When I get ready to ride, especially if it’s been a few days, I always give the Ural a quick lookover. Usually I’ll check the tire pressure, and sometimes the oil (but not every time). Given this post below, I’ll keep somewhat of an eye on the fuel lines. That said, this is the first time I’ve read about something like that happening, so I’m not going to lose any sleep over it.
“I finally traced the leak to the small fuel line running to the carb. Apparently the hose clamp had loosened and allowed the line to come partially detached letting fuel flow everywhere. So when doing your rig check-ups, everyone might want to add the hose clamps of the fuel system to their list as apparently these can become loose from vibrations also”
Follow the whole discussion: Soviet Steeds - Scary moment and something to add to your checklist….
On the IMZ Ural Message Boards, Jon wants to protect the paint on his Gear-up. He takes a bit of ribbing from the guys, who believe “Ural” and “clean” are mutually exclusive, but there are also some good points made about treatments that can protect your rough-riding Ural from getting rusted and pitted up:
The main recommendation is a treatment called ACF-50. Their product page has some great breakdown of the benefits of the treatment, though I’m still a bit unclear on how the layman can put on this stuff in the comfort of their home garage:
ACF-50 was developed 15 years ago and has amassed a record of performance unique in the aerospace industry. Here are some of its unique properties
Do you need it? As with all things motorcycling, your mileage may vary (YMMV). If you live and ride primarily in a region where corrosion is an issue, such as a maritime area or a cold-winter area where road salts are in heavy use, you’ll probably want ACF-50 or a similar protectant for your paint and metal. If not, well, it might not be a big deal.
As for me, Svetlana and I reside inland, and Eugene has very mild winters. At this point, I’m thinking Sveta won’t need a protectant like this, but I’m going to keep looking into it.
Note to self re the recent oil leak incident:
At 2,500km service (coming up in about 1,000km), when changing gearbox oil wrap about 4 turns of Teflon tape about the drain plug threads. This should help prevent future leaks, per the Mystery Oil Puddle discussion on Soviet Steeds:
If you check the cds you will see the fellow rapping the plugs gently before removal, but nothing about overly tightening them when he re-inserts them. He does use about 4 turns of teflon tape on the drain plugs before re-inserting them, I believe. That may be just the ticket for your stopping any leakage, if it is coming from the actual drain plug area
Don in California recently got a Ural, and has been wondering if the rig is pulling to the left too much. What should he do?
Hello! I am new to this site. I am also new to the Ural community. I recently got my Ural last month! Say! How do you balance the side car. Mine pulls to the left. The instruction man. says decrease the toe in. I get it, but from where do I measure this toe in or toe out?
Adjustment needed or just inertia?
Off-hand, I’m not so sure that there’s actually a problem. Sidecar rigs naturally pull, due to simple inertia. Or, to put it another way, that’s what happens when you throw a bathtub on the side of a motorcycle. But could there be something wrong?
Here are some links from Soviet Steeds that I pulled up for Don to check out:
Don, I hope you let us know how things turn out.
Looks like all is good on the oil leak front. I topped up the gearbox oil with just maybe a tablespoon or two, and then ran Sveta out on a quick errand. Bike ran fine, and I’ll keep an eye on the oil.
After writing this post, I’m heading out to the garage to do a little wrenching. With the cause of Svetlana’s oil leak still not diagnosed, there are a few things I’m going to check this evening:
- Tighten all drain plugs (main engine, oil filter housing, gearbox and final drive)
- Check the final drive oil level
- Check the gearbox oil level (I’ve already checked the engine oil level)
Ural’s tend to be simple, and this potential leak may be no exception. When I did my 1,000km maintenance, I tightened all the bolts on Svetlana — except for the oil drain plugs. It could be as simple as giving those a wee bit of a tighten.
Or it might not. We’ll see… and will go from there.
Pardon my puddle
“Is your Ural leaking oil?”
“Ummm… huh?”
It wasn’t the phone call I expected. Earlier yesterday afternoon, I rode Svetlana over to see my friend Jon Meyers, a local photographer. A couple of hours after I got home that evening, he rang me and asked about Svetlana leaking oil.
“Not as far as I know. I just checked the oil this morning, actually. She hasn’t used a drop.”
