Rat Bike Project

[onetrack]

Wasn't BMW the original 2WD motorcyle/sidecar combination of WW2? Did Ural copy them?

[facthunter]

Norton had that set up on their Military 16H Model (2 wheel drive).  Several German Makes Predated them.  Nev

.

[willedoo]

5 hours ago, nomadpete said:

Since we are merrily drifting far from thread title, I ask....

 

Are those Ural bikes what Russia is presently using for motorbike invasion of Ukraine?

 

I'm guessing the newer ones are built to a higher standard than the early ones?

I doubt they'd sell them to the Russian military due to sanctions risk. They're headquarted in the U.S. now and manufacturing has moved from Russia to Kazakhstan since the war between Russia and Ukraine began. The new ones are a big improvement on the old Soviet made bikes. I guess they'd want to be for the price of them. Sales are strong, they have a big following around the world.

[willedoo]

Ural are branching out this year with a very different format to be released in the U.S., called the Neo 500. It's based on the Chinese Yingang SUV 500 II sidecar rig, liquid cooled parallel twin with chain drive. It seems to be an attempt to provide a cheaper, more accessable model for the market and will be about 5,000 USD cheaper than the standard base model Ural available now. Pics are of the prototype:

 

Edited 11 hours ago by willedoo

[facthunter]

That certainly doesn't look like anything earth shattering. How many of you People have ridden Outfits? They are not everybody's cup of tea. You have to get used to them and look well ahead if you are Pushing it near the limit..  Nev

[willedoo]

There's also an electric prototype.

https://www.imz-ural.com.au/

 

[nomadpete]

28 minutes ago, willedoo said:

There's also an electric prototype.

https://www.imz-ural.com.au/

 

I hope it has a good subwoofer. 

[willedoo]

14 hours ago, Litespeed said:

Today, I went to get a green slip on the bike and its $882- a bullshit amount.

That's a lot of money. In Queensland motorcycle rego is $140 plus a traffic improvement fee of $70. CTP for dual seat is around $425, so about $635 all up. If it's registered as a solo seat, the CTP is around 80 or 100 dollars less, not sure of the exact figure. The saving for single seat rego is hardly worth it. A solo seat needs to be fitted and the pillion footpeg brackets either cut off or welded up.

[willedoo]

I still haven't identified the drum brake wheels on this 1970 Ural frame yet, but the tyres on it bring back some memories. They're Dunlop Roadmaster K81/TT100 tyres the same as I had on my Norton Commando Fastback in 1972. In those days they were the latest big thing. They still make them now but market them as a classic vintage style tyre. It makes you feel a bit old hearing that.

 

[willedoo]

As far as I know Queensland is the only state that has the option of either single or dual seat registration. About a month ago I spotted this Royal Enfield Bullet 500 and sidecar in the shopping centre carpark. I got talking to the owner and he was saying that as long as you have two seat rego on a bike, you can fit a sidecar any time you like without any engineering certification or inspections. You can build a sidecar yourself and fit it, the only transport department stipulations on sidecars are that it must have four attachment points and a park brake. We don't have annual vehicle inspections here, only on trucks so for other vehicles they only need a roadworthy certificate to transfer registration from one owner to another. 

 

The owner of this Royal Enfield is a retired pilot and has quite a few classics from what he told me. Norton Commandos and single thumpers. This one is his daily driver although he said he sticks to the secondary roads and doesn't go near the highway on it.

 

[willedoo]

Just to qualify those sidecar details, here's the quote from the transport department regultions:

'Sidecars which bolt directly to the motorcycle’s frame without the need for any modifications to the motorcycles are acceptable without specific approval.

Sidecars which require the motorcycle to be modified (for example, welding to the frame) must be approved by the Department of Transport and Main Roads. Before modifying your motorcycles so that a sidecar can be attached, you should engage the services of an Approved Person Engineer, who can submit an application on your behalf.'

 

So a normal bolt on sidecar doesn't need approval. The park brake ruling is that a motorcycle manufactured after February 1976 fitted with a sidecar must have a mechanical parking brake. A bike can have a right hand side car only if it was built that way before 1 July 1988.

[Marty_d]

I've never understood sidecars.

To me it destroys the whole purpose of a motorbike, which is to have fun leaning through corners.

[willedoo]

They're good for carrying groceries. And building arm muscles.

[onetrack]

And for carrying Mother, when you couldn't afford a car.

[willedoo]

I wonder how many they would fit on them in Asia. I've seen a family of five on a small solo bike (like a 175cc) in places like Indonesia.

[willedoo]

That was dad riding with a toddler on the tank, mum behind holding a baby and an older child hanging on behind her.

[willedoo]

1 hour ago, Marty_d said:

I've never understood sidecars.

To me it destroys the whole purpose of a motorbike, which is to have fun leaning through corners.

Marty, this was my favourite for leaning into corners back in the day, but it probably wouldn't hold up against the modern bikes these days. A bloke I knew back then had a Dominator SS and he let me take it for a ride one day. As far as handling goes, it ran rings around the Commando. The only issue with the SS was the annoying vibration coming through the seat right around the 60mph mark. The owner of it went on to own the world's fastest Velocette. He tried for 200 mph for a few years but the final record he set was just a bit short at 193 mph.