What happened to the Ural
Sep. 17th, 2012 08:56 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
elizillaOn the 9th, I posted that the Ural had broken down and I was at Joey T's. Here's the rest of the story:
During the trip east, I had to adjust the clutch cable, for no apparent reason. It seemed odd, so while I was in Maine and had the garage time and space at my disposal, I took the clutch cable out and examined it, to make sure it didn't have some attachment point that was failing. It seemed to be fine, but on the way back to Massachusetts, I had to adjust it again. On Thursday night I acquired a spare clutch cable from a Boston member of the Ural forum, just in case.
I left my hotel, headed west, around noon on Saturday. By midafternoon I was in the Berkshires, on Rt 2. TWICE that afternoon I had to adjust the clutch cable. Then it started to rain. People who have been there probably know this part of Rt 2. Y'know where you go over the mountain and there are all those lookout tower tourist traps? I was at the top of that mountain in so much rain and wind that the bike was a real handful and I couldn't even see. And there, the clutch got loose again. I nursed it into North Adams in the blinding rain, and took the first motel. Which was a horrible dump, and insanely expensive - they totally ripped me off. But I just couldn't go on.
In the morning it was sunny and not raining. I tightened the clutch cable some more, but it didn't *feel* right, y'know? I stopped just before I went up the long hill to the NY state line, and messed with it again. I decided the problem was that the clutch cable was installed wrong - the adjustment point at the engine end, which was the only one that had slack left to take up, was not threaded in correctly, and the nut was on the wrong side of the bracket. I changed this.
But by the time I got to Albany, it was loose again. I tightened it again, but I couldn't make it feel right. The clutch cable pulls a lever which pushes a plunger into the clutch. This lever had reached the limit of its travel and was hitting the speedometer cable.
So with the clutch like this, I couldn't pull it in properly. The bike was driveable, but at every red traffic light, the engine stumbled because the clutch wasn't in all the way.
I considered my options:
1. I was very close to Joey T's. I could ask him for help.
2. I could try to nurse it home - but if I do this I should abandon the backroads, and take the slab all the way, so as to avoid having to use the clutch. And I didn't know what other damage it might do to the engine, if I can't pull in the clutch properly. And judging by how quickly it was worsening, would I even be able to make it? And if it died, totally died, somewhere farther down the road, the next person who might rescue me, after Joey T, was in Kitchener Ontario. Which was what, 400 miles away? And a border crossing, where I would no doubt need a clutch....
So I pulled into a little convenience store and called Joey, to confirm it was OK before I pulled in there. I waited at the convenience store until he called back to confirm he was home and didn't mind, and then I drove it to his house. (I had some creepy UDF at that store, but that's another story.) (UDF = Ural Delay Factor. This is the attention the bike draws.)
So at Joey's we poked and prodded it some more, and I logged in to the Ural forum, where I read several threads that described my exact symptoms, and all of them came down to the clutch thrust bearing going bad. This is an expensive part, and moderately complex to replace.
At this point I had only about 36 hours to cover the remaining 600 miles or so to get home, and the Ural doesn't travel fast even when it's working well. And this repair would take a lot of time, if I could even source a part. And the part, this particular bearing, is not generic enough that you can just get one at the auto parts store or the local bearing supply warehouse.
So, I carried the Ural home in a rental truck. I got home just fine, no trouble at the borders, and the truck traveled faster than the Ural would have. I got home around 2am, and was at work at 9am on Tuesday as planned.
I haven't torn into it yet - I was going to do it Saturday but I was overcome by laziness. I stared at it for a half hour or so, then went inside and read a book. Maybe this weekend I'll get started.
Last week, I did speak to my local dealer (who I do think well of) and he thinks I should disassemble it before I order parts, because the part is so expensive. But he says that if this is really what I need, he does have one in stock.
I also have emails raining in from people on Sabmag who have found cheaper bearing options. Many of which are discussed on the Ural forum and determined to not be as good as all that. The Sabmag people making suggestions are all known to me and many of them I think highly of, whereas the cast of characters on the Ural forum are mostly unknown to me - but they would have direct experience with this specific thing. So, I don't know if I'll try any of the cheaper options, myself, or not. I'll wait and see what's in there.
