this is NOT possible with a sidecar, even one with the best alignment possible.  Sidecar driving requires constant vigilance and corrections or you will quickly be in the ditch or worse.  It is not for the faint of heart.  But I can attest that once you start to master a sidecar it is a LOT of fun. 

[slopokes]

Got my eye on that impossible to buy v750 defender…..

[StuCorpe]

I had one back in 1998, brand new.  It blew the engine the first time at 25 miles on my way home from the dealer.  New engine was put in.  In the 2 years following I got to ride it one time through a whole tank of gas without having to work on it.  Carried 2 spare ignition coils with me that I would repair after replacing one about every 25-30 miles.  In that era (late 1990's) they were pure junk and I will never own another one.  That said I understand some of the newer ones are quite reliable.

[Dave Swanson]

I had one back in 1998, brand new.  It blew the engine the first time at 25 miles on my way home from the dealer.  New engine was put in.  In the 2 years following I got to ride it one time through a whole tank of gas without having to work on it.  Carried 2 spare ignition coils with me that I would repair after replacing one about every 25-30 miles.  In that era (late 1990's) they were pure junk and I will never own another one.  That said I understand some of the newer ones are quite reliable.

Yes, Urals were the next thing to junk in 1998.  2007 was a watershed year for engine improvements, with continuous improvements every year thereafter. 

When shopping for a Ural my personal recommendations are - if on a budget, stick with the late carbies - 2012 or 2013 (2013 was the last year for carbs).  Then I would not look at 2014 thru 2018 because the first generation EFI parts are no longer available.  The 2019 Urals ushered in a  2nd gen Keihin EFI along with a long list of engine improvements.  By 2019 Ural drivetrains are finally in the fully modern era.

[Huzo]

I will admit that I once miss took a Ural for a Urinal…

[Dave Swanson]

I will admit that I once miss took a Ural for a Urinal…

An old friend who was fond of imbibing stumbled in through the back door of his house and mistook his wife's box of raw pottery as a urinal.  She was not impressed.   

[Tkelly]

There is a great book by a woman who rode an early one across the country and back.The local dealer provided the bike and shipped  replacement parts periodically when it broke down.She was his test rider.
Nt

[Shorty]

There are a few loyal long term  Ural owners. My guess is they are the minority. I had a Ural. It came with a ton of spare parts, and it needed all of them. It ate valves, pushrods, ignition parts, more than I can remember. Did this at very low miles.  I grew up working on old brit bikes, so I'm no stranger to wrenching. But, it confounded me. It broke down so often I  came up with a term, "Uralitis," the cronic state of disrepair of a soviet motorcycle. The idea of those old rigs with 3 wheels that are interchangeable was pretty savvy; those 1930s  Germans who designed the originals were pretty schmart.  Russian (or Chinese) reverse engineering of those ideas? Not so much.One look at how many low mileage newer Urals are for sale should be telling. It seems like Ural lovers all say the same thing: "Oh the older ones were junk."  I've been hearing that for about 25 years. I will say that the sidecar tubs  are very robust (except those cheap wheels) and make good heavy rigs when matched with more reliable motorcycles as tugs. Tread carefully.

[Dr. Enzo Toma]

Before buying a Ural I would highly recommend reading this letter from the CEO on the current status of the company so you are informed of it:
https://www.imz-ural.com/blog/2025/11/18/legacy-production-update-and-urals-path-forward

IMZ-Ural have paused production of the legacy Ural and introduced the Ural Neo 500, which is the classic Ural sidecar on a modern looking motorcycle built by Chongqing Yingang in China, as a means to keep the company alive so they may hopefully resume legacy Ural production in better times. A friend test rode the Neo 500 and said it handles great and might be the most friendly sidecar rig one can buy without spending big money on a Hannigan sidecar setup. Personally, I'm not drawn to the style of the bike. When Ural moved their production from Russia to Kazakhstan I became very interested in them again as they updated their tooling and designs to address many of the minor issues that had been discovered over the years. With them discontinuing the legacy Ural... I am hesitant to purchase one due to the risk to parts availability.

[Huzo]

An old friend who was fond of imbibing stumbled in through the back door of his house and mistook his wife's box of raw pottery as a urinal.  She was not impressed.   

Understandable..
Our toilet bowl has Royal Doulton printed on it.

