OzVMX Forum
Clubroom => General Discussion => Topic started by: Wombat on May 05, 2009, 05:10:35 pm
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Yes I know they're not vintage - but they could be. They certainly look it!
I'm still looking and considering a road bike and I've come across these beasties: Russian made Urals.
Apparently the Russians modeled these things on captured German Army rigs during WW2 and the design remains pretty much intact.
Given the wealth of motorcycling knowledge across the forum I'm hoping for some general feedback on these units.
I've found a couple of websites but they're mostly foreign.
The only Aussie page is pretty poor. I can't even locate a price for the Australian model - not on the web at least. :-\
The local Dealer is in the 'Gabba (Brisbane), but last time I looked he had none!
Can anyone advise? Anyone know someone who has one? Any contacts... anything at all?
I'm hoping to get some sick air like Gunter and the boys! 8)
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Why?????
They dont handle they are damn slow and are fugly. They stop for often no apperent reason and seize but will run after allowed to cool with no damage.
Fun bike huh.
Save your pennies and grab an old R650 beamer if you like the style
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i know some one with 1 he loves it.do you whant me to get his no send me a pm
cheers
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I think they were a good Soviet's first choice to go down to the bread queue when your tractor was broken down ;D ;D
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had a little experience with the 750 Ural. A friend of mine bought one about 10 years ago and we proceeded to rebuild the motor. Very very basic stuff and once done it returned very very basic performance :( I'm sure this could be increased but they're not the most reliable to start with :-\
Ural Australia
500 Terrible Vale Rd
Kentucky 2354 NSW
Australia
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: www.imz-ural.com.au
Tel: +61 2 67787436
Fax: +61 2 6778743
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Ural Australia
500 Terrible Vale Rd
Kentucky
They even come from a terrible place!
Be careful how you pronounce the bikes name.
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jeez my memory is failing me, it wasn't a Ural we rebuilt it was a bloody Dnepr ::) or the poor mans Ural/Cossack :D
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Funnily enough I was watching a documentary about a couple of Cuban doctors and their attempts to emmigrate last night. Lots of shots of the roads of Cuba and hordes of what I presumed were Dneprs and Cossacks, mixed among the yanks and Ladas. Were all the Russian combinations 'two wheel drive'?
mac
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If your seriously considering buying an outfit have a look at the CJ750. China copy of the BMW. Really worth a look. Below link is a long run done on these very machines.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xexbHTj2_Vo&feature=channel_page
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When you said you wanted to get some air on one like Gunter I thought you meant Anthony :o :o so glad I logged in while reading this thread otherwise I wouldn't have seen the picture.
Urals, otherwise known as Cossacks.
My older brother bought one secondhand back in the early seventies. Dad told him how great it would be as he had this thing about horizontaly opposed engines & shaft drives being the best. And this was afterall a copy of the early BMW, how bad could it be?
Well, the Chinese weren't the first to invent bad copies.
Dad was impressed at first, so much so that he went out & bought a new one. He had been without a bike for fifteen years or more.
Then they started having troubles allthough I can't remember exactly what, wasn't really interested in them myself that much as they weren't dirt bikes.
I do remember though that my brothers one broke a crankshaft. The plate that holds the bigend to the main broke & I think it was bolted in. Dad searched the yard for a peice of 3/4" plate & cut out a new piece, machined it up in the lathe, trimmed the sides off & bolted it back together. He set up 2 pieces of flat steel on edge on the sawbench & set them with the spirit level, sat the crank mains on the straightedges & watched for where it rolled to & then drilled a small hole in the lowest part of the crank half ( lowest being heaviest) until he thought it was balanced enough to reassemble.
It ran fine but after a couple of months my brother traded it on a new Yamaha. Not long after my Dad traded his for a Gold Wing.
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Don't do it Wombat. I know a bloke with one (seems everyone knows a bloke with one) that he uses for rallys and trips to the pub and it's as reliable as a beige Camry but is an awful thing to ride. He originally had a sidecar on it but removed it before he killed himself and whoever the lucky passenger was. His wife and both teenage sons refused to ride in the chair so he now rides it as a solo,.... a slow, heavy, poor handling, ugly solo. Having said that he loves the bloody thing. Considering he owns two reasonably modern Ducatis and a very trick 1380cc Katana he puts in more road miles on the Ural than all of the others combined. Figure that one out!