During the trip east, I had to adjust the clutch cable, for no apparent reason. It seemed odd, so while I was in Maine and had the garage time and space at my disposal, I took the clutch cable out and examined it, to make sure it didn't have some attachment point that was failing. It seemed to be fine, but on the way back to Massachusetts, I had to adjust it again. On Thursday night I acquired a spare clutch cable from a Boston member of the Ural forum, just in case.
I left my hotel, headed west, around noon on Saturday. By midafternoon I was in the Berkshires, on Rt 2. TWICE that afternoon I had to adjust the clutch cable. Then it started to rain. People who have been there probably know this part of Rt 2. Y'know where you go over the mountain and there are all those lookout tower tourist traps? I was at the top of that mountain in so much rain and wind that the bike was a real handful and I couldn't even see. And there, the clutch got loose again. I nursed it into North Adams in the blinding rain, and took the first motel. Which was a horrible dump, and insanely expensive - they totally ripped me off. But I just couldn't go on.
In the morning it was sunny and not raining. I tightened the clutch cable some more, but it didn't *feel* right, y'know? I stopped just before I went up the long hill to the NY state line, and messed with it again. I decided the problem was that the clutch cable was installed wrong - the adjustment point at the engine end, which was the only one that had slack left to take up, was not threaded in correctly, and the nut was on the wrong side of the bracket. I changed this.
But by the time I got to Albany, it was loose again. I tightened it again, but I couldn't make it feel right. The clutch cable pulls a lever which pushes a plunger into the clutch. This lever had reached the limit of its travel and was hitting the speedometer cable.
So with the clutch like this, I couldn't pull it in properly. The bike was driveable, but at every red traffic light, the engine stumbled because the clutch wasn't in all the way.
I considered my options:
1. I was very close to Joey T's. I could ask him for help.
2. I could try to nurse it home - but if I do this I should abandon the backroads, and take the slab all the way, so as to avoid having to use the clutch. And I didn't know what other damage it might do to the engine, if I can't pull in the clutch properly. And judging by how quickly it was worsening, would I even be able to make it? And if it died, totally died, somewhere farther down the road, the next person who might rescue me, after Joey T, was in Kitchener Ontario. Which was what, 400 miles away? And a border crossing, where I would no doubt need a clutch....
So I pulled into a little convenience store and called Joey, to confirm it was OK before I pulled in there. I waited at the convenience store until he called back to confirm he was home and didn't mind, and then I drove it to his house. (I had some creepy UDF at that store, but that's another story.) (UDF = Ural Delay Factor. This is the attention the bike draws.)
So at Joey's we poked and prodded it some more, and I logged in to the Ural forum, where I read several threads that described my exact symptoms, and all of them came down to the clutch thrust bearing going bad. This is an expensive part, and moderately complex to replace.
At this point I had only about 36 hours to cover the remaining 600 miles or so to get home, and the Ural doesn't travel fast even when it's working well. And this repair would take a lot of time, if I could even source a part. And the part, this particular bearing, is not generic enough that you can just get one at the auto parts store or the local bearing supply warehouse.
So, I carried the Ural home in a rental truck. I got home just fine, no trouble at the borders, and the truck traveled faster than the Ural would have. I got home around 2am, and was at work at 9am on Tuesday as planned.
I haven't torn into it yet - I was going to do it Saturday but I was overcome by laziness. I stared at it for a half hour or so, then went inside and read a book. Maybe this weekend I'll get started.
Last week, I did speak to my local dealer (who I do think well of) and he thinks I should disassemble it before I order parts, because the part is so expensive. But he says that if this is really what I need, he does have one in stock.
I also have emails raining in from people on Sabmag who have found cheaper bearing options. Many of which are discussed on the Ural forum and determined to not be as good as all that. The Sabmag people making suggestions are all known to me and many of them I think highly of, whereas the cast of characters on the Ural forum are mostly unknown to me - but they would have direct experience with this specific thing. So, I don't know if I'll try any of the cheaper options, myself, or not. I'll wait and see what's in there.
