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2011 Ural Gear-Up Review [Video]
 

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2011 Ural Gear-Up Review [Video]

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Way cool!! Thanks for the review. The Ural I'd like to have is the solo, no sidecar. Though a sidecar does have its appeal.

Now that looked like a fun review.

You're welcome, Sliphorn, and it was a fun review, 12er.
With or without a sidecar, Ural's are cool for no other reason than they exist. I've never lamented returning a press bike as much as this one.

As a sidecarist, I really enjoyed that! With HD out of the sidecar business, Ural (and the Chinese Version, CJ) is the last motorcycle manufacturer still making them! The pulling to the right when you start is probably an alignment issue, not uncommon in the sidecar world!. It should never lurch either direction! Tighten up that steering damper! New Urals are light years better than the old. If you like the 2 wheeler they have two now (at least in Europe). The T and the Retro. No, they aren't for everyone, but they sure are fun!

James Allmond
Pres, Georgia Sidecar Club
1976 R90/6 w/Motorvation Royale
1988 HD FLHS w/Watsonian Cambridge

I want one!

Only one question ... Are they a UK setup? The reason I ask is according to the article:

"Finding the sweet spot between speed, weight balance and centrifugal force when navigating a right turn and elevating the sidecar skyward is akin to learning to wheelie."

With the sidecar on your right this should only happen during a LEFT turn.

Conversely ...

"When performing left turns the sidecar wheel becomes an outrigger, digging into the pavement or dirt so tenaciously you can push the front end without concern of losing control."

This seems to be a RIGHT turn scenerio.

Or maybe I forgot my left from my right. I've long since lost the "L" and "R" that used to be taped to my shoes. LOL

Sir_Angus,

The description in the article is correct. Right turns, if taken too enthusiastically, will 'fly' the sidecar.

The rider's weight (actually, all the weight of the rider and bike that is above the cG) is trying to lever the bike over.

That's why you need to carry your 300 lb former Olympic medalist weightlifter girlfriend or a commensurate amount of potato's beets and vodka in the sidecar at all times.

Maybe it's because I've never driven with a sidecar, but the physics described in the article don't make sense to me.

A hard right turn, at worst, should bury the nose of the sidecar into the pavement. While the same "enthusiasm" during a left turn should lift the sidecar's wheel from contact.

Nope!

It's the same physics that causes trikes so much grief in an emergency maneuver. One rear wheel lifts off the ground, and the geometry of the bike changes in a bad way.