SERIOUS Bugout Bikes/Motorcycles w Side Car

My vote is for the 2016 URAL two wheel drive side car rig.

Pick the model of your choice.

Ural Sidecar Motorcycles

 

I do not have the list of updates, most address the reliability or parts issues.

Many parts are now sourced from major world wide parts suppliers.

Brembo Brakes for one, hand controls etc.

Many upgrades have been the theme of the Factory since 2003. From seals to engine components.

EFI is now stock and the neat thing is both sides are separate in that cylinder EFI output is for each cylinder, but the design includes a fail safe so the electronics will provide input to both cylinders if one EFI side fails.

Lots of other improvements and some place on line they have posted them year by year.

I'll meet you in Laughlin if you decide to buy.

List of updates.
IMZ-Ural - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

we have a ural dealer near here and I was told by the salesman that lots of things go wrong on them the first year then better riding---sorry I’m in the mountains and I love my 4x4 dodge trucks and my 4x4 Kawasaki mule and the trailer I have for it --if and only if I have to bug out

 

Ahh well, at least a two year warranty.

If I buy, and that is a huge possibility, The first delivery will be for the sale, all others will be for warranty and you can bet they will delivery and pick up each time at their expense and it will be in writing.

Indian provides a 5 year on my 2015 Scout. So far never a whimper from the Scout.
Laughlin
Help! Which hotel is best?

 

But its a DRY Heat.

Not a problem,I hear by Vodka Grape Vine that they no longer use acetylene and coat hangers for welding.

Big time now is MIG.

Anyway you have an extra wheel and a spare.

 

Worked with a guy whose father had been on the losing side in every sense of the world at Stalingrad. He was an officer in the German army and a day or so before the surrender by that army to the Russians, was given a motorcycle with a sidecar and driver and a bunch of dispatches, including a list of who was alive at that time, and told to try to make it thru the Russian lines with the info. They made it, his dad came to the USA after the war, got married, and a couple years later he was born. About 120,000 surrendered at Stalingrad, and last I knew about 5,000 made it back. I think his dad at least believed that a motorcycle and sidecar was an excellent bug out choice and my talking to his son verified his choice.

 

Check the ADV rider site, more than a few folks using the Ural.

I used that M/C for main character's bugout vehicle in book 2 of my series - Going Home. . Lots of fun.

 

Well, I am seriously interested because I have wanted to get a bike since I got back stateside. However, I need to hear how the reliability is currently. The design appears to be much like the BMW opposed cylinders which was bulletproof. I had a 1000RS years ago and cry every time I think that I left it over there. And, I bet it is still running strong... So, reliability and cost are the big drivers for me here... I wonder if they are made in the Ukraine or where...Russia? Can't be Russia as sanctions now so definitely not made in Russia but if made in Ukraine cost could significantly be held down.

EDIT: Nah...too expensive at $16K. Could definitely get a better bike or 2 for for that price. Pity...

 

I've been mo'cyclin my entire adult life and am very familiar with Ural.

They are basically reverse-engineered BMW's (notice the two cylinder boxer engine? Gee, I wonder where that idea came from?).

The only problem is that they are very poorly reverse engineered Beemers.

There are dozens of great dirt bikes out there...Kawasaki and Husqvarna are probably the most respected. I can't imagine how anyone who knows what they are doing could conclude that Ural was a better choice than either. Yes, I know the Russians trudge through the tundra on Urals. But for every Ural on the tundra, there are five junks sitting around parted out to keep the one running. And Russians don't ride them because They are the best. they ride them because that's all they can get.

The sidecar is a nice feature, but that's not enough to compensate for the utter failure that Ural is as a motorcycle.

In the USA, Ural's main demographic market is middle aged rich dudes who want to look retro-badass.

 

There is no other less expensive options out there.
The Ural is a selectable two wheel drive rig, try finding one of those on the market.
Harleys and BMWs are twice as expensive and twice as heavy plus no two wheel drive.

"Ural's main demographic market is middle aged rich dudes who want to look retro-badass."
Really, maybe its time to hike on down to a URAL Rally, most dealers host them on a regular basis.
My experience is that about half the URAL owners are disabled in some way and have sold their 2 wheeler and purchased The Side Hack Rig as a way to enjoy the open country lanes and rural roads. Not to mention the company of folks of like interest that are not into knocking other's choice of scooter.

Then again my real experience has been as a Monkey on a Kawa 750 Triple GP Side Hack Rig, bad asses need not apply for that ride, only the quick and fit.

 

It's a really a pity because there is obviously a market for these 2WD side car that obviously, like the old box engine beemers (or Volkswagens) are easy to repair and bombproof. I am really surprised that they sell for so high a price, $16K but Americans have disposable income and that's why they are here because they certainly can't sell them in Russia for that price.

I do know this about them as I use to see them all the time in Central Asia and I would say something like, "Oh, I would really like to get me one" and my Russian friends would just laugh and say, "No you don't."
The Russians themselves never even purchase a Russian car always going with a Japanese or European.

 

I never considered them until the updates came along. Money is of course a factor as is ride time. I have in the past traveled from east coast to central Texas on all that I owned at that time in my life. Only the 305 CB72 made it without any problems, the Triumph ate a shock and the Royal Enfield blew a head gasket. Of course the Honda was new, but so was the 650 Bonneville. So each time in life has its choice of what and when to ride. Later I rode the Bonny solo from east coast to west coast, where the Bonny holed the Gas tank from vibration and blew the Zener Diode from the cheesy metal ty-rap of the day which had only a thin coat of rubber compound that went south and rubbed a hole in the output of the alternator lead this grounding the Diode.

On the return years later I rode the then new 750 Honda without a hitch from San Fran to Texas.

If I had my druthers I would like a Honda 750 4 Banger as a side hack rig with 2 wheel drive.

 

If I had the money and a New BMW.
Where the Hell is Murph ?...: MOBEC DUO-DRIVE BMW 2WD SIDECAR CONVERSION................Part 1

 

This is starting to sound like a more like a topic I see on motorcycle forums as opposed to a survival topic.

Yes, I agree, the Ural is great for cute little rallies & social gatherings on clean, paved roads where middle aged rich dudes go out for pancakes or a poker run. It's all very nice. I'm sure they have a lot of fun and that their Urals perform very well under those conditions.

But that wasn't the original point of this topic. To steer back to the subject, a survival bug out vehicle, the Ural is one hellofa leap of faith that is totally unnecessary because there are so many other, better choices out there.

I don't believe in knocking anyone's choice of ride just for the sake of being a hater (I have a 1200cc crotch rocket myself and plenty of people hate me for it). But pointing out known design flaws and a bike's unsuitability for a specific purpose is not "knocking it". It's simply an honest and completely valid observation.

 

Sounds like a Bait and Switch topic you have developed.

The Ural was and is designed for rough country, how the owner wants to use it is up to them.

No doubt the Ural is much better now than when it was copied from the German BMW.