-23F Winter Motorcycle Ride

A blast from the past! With the quarantine, I've been digging around my bulging drafts folder. I found this gem from the winter of 2014 which was never published here or on youtube.

Enjoy a short clip of me riding the Ural at -22.5F which I'm going to call -23F. With the windchill, it's colder than -60F at 60mph. I rode around for about 30 minutes on the freeway before going home. I'm not sure why I never posted about this. I edited the video nearly 90%, and didn't finish. What was 2014 me thinking?

Enjoy the video!

Watch the video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7P75oxVWiQ


 

Goodbye Ural

This past weekend I sold my Ural sidecar. I’ve had it for sale for a couple weeks now. It was something I have been wanting to do for many months. I’ve struggled to bring myself to sell it. It felt like it was part of my identity even though I only rode it a few times in the last year.

I originally bought it because I loved the look of it and the idea of it. I wanted to experience the challenge and adventure of riding a motorcycle in the winter. A sidecar seemed much safer than the scooter I was riding previously and it was.

Over the years, the challenge and adventure started to wane. I had “figured it out” if you will and it became routine and easy. After six years of riding in the winter, it became a chore. There wasn’t a break that I have now with the car. When I am too tired to ride, but could still drive. I previously had to stay home. There is more balance now.

I love riding in the snow and in the extreme cold! There aren’t that many days were those have been happening in MN lately. I also loved the impact I had on those around me. Being able to brighten someone’s day just by riding to work was a nice thrill.

I’m not sure what will replace the Ural yet. I’m eyeballing a vstrom. I’ve been looking at them for a few years now. An R6 sounds fun as does another sidecar. I’m also not sure what my winter riding future has in store for me. I am not done with winter riding; just done with Ural winter riding. Stay tuned to find out what’s next as I figure it out myself.

Above is the proud new owner of my Ural. I sold it with 17,000km on the odometer which was broken, so it was more likely 20,000km. I’ve had it since it came out of a crate in 2009. It’s been a fun bike, and I am glad to see it going to a good home.

Happy Holidays!

Happy Holidays! I hope you have a fun and safe time filled with lots of great people and riding.

I’m excited to share the above photo is the header image at Aerostich.com right now. They also sent it as a printed card. It is pretty great to see my work in print!

Uraling Carlos Avery 2015

Sunday’s are a popular day to ride motorcycles. For our Sunday ride, I decided to take the Ural. I haven’t ridden it all year due to my injured shoulder. I’ve been feeling much better, so decided to take it.

Laura had also not had a Ural experience yet, so it was time to find out what she thought. A Ural experience isn’t complete without gravel roads. I also had it on good authority that Laura needed to explore more State parks, so I settled on Carlos Avery Wildlife Refuge as a first visit. I’ve been here many times with other bikes.

There are very few roads inside the area, but I still manage to get turned around. We entered on the North end of the preserve and wound our way through. The roads were in decent shape in most places. On previous visits, there have been giant mud holes to deal with.

The “park” is full of “ponds” for different wildlife to enjoy. There is also a nice forested area. While in the park we spotted a variety of song birds, a big white egret, wild turkey with babies, a loon, a goose, and a turtle.

It was a good two hour ride. The park was a great escape to the heat which soared into the 90s. We both had a fun time puttering around on the Ural. Not having ridden a sidecar in many, many months, I was happy it all came back very naturally.

Laura said she still prefers the SV650 to the Ural. I totally agree. She said while she enjoyed the view on the Ural, she felt more engaged and had more fun on the back of the SV.

 

All pictures, except the second one, courtesy of Laura.

 

 

Related Posts:

• Uraling Carlos Avery 2010
• Exploring Dead Ends on a WR250R 2010
• Commuting and Riding 2009

RiderCoach Sign up and a Ural

This last weekend, I signed up in the RiderCoach sign up. All the coaches for the college I teach at meet once a year to pick which classes we are going to teach.

We line up by senority. Even after teaching for four years, I am still at the end. This year, there was finally one new coach behind me. We signed up to teach together next summer.

One of the other coaches also rides a Ural. He rode his to the signup. I snapped the picture above as he was pulling out of the parking lot. As I took it, I thought "so that's what I look like when I ride my ural."

