Jodie and I have long pondered whether the Ural would fit both her and our 45-pound dog, Ella. I’d talked about it some with other sidecar folks in the message board thread Hacks-n-Pups - ADVrider, and opinions were mixed. I felt pretty confident that Jodie and Ella both would fit in the hack though. Well, with my Patrol arriving on Saturday, we finally got to find out:

Something Jodie and I looked forward to was being able to take Ella on trips in the motorcycle with us. Now, we know we can. Ella was very relaxed in the sidecar, even when I started the motorcycle. She didn’t even flinch. Ella really likes being close to us, so we’re thinking that the enclosed space, and her being curled up with Jodie, will help her stay calm and happy on trips.

All we need now, is to get Jodie’s helmet and some “doggles” for Ella — and we’ll be ready to road trip. Oh yeah, and I actually have to finish working on my “sidecar chops”… getting better about the turn signals though, at least.

Pre-Trip Check

Today, my second day in the Ural saddle, I wanted to do a couple of things:

• Get the hang of reverse
• Practice shifting
• Practice some of the things we went over in the Adventure Sidecar course, such as braking while in a turn
• And, well, rip around the neighborhood some more, of course

Date: Sun., Feb, 17, 2008, 1-3 p.m.

Conditions: A little chilly and foggy at first, but soon the fog had burned off and the day was bright and warm. Still glad I wore my insulated gloves.

Area: River Road (my neighborhood)

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Pre-Trip Check

Learning to crawl: Since I’m a newbie not only at sidecar rigs, but at motorcycling itself, it’s going to be a while before I venture out of our neighborhood. For my first ride, I spent about an hour or two just cruising around our area, Eugene’s River Road. At the risk of being over-cautious, I’m not in a hurry to see so much as a stoplight. I’m going to err on the “learn to crawl before I can walk” side of sidecar driving.

Passenger Pellets: For the first few weeks too, my only passengers are 3 bags of stove pellets (one in the trunk, 2 in the tub). At 40 lbs. a bag, or 120 lbs. total, this is the perfect amount of ballast for me to start with. Jodie and Ella will ride along only once I feel comfortable with riding the rig in traffic.

Date: Sat., Feb, 16, 2008, 3-5 p.m.

Conditions: Sunny and warm (high 50s?). I express my thanks to the motorcycle gods for an uncharacteristically perfect February day for my Patrol to arrive.

Area: River Road (my neighborhood)

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Update on delivery of my Ural Patrol. Raceway arrived around 1:30, just as I was starting to wash dishes as a way of keeping my mind occupied.

Walkin’ and talkin’ the Ural Patrol

Delivery chap, Kurt, was courteous, friendly and professional. Gave me a good rundown of my Ural Patrol and its parts, plus all the goodies in the trunk, including:

• Floor pump
• Jack and flat repair kit
• Tool kit
• Touch-up paint (green and black)
• Spare oil filter, spark plugs and oil additive
• Manual
• 750cc maintenance CD (not standard, but something I’d ordered when I ordered the bike)

Kurt explained and showed me how to work the enricheners for the carburetors, and then we cranked up my Patrol. It had a slight sputter at first, but after about a minute or so settled into a nice rhythmic pur.

The two things I wish I’d asked Kurt to demonstrate are shifting into reverse and engaging the sidecar drive. He explained it, and I’m sure I’ll figure it out, but I should’ve asked him to go through the maneuvers once, so I could actually see it.

No job is over till the paperwork is done

Once we’d gone through the fun part — going over the components, checking out the tub, talking about how 120 lbs. is the recommended amount of ballast for new sidecar owners, we sat down and went through the paperwork. This took about 10 minutes, and it was mostly me just scanning over forms, signing and putting my copy off to one side, with the occasional question for Kurt.

Here’s a breakdown of the forms we went over:

• Receipt
• Ural Sidecar Safety Training Rebate
• Certificate of Origin for a Vehicle
• Ural Card of Delivery (details the dealer’s notes on Pre-Trial Run, Trial Run and Post-Trial Run)
• DMV Secure Odometer Disclosure/Reassignment (basically, acknowledging what the odometer says)
• Purchase Order (what dealer fills out to order rig from Ural and assign customer to that specific motorcycle and its VIN)
• Test Record - Vehicle Temps (temperature test, measured via infrared, performed when motorcycle goes through test runs)
• Checklist of Raceway’s Pre-Delivery Services (PDI)
• “We Owe You” from Raceway. Some of the accessories I ordered (trunk lock and spare tire cover) weren’t available at time of delivery. This was Jim’s note to me that he’d have those for me when I brought the Patrol to Salem for my 500km first service.

Once the paperwork was done, Kurt and I shook hands and he hit the road, leaving me to ogle my new Patrol. To let it sink in that my Ural was actually, truly, finally here. To see that this wee dream of mine has come true. To get ready to ride.