[n3303j]

My Ural is my winter bike & truck. Just picked up 250# of bird seed and it wasn't full or overloaded. Last year I dropped a junk 80 gallon water heater at the scrap yard. First time they ever had a Ural on their in/out scale. Mine is a Frankenbike with parts from '97 to '13. The '06 engine has about 60K miles on it so far. Still does its job. Transmission is '10 to gain the Herzog gears and better ratios. Final drive is an overhauled '96 honest to God true differential. Rig is full time two wheel drive. It doesn't yaw on throttle changes. Great long trip rig. Do not "fly the chair"! Done MA to FL a couple of times. Easy packing with all that room. Big tent, a table, computer, air mattress, tent heater, stove, summer & winter riding outfits, chair, two helmets. You get the idea.
40 HP. Run it at 75% "cruise power" all day and it'll run forever (at least for my engine, '06). So I keep it 55 max for cruising and don't lug the engine. So far (riding for 17 years) the old girl has treated me okay. Various years had their quirks that bit their owners. Others have bought Urals figuring they had a great rough terrain / no road vehicle. Not really so. Not water and dirt proof. You want to hammer through a bog get a 4 wheel drive quad where everything has modern seals and top quality metallurgy. New Urals got expensive, and better. Still 40 (ish) horsepower. Parts swap well between my '96 (frame) and many other years so parts are available for repair. Rig is easy to work on. Nothing magic required to fix a Ural.

Meanwhile there is a learning curve and an adjustment period. I bought mine a hundred miles from home and the ride convinced me I made a huge mistake. First year was a love / hate relationship. I took the MSF Sidecar course and learned how to do emergency turns and got comfortable with the 3rd wheel lifting. Finally realized 3 wheels hit irregularities different that 2. You body is also pulled to the outside of EVERY turn. You don't ride or roll, you trundle along in the true sense of the word. It is quite relaxing (shaken, not stirred). An experience that is easily shared. Many will ask about your ride. It can be a time sink. I truly enjoy my rig and figure it is the mobility scooter of my future (currently 80 yrs old).

[Clifton]

..... Finally realized 3 wheels hit irregularities different. Your body is also pulled to the outside of EVERY turn......

Even worse is trying to miss potholes on a trike!

I rode one, a Can Am trike with 2 in front, 1 wheel in the back, and personally found it awful. Not only could I not miss a pot hole or bump, I was thrown to the outside on every turn. Imagine driving a car around corners with the bolstered seat removed and replaced with stool attached to the floor. I couldn't wait to get off the thing..... give me a Miata any day!

[johnwesley]

I believe you have a good assessment of the urals on here.  Few have good luck, drive slow and don’t ever strain them. Cross your fingers and it may well last. I had one and the crank bent, lucky for me I didn’t have a lot in it and sold the blow up bike to a Harley guy that wanted the tub for his Harley. Later on I started wanting another, about that time I met a guy who loved the urals but just had a bad year, so he went and got a 2018 model. All modern and refined. I seen him a year later asked how it was going with the new Ural. He had less than a hundred miles on it cause it stayed in the shop. So he sold it with just 100 miles on it. To big of a risk for me, I gave up on them and feel they are a great novelty bike.

[Dave Swanson]

My short version recommendation for the highest probability of a positive Ural experience is to stick with 2019+ model years.  By 2019 Ural was fully in the modern era of motorcycle reliability.

If you are lucky enough to live close to a world class Ural dealer such as Heindl Engineering in Eaton, Ohio, Crawford's in SE, Michigan, or Nashville Motorcycle Repair, do yourself a big favor - buy a unit from them and have them service it.  You will be a happy camper.

[Stretch]

Lotsa good information here from real-world owners. 

I've been intrigued by them, but never bought one.

That link to their current manufacturing difficulties makes for interesting reading.

The big opposed twins aren't being made for the moment, and are being replaced
with a Chinese 500cc vertical twin. That (relatively) little motor will be
working hard to move all of that weight down the road! I'm interested to see
how they will perform. I wish the company good luck!

                                         -Stretch

[n3303j]

[SNIP]
The big opposed twins aren't being made for the moment, and are being replaced
with a Chinese 500cc vertical twin. That (relatively) little motor will be
working hard to move all of that weight down the road! I'm interested to see
how they will perform. I wish the company good luck!