Sidecar + Trailer = Mulch Hauler

Thanks to my friend Joe, I finally got the trailer wiring sorted on my Ural and on my DIY trailer. I wrote about the hitch I installed several years ago here: Ural Trailer Hitch. I’d been using the hitch to haul my bicycle, but always wanted to get a trailer going. Why not make a slow vehicle slower right??

I spent a few hours on the wiring and didn’t get anywhere; conversely, Joe figured it out in less than an hour. The Ural comes with a six post connector under the seat. We used a six to five converter and then a five to four converter. It works great! The wiring and hitch can also easily be removed to avoid the winter grime.

My mulch hauling friend posing for a picture. All the mulch is wrapped up in the blue tarp. The trailer is much more efficient than the tubs I used to use. I can get about four times as much per trip too. It’s also much easier to use the mulch from the trailer versus moving a wheelbarrow around. The Ural really is my Russian Lawn Tractor now!

 

PS: To those with a Ural warranty: towing could affect your warranty, so double check beforehand.

Fun Times With Flat Tires

I have been lucky enough experience two flat tires this year. One on my SV650 and one on the Ural.

The flat on my SV happened on the way home from teaching a BRC less than an hour before I was to leave MN for my trip to India.

At first, I wasn't sure what it was. The rear started to wobble slightly like my luggage rack had broken again. A few miles down the road it was clear what was happening as the wobble became more pronounced. The rear tire was going flat. Arg!

I was only three miles from home and without my tire repair kit. I was also being picked up by a friend soon to leave the country. Not a great time for a flat. I decided, perhapaps unsafely, to continue riding slowly to see if I could make it.

The rear continued to get worse until about a mile from home where it leveled off just above absolutely unrideable. Riding on a flat rear felt a lot like riding on ice and snow, so it was weirdly comfortable. Yay winter riding!

I made it to my house and up the hill into the garage. I left the bike in disgust and left for India. When I got back, I put a new tire on and admired the large nail still in the tire. The bike suffered no other damage.

My second flat of the year was with the Ural during the sidecar ride for kids. After the first few hours of rides, the sidecar started to feel squishy. I stopped to take a look at it, and it was nearly flat.

I tried to put more air in with tire pump hoping denial would fix my problem. It didn't.



The Ural has a spare, so I set about swapping the tire. I had a small audience of kids asking questions about it. They were eager to get back riding!



The spare went on without trouble. There was a small nail in one of the knobs. Darn.



After the second ride, I decided to stop. The spare was grinding excessively. The bearing sounded like it was shot.

Fortunately, I have new tires, tubes, and bearings ready to go on. A fun weekend project to get the bike ready for winter.

Sidecar Rides For Kids

I like riding, and I like sharing that joy with others. For the last couple years, I have been fortunate to do both at a local, annual block party giving sidecar rides to kids.




You can see Rick's FJ sidecar above with my super shiny Ural in the back. There were dozens of kids lined up for their turn to "ride on a motorcycle."

It was a fun event. With most of the kids laughing and having a good time. I especially appreciated the parents who took the time to say thank you.


Sidecar Rides for Kids 2013

Detailed Ural

I have never seen my Ural as shiny as it is now since the day it was delivered from the dealer.

A few weeks ago at the ridercoach night, I saw Greg's handiwork on a bike he had detailed. I have been wanting to get the Ural detailed since last year, but di.dn't know a good place to go.

We agreed on a price, and I dropped it off. It took him almost two weeks to get it clean, so I paid some extra. He said it was the biggest detailing challenge he had so far. Specifically, the Boeshield T9 I use for anticorrosion in winter was very difficult to get off.

I am really impressed at how great the bike looks now. It is tempting to sell it and get something else before winter.

My New Girls: Motorcycling with Honeybees

Last night was the most passengers I’ve ever had in my sidecar before, and they were all girls! I’m guessing at least 10,000.

Motorcycle First Thursday–April 2014

Last night was the first Thursday in April, and that means hanging out at Dulono’s Pizza in Minneapolis with fun motorcycle people. In the morning, it looked like I might not be the only rider, but by lunch it was freezing rain and then heavy snow by 5pm. I think the weather scared away a number of folks, but all the fun ones managed to show up. I had a blast chatting inside!

