Ride Three

For Ural Sidecar Motorcycle Enthusiasts

Like I mentioned yesterday, it’d been ages since I’d ridden. So this morning I rode Svetlana to work. It’s funny how things felt a little unfamiliar. I had to think about the controls, from pulling out the enricheners to get the Ural going, to remembering how much to shift my weight on turns and curves.

It was all worth it though. By the time I rode home this afternoon, I felt back in control, felt the smoothness coming back to my technique. Setting up turns smoothed out. Acceleration and shifting got easier, more fluid.

The one funny part: when trying to start Sveta up, she wouldn’t turn over at first. I tried a couple of times, but had no luck. At first I wondered if I was out of gas. Then I thought, “Well, it’s pretty warm today, maybe I don’t need the enricheners?” I’d pushed them, hit the starter — and she fired right up.

Nice.

It’s good to be back in the saddle.

Feels strange, too. I haven’t ridden in about a week. Mostly circumstance, with a touch of weather, but by and large I’ve either been doing things at home, or it’s been better for Jodie and I to have used the car. But I can feel the twitch in me. It’s good to have a break sometimes… but it’s also time to ride.

I think I’ll be taking the Ural to work tomorrow.

Note to self: Skin and hot J-pipes shouldn’t mix.

Didn’t want to leave the house this past weekend, with Eugene in its annual 100-degree, 4-day heatwave. Did want to fire up the Ural though, and did so on Saturday night. After letting it idle for a couple of minutes, I noticed that it looked like my right mudguard was slipping down a little close to the right engine head.

I hopped off the bike, knelt down to see if I could jiggle the mudguard up — and got myself a nice wee burn on my forearm, where I brushed against the already hot J-pipe.

Ouch.

Now that I finally have my Ural, I get a huge kick when someone else receives their new Ural. In addition to this chap getting his new Patrol, he also has a sweet list of mods, which I’m noting down as good food for thought for when Jodie and I start doing some more customizing:

“Bike was delivered on Friday. Gold leaf graphics and spotlight were installed prior to delivery. It immediately went into my garage for waxing and installation of goodies”

Follow the whole discussion: Soviet Steeds - Finally…photo’s of new ‘08 Patrol

Speaking of the “goodies,” here are some of the ones I just might have to add to Svetlana:

• chrome med kit box
• carpet kit
• side skirt
• deerskin cover over rubber tubing on windscreen ‘grab rail’ stainless steel
• awaiting vinyl covers for buggy topside foam edges

Stupid rookie mistake

Bit of a freakout moment last week, and frankly I’m surprised Sveta and I are okay. Basically, on the way home from running errands I wound through a parking lot at a local park, to wrap up a quick fun jaunt before heading home. Then I took a corner wrong.

The sidecar wheel bumped up onto the curb. Then I really screwed up, and must’ve shifted my weight left — because suddenly, the sidecar was in the air, and I was leaning really, really far left.

“Oh crap,” I thought, “I’m going to crash.”

Bike was still going forward. Luckily there was no one in the path of the bike and no traffic in either direction. I got across the access road, amazingly still on 2 wheels. I shifted weight to the right and put the tub down, then drove over the opposite curb and brought the bike to a stop. Amazingly, I didn’t even stall the engine.

I powered down, dismounted, walked around the bike and checked everything over. All looked okay. Only thing out of whack was my shaking hands, only thing damaged was my pride. I drove home without any other events. Once home, a scotch on the rocks helped settle my nerves.

Freak accident, nearly complicated by a stupid rookie weight shift mistake. Can’t believe I didn’t wind up under the bike. Can’t believe I misjudged that wheel-to-curb distance.

Be careful out there. And mind how you shift that weight, no matter what’s going on.

