Saturday, November 28, 2009

My new Ural

I woke up early today and got a ride out to the local Ural dealer in Wisconsin (St. Croix Ural). It’s about an hour from my house located NE of Somerset. I was interested in the 2008 Patrol below. It was the demo model and was discounted over $1100 from new.

2008 Ural Patrol

After we arrived, the owner Dell came out showed me how it worked and let us take a ride around the parking lot. The sidecar controls are similar to a motorcycle, but the handling is completely different. I practiced many figure eights and general turns and shifting. Once I was comfortable, we took off down the road. It was great fun, but I need a lot more practice.

I was really impressed they let me ride the motorcycle first. Nearly every other motorcycle dealer I’ve visited in the area will not let you ride the bikes except for “demo days” which are usually once or twice a year. If you missed it, tough luck!

While we waiting for the paperwork to get sorted I started reading the Ural owners manual. It’s the best owner’s manual for a bike I’ve ever seen. The Ural also comes with a book on how to operate a sidecar which I also started reading.

After waiting a couple of hours, Dell let us know that their bank would not provide a loan for a new ‘08. Dell then offered to sell me a 2009 Ural Patrol for the same price he had quoted me on the ‘08. He even said he would deliver it in a few days for free since it was still in a crate. The pic of my new Patrol is below:

My new 2009 Ural Patrol still in crate

In addition to the Patrol, I negotiated and got the windshield and leg fairings free. Dell assured me this bike would take anything a Minnesota winter could dish out, and with the upgraded alternator it can run all my heated gear. It also comes with a two year unlimited mile warranty. The unlimited part sounds like a challenge to me.

4 comments:

  1. Chris:

    All I can say is WOW, that is a great machine. Can you get snow tires for it ? Nothing can stop you now. You got a good deal, a new Ural for the price of the older one

    bob
    bobskoot: wet coast scootin

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  2. Bob,
    It comes with dualsport tires; they should do fine in winter since we get a mix of snow, ice and clear roads. I could put knobby tires on, but I don't think I'll need them.

    -Chris

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  3. I have +50K Km on my 2006 Ural Tourist LX (purchased new on 05/06/07). You will have lots of chances to experiment with tires, especially the rear. They wear fast. The newest brand available from Ural dealer is the "Duro". It holds up better than the Uralshina (OEM). My last two rears were Duro and they went, 16K and 13K Km, respectively. From will go +20K Km. Cart wheel will rot off before it wears. Enjoy!

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  4. Thanks Dandapani! I'm looking forward to riding it to 50k! Wednesday can't come soon enough.

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