I wish the motor wasn't spinning so fast at those speeds, at 68 mine is near redline (gps 68, bike speedo about 62). That drivetrain sure sounds busy at 55. Handles fine at speed, just gotta be careful on right curves; I've had the car lift on what I thought was a mild curve at around 50; raises the pucker factor quick. Does fine on snow, though, then it just drifts around corners.

 

Back in 2002, I was one of the last Ural Service Center's in our expanded area. The local Ural Dealer was getting prepared for jail, but that is another story.

I had a customer show up with a Ural 650 sidecar rig on a trailer. He claimed that his insurance company directed him to us for an estimate and repairs. A quick look from a distance made me ask him if he had wrecked it. "No", he said, "it has an engine problem". It seemed that he had aftermarket extended warranty insurance that covered the driveline too. I went over to the trailer and saw the problem. The carburetor was hanging by the throttle cable because there was no cylinder on the left side to attach it to, only the rod remained hanging out of the crankcase. I asked him what happened to the cylinder, "I don't know, I was just riding down the road, I-81." And how fast were you going when it blew up. "Around 70 or maybe 75." Where is the rest of the engine ? "I don't know, I just rode it home."

When I contacted the insurance company they wanted to know what caused the engine problem. "What does the cylinder look like ? Can I send them some pictures of the damage ?" They didn't believe me when I reported what the owner had told me. We ended replacing the 650 (rather 325cc) with a 750.

So when I refer to them as toys, I only want to visualize them riding in a field and not on the Interstate.

 

I never would have expected one to move with a jug blown off. Must be tougher than it looks. Must have oiled one of his boots real good... I don't think I've ever gone more than a mile over 55, and not many miles steadily over 50. I prefer taking it out in farmland, dirt or gravel roads, no traffic, seldom get over 40 on those roads.

 

Gotcha..no worries. I learned with my first Ural that 55mph is the sweet spot for both engine life and gas mileage. 1300 miles in a Ural over 4 days at those speeds make for very long days of riding......which is why I want too hack my Ultra Limited. :-)