Lessons Learned

• Mistakes happen. How you respond is often more important than the mistake itself.
• Always shift your weight the way you want the tub to go — because that’s the way it’s going to go.
• Don’t panic. I wanted to panic, could feel it gnawing at me, but I also had a woman to get home to, and in one piece. She’s more important than panic. I thought about Jodie, and got the Ural back under control.
• If the tub comes up and you don’t want it up, shift weight right and put it down.
• Stop evenly.
• Keep an eye on your surroundings; I knew I had leeway to fix this situation, because I scanned around me and knew there was no one nearby who could get hurt, and nothing for me to run into.
• Don’t beat yourself up too badly. Mistakes happen to everyone, just also be sure to learn from them.

This is the kind of reminder that makes you shout, “hell yeah!” and then grab your gear and ride. This tale of near misadventure shows what great things can happen when plans fall through – only to liberate you from having plans in the first place.

“This recipe for adventure is available to any one of us, but is rarely prepared because we all live so well planned and convenient lives that we seldom think of it. The ingredients are very simple”

Follow the whole adventure (and recipe): Recipe for One Hell of a Weekend | Helmet Hair - Motorcycle Blog

Ran Sveta out for a quick errand yesterday evening, and I wanted to give a shout-out to the thumbs-up guys.

While running south on River Road, out of the corner of my left eye I noticed a car running abreast of Svetlana.

Turning my eye, there were 2 guys in the car. Both were grinning, face-wide smiles. The man in the passenger seat was leaning out the window a little, and when he saw I was looking at them, he gave me a big, pumping thumbs-up.

I nodded and smiled, and gave them a thumbs-up back.

They went on their way, moving up ahead in the lane. Wherever you are, thumbs-up guys in the red Nissan with the smiley face sticker on the back bumper, thanks for making my night.

Interesting discussion on ADV Rider about why a hack rider would not have chosen to purchase and ride a Ural Patrol. What gets me the most? It’s all preference. No horror stories. No big mechanical misgivings. Nothing. Just preference.

I’m just wondering. The ones I’ve seen in the dirt around here look like they’re more capable than I’d would have given them credit for. Hopefully folks can be honest for their reasons without being smacked down multiple times by a few excitable owners. I’m pretty sure it’s safe in here though.

Follow the whole discussion: ADV Rider - Hacks - Why did you not choose a Ural Patrol?

We’ve got a camping trip planned with some friends this weekend… but we’re not taking the Ural.

The reason is simple. It’s not mechanical. It’s not summer heat, or packing, or anything like that.

It’s conversation.

Over the next few weeks, Jodie’s going to be really busy. In addition to her teaching schedule, she has a lot of violin gigs, including some musicals. When she’s not teaching, she’s going to be in rehearsal or at an event, so we’re not going to see each other as much as usual.

So this weekend, with a couple hours drive each way, I’d rather we be able to have easy conversation in the car. We can talk, we can enjoy the drive and each other’s company in chat or silence, but mainly, we just have time to be a little closer. We don’t have intercoms for Svetlana yet, so we can’t really talk on the Ural, and besides, on the bike my main focus is on getting us where we’re going in one piece.

Much as I love Svetlana, I love time with my sweetie more. So this weekend, I’m not going to ride. I’m just going to enjoy time with my woman.

There’ll be plenty of time to ride next week. A man’s still gotta have his saddle time, after all.

From Soviet Steeds - First (brief) trip onto the expressway

Wonder if you can take a Ural on a highway? Here’s one rider’s experience:

I drove my hack down to the shore to work on my wife’s uncle’s Virago for him. I took backroads, but decided to brave the freeway for about ten miles to get around a small city, and to satisfy my morbid curiosity about how this machine not meant for freeways would do. I was pleasantly surprised. I kept my speed around 60-65 mph, which was not a problem on I-395 (in Eastern CT) because it is lightly trafficked. The motor seemed quite capable and unstrained, the rig tracked straight and steady, all the usual vibrations were gone, and the mirrors were crystal clear! I don’t think I would want to ride it all day on the expressway, but it’s nice to know that it isn’t completely out of the question if necessary now and then.

Follow the whole discussion: Soviet Steeds - First (brief) trip onto the expressway