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Davo
03-03-2011, 10:52 AM
I sold my caballos after I could no longer stay in "denial" about needing gas/diesel to farm hay for the winter and to haul it home,(so much for 4-legged post-apocolype transport:boggled:) and after hossbacking was increasinlgy purposeless & not much fun anymore.

The Russian-made URAL "Gear Up" is simple, rugged, and very able on dirt roads and trails wider than a cowpath.
You can lock the sidecar wheel so that it is "driven" for increased traction.
The newer ones have 750cc engines, Kehein carbs and better electrics than the older ones.
Air filtration is an area where they are a bit weak, and I have a Kubota diesel tractor two-stage (w/cyclonic dust trap) filter for 900cc diesel tractors and ORVs that I am going to have to adapt to fit, incl. making a more compact airbox. (Meanwhile, I run a home-made foam element in addition to the K&N wire gauze filter.)
The Ural sidecar rig is pretty reliable, get 30 to 35 mpg, can cruise at 50 to 55 mph, and you can carry ALOT of gear like tools,rope come-along w/100 ft. of rope for it,extra rope & nylon straps spares, pick & shovel, saw axe/brush knife, gas cans, camping stuff, weapons, or a 2nd person and a fair ammount of "stuff" for the two of you.
The big s.s. mufflers ("pontoons" ;-) may limit ground clearance a bit, but they are pretty quiet, and THAT is a big plus if you do not figure it advisable to "advertise" your presence.

I REALLY enjoy riding this machine that has changed little from the WW2 versions used by both nazis & Russians.:thumbup:
That counts for ALOT, IMO, and if the teo-whatever happens, as long as I can get fuel, I've got pretty reasonable transportation. (& I'll need a darn sight LESS fuel/oil than I did hauling hay to get my equines thru the long winters.)

There ARE sidecar pivot mounts for the PKM LMG, and would I ever love to see Jim Fuller, or someone get the ultimate "accoutrement/accessory" to mount under his class 3 "stitch-a-matic":laughing:! (There are youtube vids. of Ural mil. sales demos. w/ PKM and belt-fed grenade launcer as well as anit-armor missle launcher....Shoot-&-scoot stuff that looks REALLY fun:thumbup:!)

Davo

Prairie Fire
03-03-2011, 12:10 PM
A Gear-Up is about at the top of my bucket list these days.

Davo
03-03-2011, 02:25 PM
The off-road mods. done by Dave Hooker/"Mr.COB", on ADVRider and Soviet Steeds, are extremely well-thought-out and finalized.(Dave H. ran APCs in the S.E.Asia "wargames", and has built alot of off-road stuff.)
I have a skid-plate and re-enforced L.crashbar built by Dave, and am getting some other of his modified/beefed-up stuff, as "proven" when he came over here to ride with me last fall.
We met some Russian emigrant-now-US-citizen deerhunters due to our riding "Soviet Steeds" ("Anatolly, look! Dot iss an Oo-ral he iss rideeng!" :-)
That turned out extremely well with traditional Russian lunch for my daughter and I, and me getting them permission to hunt on a nearby ranch I used to do day-work on :-)

Davo

Frank Pinelander
03-03-2011, 03:10 PM
Davo, nice to see you here.

WIG19
03-14-2011, 11:12 AM
A Gear-Up is about at the top of my bucket list these days.Nice to see this forum area isn't just about rock-slinging with jeeps. I could've done without your post, though. I'd just about forgotten how much I want one of those.

EDELWEISS
04-15-2011, 02:15 AM
".....There ARE sidecar pivot mounts for the PKM LMG, and would I ever love to see Jim Fuller, or someone get the ultimate "accoutrement/accessory" to mount under his class 3 "stitch-a-matic".......

I havent seen him for awhile; but there used to be a guy in Baltimore that rode around in a WW2 BMW motorcycle and side car complete with markings. He had a MG mount on the sidecar too.

I seem to recall that the Russians captured the factory during the war and decided to send it all back home. If I have the story correct, they were basically making BMW motorcycles for years just with their markings. Then some time later they sold the whole deal to the Chinese, who continued to build them.

I remember seeing these things for sale here in the US for something like $7000 NEW about 10 years ago. There were even repro INFO/VIN plates printed in German for sale and BMW marked gas caps etc. I was tempted....woulda been nice for the work commute with a great coat stalhelm and goggles.

Netpackrat
04-15-2011, 03:11 AM
Pics, or it doesn't exist. :wink:

FOG47
04-15-2011, 06:54 PM
A friend of mine used to have a Ural dealership. I got to ride and work on them. Great fun!