Ride Three

For Ural Sidecar Motorcycle Enthusiasts

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.

Not an easy question, and one whose answers are entirely subjective. Some people swear by leather; some swear by synthetics. Others decry anything other than a t-shirt.

In our household, I wear a leather jacket, and Jodie has a lady’s Tourmaster Trinity (which I still need to finish up a post on). Soviet Steeds has a great, in-depth discussion on the topic of motorcycle jackets though, that can be of help to anyone trying to decide what type of motorcycle jacket they should get and wear:

In the interest of wearing a jacket while riding, I have my old leather jacket that really needs to be retired and I need to find something new. So, what do you all wear? Wear do you shop? What should I look for in a jacket? Fitting? Comfort (summer vs. winter)? Leather vs. that other stuff?

Follow the whole discussion: Soviet Steeds - What shall I wear?

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:

• Toe in toe out: How to get my Ural to go straight?
• Sidecar Alignment
• toe in or lean in??
• pulls to the right

Don, I hope you let us know how things turn out.

Back in 2004, a “Ural enthusiast” named Sergey Sinelnik rode a Ural around the world. Ultimately logging 75,000 km (46,603 miles) across 5 continents and through 35 countries, one leg of Sinelnik’s trip took him overland across the whole of Australia. Here are some more details, photos and stories about this amazing trip:

Here are just a few of the incredible photographs that were taken during their final leg of the trip around Australia. Starting from Sydney on April 25, 2004 and finishing on May 19, 2004, they traveled a total of 14,500 km or 10,000 mi. Of that distance, 3,500 km were across the Great Victorian Desert, Gibson Desert and the Great Sand Desert

Follow this and other Ural Adventures…

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

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.

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?