                                         -Stretch

Chinese twin will probably work better than original Ural motor. The original was 40 hp on a 700# rig. It used low pressure oiling on a pressed together crankshaft. Designed like the '60s series BMW but without the quality of materials or manufacture.

I'm sure the Chinese twin has better quality control and less weight to haul around.

The Ural was sold to a market that wanted an ATV that could do sustained highway speeds. Ural was a tractor designed in a country that didn't have a lot of highways. Many riders beat their machines to death.

Chinese are building a lot of good engines for various name brand machines. Chances are this is just another one of their good ones. Especially since they have control of the whole design.

The thing to remember is that the Ural might have sold 1,200 (optimistic number) units in the USA on a good year. 1,200 annual units is not enough to build a dealer support network for a product. Sidecar rigs are not really popular. That will determine the fate of Ural.

[Stretch]

The Chinese ARE building some good engines, that's for sure.

CFMoto is gaining a good reputation in that regard, for example.
And some of the utility engines for generators, wood splitters and
the like are turning out to be quite tough.

This new Ural rig is said to weigh almost the same as the old one.
HP/Torque is said to be the same or a little more.

You're right, though - they probably ain't gonna sell thousands and thousands
in the US!

                                          -Stretch

[Moparnut72]

The story back in the day was that BMW sold Ural their old out of date worn out tooling. Probably a made up story but it made the rounds.
kk

[Clifton]

I thought the Soviets just reversed engineered BMW's R71?

Harley did the same I think, making a handful, but the Army wasn't interested in them after they were shown the Jeep.

[Dr. Enzo Toma]

Yep, and the Harley-Davidson model was the XA.

[Dirk_S]

The Ural company’s own take on their history, pulled from their webpage found here:

https://www.imz-ural.com/the-company

PRE-WAR AND THE NAZI INVASION

Ural's origins are linked to developments in the Eastern Front during World War II. Mobility was especially stressed after the Soviet Union had witnessed the effect of the blitzkrieg on Poland, and a small, rugged, multi-purpose vehicle that could handle Russia's underdeveloped road network and pockmarked battlefields was a priority.

A meeting was held at the People's Commissariat of Defense of the USSR at the end of 30s to devise a motorcycle that would be suitable for the Red Army, and BMW R71 motorcycle was found to closely match the Red Army's requirements. Five units were covertly purchased through Sweden and handed over to Moscow Motorcycle Plant, recently organized in a retooled bicycle factory. Soviet engineers dismantled the BMWs and reverse engineered the bike's design in every detail. Molds and dies were made to produce engines, gearboxes and other components. The production of these new military sidecar motorcycles, designated M-72 by the Red Army, started in August 1941.

The opening stages of Operation Barbarossa, the Nazis invasion of the Soviet Union in summer of 1941, were so swift and effective that Soviet strategists worried that Moscow would quickly be in range of Luftwaffe bombers. On October 21, 1941, the decision was made to move the motorcycle plant east, out of bombing range and into the resource-rich Ural mountain region. The site chosen was the town of Irbit, located on the fringes of Siberia in the Ural Mountains.

But I had also read of this account, mentioned by Destination Cycles—

A more likely story is that the BMW factory supplied the construction drawings and casting molds. As a result of the Molotov / Ribbentrop Pact, transfers of technology had taken place in support of their Soviet “friends” in different areas. Soviet engineers toured German aircraft factories and brought back complete cannons as samples. The OPEL Kadett was given to the Soviets just prior to the war; however, it commenced series production only toward the end of the war as the Moskvitch 400. In 1941, BMW began series production of R75, and did not resume production of R71.

[Moparnut72]

Your second example is more along the lines of what was explained back when. I started riding a BMW, R50/2 in 1968 when I read a lot of stuff about the company back then. I can only pass on what I remember, that was a long time ago so my memory is probably pretty sketchy.
kk

[Stretch]

I've read similar accounts, Dirk.

It's said that at the end of WWII, whole German factories were
loaded on rail cars and shipped back to the Soviet Union.

The BMW motorcycle factory in 1939 was located in Berlin-Spandau.
Does anyone know if that factory or it's tooling was shipped to the
Soviet Union? And if so, did any of THAT make it to China in 1957 to
help produce the Chang Jiang outfits?

Whatever the actual facts are, it's an engaging story!

                                        -Stretch