Vintage Motorcycles

[warbird]

Ohhhhh, Ural. My guy and I have been looking at those for some time now. Great look.

They look kind of neat, but reports are they are very unreliable and parts are difficult to get. The engines they use are antiquated poor designs, not simply a vintage design but was a bad design from the beginning.

Plus anything Russian has abhorrent tolerances, poorly machined parts and rarely is checked for QC. I'd much rather have an old Jap or German bike, than a brand new Ural.

 

[Tommy Fedora]

During WWII Russia copied nut and bolt of the 1942 BMW for their army, and the Ural was born. Unchanged since, but more reliable now than it has been in the past few years. Quality has been increased tremendously but they still have a way to go. I saw them at the NYC motorcycle show last weekend and I really like them. Hacks are cool. It just won't cruise well over 55 mph.

 

[renor27]

Urals

as someone who has run a number of vintage BMWs with sidecars from prewar 1937 R71 to the R60/2 ( mid 1960's ) I can not recommend any of the Urals. The Urals are a copy and when I say copy I means the Sovits took a R71 and made their taps and dies from a running bike not from the BMW taps and dies. The machine work is poor the weilds are bad and getting parts well that is always hit and miss. They are getting better but are still a poor bike. I would in a heart beat take 1937 R71 and drive across the USA but would not take a Ural around the block. For the asking price of a "new" Ural you can get a BMW /2 ( 1958-1969 ) . There is another thing to watch out with the Urals many you find on E-Bay are not DOT approved so you can never get it registered here in this country.
If you want a sidecar rig go with the BMWs you get a great machine and when you decided to sell it you will get your money back.
David