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not called urinals for nothing :D :D
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Amate of mine also had 1 but it had a vw motor fitted to it bit more go but still a pig.i do have a nice suzuki out fit forsale tho
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Thanks to all for the info (and the witty sarcasm :D ;)) fellas!
'Why' pokey? First up I love the look. Always loved the look of the old WW2 Beemers and Zundapps.
Same reason I like old Guzzis and old Triumphs - and the modern Harley Softail Deluxe... I like old classic lines.
I've also considered the 'new' Indian Royal Enfields but I'm not convinced they've the puff to pull a sidecar.
"Goes slow/ handles like a pig/ popular in Cuba". What can I say, it's sounding better all the time!
I'm used to those attributes - I have a '67 split screen Kombi... yep, with drum brakes.
Slow and pig-like are fine by me. I'm not buying it to go fast. I have a Maico for that. ;D
Yesterday I rode to work the missus' bright orange modern 600 or 650 Kwaka somethingoruther (no interest).
Goes fast and sounds nice but it's just not me - I'm thinking a rig will suit me better than a solo.
Another downside: I bought an 18 pack of toilet rolls (on special) but could only fit two rolls in the pissy little backpack I borrowed from my boy.
With a rig I could take home all 18 - and a bottle of milk - in one go. ;)
Anyhoos, I read somewhere the new Urals come with a two year unlimited kilometre warranty.
That's appealing. But parts back up and availibility? Reliability?
I've read bits on the foreign forums and they bang on that reliability is great. But maybe they're biased. :-\
With respect I think most examples used here are much older Urals.
It's the new Urals, recently launched in Australia, that I'm interested in.
And Firko (good to see you back) I've heard the Urals aren't really meant for solo work.
Walter, you're a sidecar Guru. Does that make sense? Something in the design meant only as a coupled unit?
Not sure, but it's what I read.
jimg1au, PM sent. Shoreline, I'm pretty set on the older classic look but thanks for the tip on the Zook.
Any chance of a photo?
And one last thing... how do you pronounce 'Dnepr'? Da-neepa or Neepa or Deepa or Dunpa or what? ??? :-\
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Hey Wombat, good luck with this one, check out the Wiki page
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dnepr_(motorcycle)
(it kind of gives the pronunciation, but not really). Following the link to UK History at the bottom of the page provides a bit more info..including the answer to my question as to whether they were all 'two wheel drive' or not..looks like it was the military versions only, complete with diff lock! Have fun,
Mac
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Have it on evilbay at the moment look up shorelinemc on ebay
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Maaaattttte.
My first ever bike was a 175 russian roadie I stripped bare (think it was made by Dnepr)and used for a trail bike.
Biggest heap of shit going.
Didnt need brakes as it was so heavy as soon as you throttled off it stopped dead.
handling?? suspension ?? next question please.
Get an old Beemer mate if you like that style
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And one last thing... how do you pronounce 'Dnepr'? Da-neepa or Neepa or Deepa or Dunpa or what? ??? :-\
My wife is east german, so can happily speak russian, english, french, german... I am a tragic result of Australian schooling, (ie no second language, let alone third) but I shall give it a shot.
It depends where you are, as the pronunciation is different in Russia vs Ukraine vs elsewhere!
in Russian, it sorta sounds like D-nyep-rra (I cannot role my R's!)
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/dnepr
click on the little speaker and someone will say if for you.
That is how I have heard it spoken when tootling around Europe. Good luck with it ;D
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in Russian, it sorta sounds like D-nyep-rra (I cannot role my R's!)
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/dnepr
click on the little speaker and someone will say if for you.
Thanks for that lukeb - how cool is that dictionary link?! She has a sexy voice too! :P 8)
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WARNING OLD TOPIC....
One mans treasure is another mans trash !!
Its got a bid :P
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Ural-Daihatsu-Diesel-Motorcycle-/251114696137?pt=UK_Motorcycles&hash=item3a779a2dc9
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UGLY SUCKER, MORE LIKE A URINAL
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I love all motor cycles but there comes a time when ones creations get to the stage of WTF . that is a ugly bike , leads all over the place . yuk . Iain
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Next door neighbour has a chinese one.
Seems to run ok but is very slow.
You can buy new wheels out of China for $30 each. [ I think you get a free tyre with each wheel. ] :o
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The Russians can certainly build 'em......what are they teaching them at design school ???
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/TMZ-200-Russian-trailbike-only-brave-/290748973104?pt=AU_Motorcycles&hash=item43b1fd4030