Sounds like there’ll be a great Ural Australia showing in Melbourne on Feb. 28 – “Dosvedanya, mate!”

Ural Sidecars In Melbourne.. Saturday March 28th - ADVrider

“I noticed on the Ural Australia webpage that they will have a couple of their sidecars on show at the Russian Cultural Festival, Federation Square in Melbourne on 28th February.”

Author Carla King is another Ural owner and blogger, and she recently posted a link to some photos of a 2007 Motorcycle Festival in Irbit, Siberia:

Motorcycle Misadventures: Great photos from Motorcycle Festival in Irbit, Siberia

“Thanks Spaceball to Jochen Vorfelder, the motorcycle editor at the German news property Spiegel Online, for sharing these great photos from the Motorcycle Festival in Irbit, SiberiaSpaceball , taken in July 2007. The show is held every last weekend in July in Irbut, where Ural Motorcycles are made, 400 kilometers east of the Ural mountains in Siberia, Russia”

Need a Ural videos fix, but with an Australian accent?

Check out Ural Australia’s Ural Webmaster YouTube Channel »

• Gas Price Per Gallon: $2.419
• Gallons: 4.123
• Fuel Total: $9.97
• Tripmeter at fuel-up: 167.1 km/104 miles (approx)
• kpg/mpg (approx.) 42kpg/26.8mpg
• Odometer at fuel-up: 1788km/1111 miles
• Date & Time: Thursday, Feb. 19, 2009, 7:30 p.m.
• Gas Station: Jacksons Food Stores, W. 7th Ave., Eugene, Oregon
• Fuel: Premium (92 octane with 10% ethanol)

Notes on mileage: Lost track on these, so not as keen on where Sveta’s efficiency is. This will help me get back on track. Seems to be holding around this 27mpg level for now.

I’m a pretty anonymous guy, and I like it that way.

Note that’s despite running 2 blogs (this one and Antsaint), and having a presence on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. It’s nice to just be another face in the crowd.

But, I also love that people recognize Svetlana. I just happen to be the guy who rides her.

I recently rode Sveta down to McMenamins 19th Street for Eugene’s inaugural Beer and Blog event. I had to ride around the block once to find parking, and this took me and Sveta past the pub’s windows. When I walked in a few minutes later, black leather jacket on, helmet in hand, people immediately put two and two together – and then started telling their friends:

“Dude. Dude! You know that green motorcycle with the sidecar?”

“Yeah, I see that thing all the time!”

(Then they’d point to me.) “That’s him!”

And we’d talk motorcycles and websites for a while. When I left later that evening, it was with a big grin on my face. Yes, I definitely like my anonymity, but it’s also fun to be associated with something so distinctive. Svetlana can have the attention. After all, she’s much better-looking.

• Who cares about speed? I’d rather just enjoy the ride
• Even a mechanical dunce like me can keep a Ural maintained and in good running condition
• It’s unique
• My fiancee, our dog and I all can ride comfortably together
• Who says you can’t haul things on a motorcycle? Excuse me while I run to the grocery store and the home improvement store…
• It’s a 2007, but looks like a 1937

Those are a few reasons why I love my 2007 Ural Patrol.

Sunday afternoon at the grocery store. I’d just parked and dismounted, locked my helmet to Sveta’s luggage rack, and was about to walk towards the store when a man walked up to me.

“Mind if I take a picture of it?” he asked, grinning.

“Go right ahead,” I replied, nodding.

“Otherwise, no one’s gonna believe me when I say what was behind me!”

Cameraphone out, he snapped a few pics, smiling and shaking his head. Then we each went our way.