“Well, there’s this puddle out here where you were parked, and a trail where your front tire tracked it as you backed out.”
Jon took a couple of photos (like the one above) and emailed them to me. The puddle and track are definitely from where Svetlana was parked, and from where I backed her up.
But here’s the thing…
If there is a leak, I can’t find it. I checked the oil this morning, and it was full. There was no oil on the garage floor. I examined the underside of the bike, from the final drive to the gearbox to the oil filter housing, and couldn’t make out anything that looked like a leak. I checked around the engine for any signs of a crack and seepage, and… nothing.
So what now?
Next steps
- Post on Soviet Steeds… check. Soviet Steeds - Hammerin’ & Wrenchin’ - Mystery Oil Puddle
- Post on Ride Three… erm, check.
- Take Sveta for a quick spin and see how she does… check. I ran a quick errand after work, and Sveta ran fine. Felt and sounded normal.
- Check oil and garage floor again… oh yeah, hang on a sec… check. No oil on garage floor… however, did notice a wee drop on the underside of the gearbox oil drain plug. Could that be it?
- Ponder… check. If the oil did come from Svetlana, could it have come from the gearbox? She was parked on a slight incline, so that could’ve caused more seepage from that plug, as the oil would have been pouring back towards that part of the housing. And if that is the case, what does it mean? Is there a way to check the gearbox oil?
Or, could this have just been some weird coincidence where I just happened to park in someone else’s puddle and just didn’t notice?
Update: Oil Leak Follow-up
What’s in your tool roll?
In a way, it’s a personal question, but one the Uralist is generally all to happy to answer. And keep answering. And defend to the death his answer, whilst being not too derogatory of the misguided yet well-meaning answers that others might provide.
Well, not really. Uralists are always happy to talk about what they carry in their sidecars and trunks, because hey, when you can haul pretty much anything you want, you enjoy bragging about it a wee bit. As for me, well, yeah I like to talk about what I carry too.
Here’s what’s in Svetlana’s toolkit (photos too, and more below the list)…
Read the rest of this entry »
It’s been over a week now since our idling issues on our Highway 126 day trip, and I am glad to say that the Ural has been running fine. I’m not going to do anything to the Ural at this point. Instead, I’m going to keep an eye on how Svetlana rides, and will focus on getting more miles/kilometers on her.
Here are some things I’ve learned:
- The idle might need to be kicked up a hair. If I decide to do this, however, I’ll also need to re-sync my carbs. For my not too mechanically minded self, that will mean a carb syncing tool like a TwinMax — which at this point I’d rather just put on my Christmas list.
- Temperature, not bike condition, could have been the primary issue. Our daytrip was on a hot day: about 97°, in full sun. Urals, being air-cooled beasts, do not always run happily on hot summer days. We have not had any similar issues since this hot-day’s ride, so things may well be okay.
- The ultimate key is break-in. Svetlana is coming up on 1400kms, and I’m pretty confident that by the end of September she’ll be ready for her 2500km maintenance interval. (It’d be sooner, but we’re going to be away a lot.) While still not really out of break-in, every km should see performance improvements.
It’s been an experience, figuring out the different potential causes and nuances that can affect Svetlana’s running. Even better? The causes, the circumstances, are all simple.
And that’s what I love about my Ural — simplicity.
Not idling but stalling
During our Saturday trip up the McKenzie River’s Highway 126, the only problem we had with Svetlana was that she kept dying at stops and would not always want to get started.
But what is the issue… if there is one?
There could be spark plugs and carb fittings to check. However, a tight idle and some stalling are also pretty common issues for new, still-being-broken-in Urals. With only 1300kms (808 miles), Svetlana is still pretty new. From what I’ve seen from others experiences, it’s usually just a matter of the engine breaking in more, and the idle improves.
A mechanical problem, or just growing pains?
Still, I’m trying to suss out the issue to see if I do need to check anything or muck about with the idle settings or some such. Here are some threads and sites that I’ve checking out:
I’ve also posted a question about this to the Hammerin’ and Wrenchin’ - Tech Talk section of Soviet Steeds: Soviet Steeds - 1300km and Stalling at Stoplights
Updates to come.
