New toy

[elizilla]

It's a 2008 Ural Tourist. That red is actually a factory color. It has around 5000km on it (their instruments read in kilometers). It is immaculate, it is not leaking, there is no rust, and it started on the first crank. It's got a bunch of extra accessories not pictured, like a spare wheel/tire that mounts on the back of the sidecar, and a tonneau cover, and a bunch of chrome doohickeys, and a deep sump.

I haven't picked it up yet. It is in southern Indiana and I don't know how to drive it well enough to attempt the long ride home. I did take it for a test ride, which was pretty exciting. I won't be giving any sidecar rides until I get more comfortable piloting the darn thing. I've made an appointment to have a trailer hitch put on the Subaru, and reserved a trailer, so I can go down and fetch it next weekend.

So the next question people have been asking me is "Why???" Well, I have been thinking for some time that it would be fun to get a sidecar rig, but most sidecars, you have to construct on your own, and this seemed like an insurmountable project for someone who doesn't yet even know how to drive one. How could I make good decisions, coming from a place of complete ignorance? The Ural comes from the factory with a sidecar. It is modest in size and I can get familiar with how it all works, so that if I want to do something more DIY and creative later, I'll be coming from a position of knowledge. And if it turns out I don't like it as much as I hoped, or if I decide I want to approach it completely differently, I'll be able to turn this one around and sell it without taking a huge financial bath, since this complete rig cost less than I'd spend for any DIY project built around another bike.

Plus, I can drive it in the snow, and haul things in it, and carry people who wouldn't be able to get on the Super10's passenger seat. :)

Being me, I am already thinking about the first farkles. I think I should get the inside of the car rhino-lined before a bunch of friends climb in and out and scuff it up with their feet.

Comments

[tlatoani.livejournal.com]

Red would be a factory color, wouldn't it?

[elizilla]

LOL! I hadn't thought of that!

[bikergeek.livejournal.com]

Nice. Good luck with it. At least now you have something you can ride in a Michigan winter. :-D

[elizilla]

It will be fun to at least try that!

[khaylock]

Eep!!! Rather you than me :-).

[elizilla]

Don't worry, I don't plan to take it far from home. :) Plus I have road service included on my insurance policy, comfortable work space, and lots of tools.

[khaylock]

The problem with sidecar outfits, and I've ridden one just enough to know from terrifying experience, is that as rider you are sitting on something that screams 'motorcycle' at every fibre of your being, and lulls your subconscious into believing that it knows how to react to any given set of circumstances without consulting you first. Of course given that this is a sidecar outfit, you may not have a clearer idea of how to make it do what you need it to at any given moment than your subconscious, but if you make 'motorcycle' control inputs on a sidehack, you can make life really exciting for yourself, and not in a good way.

Little things like 'it doesn't countersteer', and 'it doesn't lean over' pall into insignificance beside the realisation that applying the brakes or even shutting the throttle causes you to swerve left, and opening the throttle causes you to swerve to the right, and that you can turn to the left quite agressively while bolt upright, but if you try to do the same the other way, especially with the chair empty, then a barrel roll is the likely result. Then there is the fact that your 'motorcycle' is asymetric and wide, so everything you subconsciously know about positioning it is now wrong, and you are at grave risk of unintentionally cutting a corner with your chair and smacking a lamp post or something...

Obviously if you persevere with it, all that will go away and you'll have a great talking point and be much in demand at bike rallies for doing the beer run, but surviving the learning curve... there's the issue... :-)

[elizilla]

Things like this are why I wanted to try it with a relatively small factory hack. The Ural is a 750, and has a top speed somewhere between 55 and 60mph, flat out. The other ones available already set up are all much larger, and are cobbled together by people I don't know, who may or may not have a clue. All that weight attached to all that power, with the funky handling quirks you describe? Sounds like a disaster trying to happen.

One of the guys on the Sabmag list, Ed, bought a huge hack for his first one - it was a 1500 Goldwing with a sidecar the size of a house. He scared himself but good, and is lucky no one was hurt.

[erikvolson.livejournal.com]

OMG that is so cool looking WANT.

AHEM.

I think that is a very nice ride that would bring you much joy.

[elizilla]

Well, if you are ever in town let me know and I will take you out in it. :)

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

I am already thinking about the first farkles

We all are, dahling.

K. [serious, looks like grand fun; enjoy]

[elizilla]

Thanks!

[dagibbs.livejournal.com]

Looks awesome. I hope you manage to learn to drive it without too much in the way of incidents.

[elizilla]

I plan to take it really carefully.

[pi3832.livejournal.com]

You've probably found these already, but in case not:

http://evergreenmotorcycletraining.org/sidecar-training/

http://whitehorsegear.com/driving-a-sidecar-outfit-2nd-edition

[elizilla]

Yes. :)

[c-maxx.livejournal.com]

Take care while learning, and someday you will be able to do like my friend Charlie used to do, which is go to a parking lot and say, "hey would you like to try my sidecar outfit?" It was his favorite entertainment! These days he's working on his Chinese eng. Bonnevile diesel record bike. [See where this leads?]

He rode both, so I reckon we can learn to do...

PS, GREAT looking outfit! And yes, red is perfect.

I've been dreaming of a 'hack as well.

[elizilla]

I do like the red, though black or brown would have given it a nifty steampunk vibe. :)

[schmi.livejournal.com]

I'm not going to say "why a sidecar", but definitely "why a Ural"? ;) Those things have such a bad reputation in terms of reliability and parts availability. Still, they look cool. Congratulations on new toy!

[elizilla]

Reliability, yeah - but with a top speed under 60mph, and the handling quirks, I don't expect to be riding it on the kind of trips I do on the Super10. And supposedly you can fix them yourself with a couple of wrenches and a big rock - they are mechanically simple. I have emergency towing service, a pleasant space to work in at home, and my vacation plans won't be depending on keeping it going *right now*. I think I will be OK with it, though who knows, I could eventually get frustrated and throw my hands up in disgust. We'll see.

As far as parts, I hear tales of Ural North America bending over backwards to help people out, and other tales of people making their own parts from found objects. I guess I will find out more about this as I go.

I decided to get the 2008 because it was half the price of new, but still new enough - apparently 2007 and later have some nice updates that have greatly improved the reliability. Though it amuses me that some of these improvements involved adding Ducati parts. :-)

[(Anonymous)]

heh. if adding Ducati mechanical parts makes it more reliable, perhaps you could add Lucas electricals, too.