“how's your ural been, do you have breakdowns? I have been thinking about buying a new one but worried about dropping 14K on a bike that has a dodgy reputation and I don’t personally have anybody around here to ask.”Now that I’ve owned my 2009 Ural Patrol for 24 months and put on 14,000km, here are my thoughts.
Just like last year, I took some time to go for a ride before all the feasting and visiting with family was to take place, but the ride this year was quite different than 2010.
A few weeks ago we rode in the 18th Annual Swan Ride. In keeping with last year (2010 Swan Ride), I took my R1150GS, but this time my wife came with. I was happy to be able to spend a nice fall day riding 200 miles of twisty back roads with her looking for migrating artic tundra swans.
I was recently able to attend the MSF SMART Training for RiderCoaches. SMART stands for Safe Motorcyclist Awareness and Recognition Trainer. I saw the system at the motorcycle show last year, but I didn’t get to use it because of the long line.
My Gerbing dual temp heat controller failed last winter. It has two knobs: one grey and one black. The grey knob failed; it just kept spinning. It also wouldn’t provide heat. Fortunately, I wasn’t using my Gerbing heated gloves since the hot grips were more than enough, so I was able to run the coat through the other side.
I saw this bike, “Tha Heist”, the last time I was getting my Ural serviced at Scrambler Cycle. It is nice to see a low-cost ($3195 MSRP) American motorcycle.
Manufacturer Website: http://www.clevelandcyclewerks.com/
YouTube Video: Cleveland CycleWerks – Tha Heist
PS: I didn't buy it, and unfortunately, I didn't get to ride it either. Next time!
As I was riding a long today, I noticed that I hadn’t seem many motorcycles over the past two days. I’m thinking the low 40s temps and the weather-guessers constant threat of snow kept people in their cars instead of on their bikes.
My wife and I love watching MotoGP. We were really saddened to see #58 Marco Simoncelli crash during the race and then die from his injuries at the Malaysian GP two weeks ago.
It is interesting to see how different cultures react to death. Some request a moment of silence, and others noise. The two minutes of noise brought a smile to our faces. It was very Simoncelli. Ciao Marco. You will be missed.
MotoGP Tribute to Marco Simoncelli #58
Images and video from motogp.com
I enjoy giving rides on the different bikes. “You mean I get to ride a motorcycle and make someone else happy at the same time?” Awesome. I’ve had my wife on the back of many different bikes for a few thousand miles, and given rides to several others with the Ural and R1150GS. I love riding: 1-up, 2-up, 3-up, and once 4-up. It’s all good!