Now for the really fun parts

• Putting Jodie and Ella in the sidecar
• My first ride

Update on delivery of my Ural Patrol. Raceway called a little while ago, and they are on their way. ETA is 1:30 p.m.

I wondered how I was going to keep myself occupied today, but that took care of itself. Jodie teaches violin classes on Saturday mornings, and today she had a recital — but when she left, she forgot her lunch. So I, being a dutiful fiance, hopped on my bicycle and personally delivered it.

Then I did some errands. Ate lunch. Blogged. Now it’s a matter of a few more minutes. I’ve been reviewing my sidecar training manual throughout the day as well, so hopefully I’ll remember how to turn on my new Patrol.

Insurance is sorted.

Helmet, gloves and jacket are all at the ready.

And my Patrol is nearly here.

Update on delivery of my Ural Patrol. Confirmed it yesterday with Jim — Raceway is delivering my Patrol on Saturday afternoon (Feb. 16). At long last, my Patrol is coming home!

Time to put some Patrol Porter on ice — tomorrow, I’ll be a full-fledged Ural owner!

Not that I’m living vicariously or anything

St0nkingByte on the Soviet Steeds Message Boards just got a new Ural Patrol and is asking about Breaking in and getting it movin for real. Surprisingly enough, there’s a ton of advice on how to break in his new Ural, from varying speed to braking on downhills:

“The actual break-in needed for these new 750s is not much. They will tend to get a bit hot sometimes initially, but not always. Just take it a bit easy for a the first couple thou and listen and sniff for any signs of running hot …. but ride it more or less in a normal fashion. Getting up some speed and cruising at 55MPH or so or even a bit at up around 60MPH is not at all a bad thing on a shiny new engine. Like the fella said, just don’t pull hard power up long hills and stuff and keep varying yer rev band. Do plenty of downhill engine braking to help seat the rings.”

Advice I’m taking notes on includes…

When you get a new Ural, a lot of your riding enjoyment is going to rely on you following the break-in period needed during the first couple of thousand kms. So I’m listening, learning and taking some notes. These are quoted or paraphrased from the thread:

• Keeping the speed under 40 mph in the first 1000 to 1500 Kms
• Follow the recommended oil change intervals
• You can do 60 mph spurts during the first 500km
• Vary the throttle a lot during the first 500km
• What seats the rings is being very brisk whilst applying throttle, holding that speed a short bit and then backing off the throttle. Running up and down the gear stack at the upper rpm’s is what seats them rings in just a few minutes

Above all, these first couple thousands kilometers are also about keeping things in perspective, as a1930ford points out:

You gotta’ live through the break-in period in order to get to the true sweet spot of the rig’s capabilities…. Once the break-in is done, you should see some noticible changes in the throttle response, the Russian clunk transmission, and maybe even the ride characteristics of the rig, itself. Many of the quirks of the rig will show themselves during this time and can be worked out, so it is indeed an important time in the life cycle of the rig. By the time the break-in is complete, you even become a seasoned pilot in many respects.

Like one of the other newbies has pointed out, “man, i’m glad i joined this forum”. I second that — and like him, I look forward to being able to give back advice one day, instead of just soaking it up.

Follow the discussion: Soviet Steeds > Breaking in and getting it movin for real

Hot Damn!

Now here’s how you start a Monday:

We’ll deliver this coming weekend!”
— Jim Petitti @ Raceway Services

Roger that.

Good thing I got my helmet over the weekend — now to finish up the insurance. Oh yeah, and blog about both those things. But there’ll be time for that. For now, I’m gonna tip a little “antifreeze” in my espresso and shout “Hot damn, I’m getting my Ural!”

Update on delivery of my Ural Patrol. Got an email from Jim at Raceway: “Your Patrol is done except for its road test - we have had rain all day - every day since it finished up.”

Now that’s good news. I told Jim he was free to road test it whenever — after all, it’s not going to stay all shiny and new-looking for long. Will see what he says, but odds are good I’ll have my Patrol this coming weekend.

How do you survive the waiting?

No updates yet from Jim at Raceway, but I’m holding out hope that today (Friday) will see a phone call and an agreement for delivery this weekend. The garage is ready, and so are we.

The other day my neighbor asked if I was getting impatient. Not really. Do I want my Ural Patrol here? Oh, you betcha. But after a year of research and a couple of months of waiting, there’s really nothing for me to do but wait. All is out of my hands for now.

Keeping out of trouble for just a little while longer

But in the meantime, I will try to keep my mind off the rig — it is starting to get to me a little, that it’s not here yet. I’m looking forward to that first ride, heck, even just up and down my street. So for now, I’ll keep myself busy:

• Snag a few motorcycle books
• Work on some posts, particularly one about Jodie’s motorcycle jacket and gloves
• Buy a helmet and a Battery Tender (post to come on this too)

That ought to keep me out of trouble. For now.

But man I can’t wait for my Ural to get here.