When I came out, it was snowing even harder with about two-three inches of snow. I stopped off at Bob’s Java Hut for a few hours and it was closer to four-six inches by 10pm.

A few blocks after leaving the café, a guy in a completely snow covered car started yelling at me. He kept saying I was insane and awesome and wanted to take my picture. I gave him a thumbs-up. We were waiting at a red light; he in the left lane and me in the right. He jumped out of his car slipping and sliding and started snapping pictures while continuing to say how awesome I was. I waved while I was laughing at him under my helmet. He really cracked me up. He was way too excited. He made it back to his car just as the light turned green and we both pulled away.

The ride home was invigorating! The wind was blowing the snow so hard visibility was less than a 1/4 mile if not just a block. The three lanes of freeway were rutted into two and with the few vehicles out making their own lanes. The rear of the sidecar was wandering quite a lot swaying side to side while the rear tire was loosing traction with almost rhythmic frequency.

Slow and steady and I made it home without incident. Others were not so lucky, there were at least a dozen cars in the ditch. I should probably put my new tires on soon. It’s 40F again today, so hopefully the snow will melt by Monday. I thoroughly enjoyed the ride!

Good Service: Heindl Engineering

I recently bought some replacement parts for my Ural from Heindl Engineering. I’ve bought tires, spokes, and host of other parts for my Patrol over the last few years from them. My Ural was leaking some oil from the left valve cover and the front brake pads were very worn. I placed the order and a few days later a box arrived via UPS. I was excited; no more mess on the garage floor from leaky oil.

The brake pads and other items I ordered were in the box, but unfortunately, the gaskets were not. Disappointed, I called Heindl to let them know. It was after hours, so I left a message. A few minutes later Jon from Heindl called to apologize for the lack of gaskets. He also said he would get them in the mail the next day, so I would have them before the weekend was over. To say I was impressed would be an understatement. Saturday arrived and so did the postman with my one-day express shipment with the gaskets. Awesome!

Mistakes can happen with any company, but it is what happens after the mistake is made which makes the difference. In this case, Heindl was extemporary. I am happy to share this story, and I will be ordering from them again in the future.

Subzero Furniture Moving With the Ural

My friend told me about how his son needed a new desk to do school work. I just happened to have an extra one. The problem was how to get it across the city without renting a truck as it wouldn’t fit in his car. The Ural to the rescue.

It just happened to fit perfectly in the sidecar with the edge hanging just past the wheel. Four straps later and it locked in place not even wiggling. I positioned it so the wind wouldn’t be pushing on it while I was riding or so I thought.

The morning came to bring it over, and it was –16F. There ended up being an interesting cross-wind the entire ride over. I was worried about the wind from the front, and didn’t think about side winds. I made it the 30 mile ride without incident. It was an interesting ride. A few other road users though so too, and snapped photos.

My friend’s son likes the new desk, and it is working out great for them. This is one of the weirder things I’ve hauled on the Ural displacing the several loads of compost and a tree.

What’s the weirdest thing you’ve hauled on your motorcycle or sidecar?

Motorcycle First Thursday in Minneapolis–March 2014

Last Thursday, was Motorcycle First Thursday’s at Dulono’s Pizza in Minneapolis. The temperature has been quite cold this winter. They say it has been the coldest in about thirty years. The parking lot showed it. I was again the only rider this month. The snow banks were slowly creeping into the lot as well, consuming several of the limited parking spots.

I had a nice time chatting with friends inside, and am looking forward to warmer temps. I expect I will not be the only rider for April. Bring on Spring and the two-wheeled riding season!

Ural Mug

A few months ago I broke my favorite Ural mug. I stupidly dropped a jar on it. Don’t ask how it happened. It is too silly to repeat. It chipped and cracked and was no longer water tight. About the same time, my friend was trying to think of a present for her husband. She wanted to put my photo of the Ural in the snow on a coffee mug. I thought it was a great idea, but I didn’t realize she was going to send me one as well. I was very happy to get one in the mail and have been enjoying it since. I think it looks great. Thanks again!

Ural Headlight

It seems every winter my headlight on the Ural dies. The first few times I replaced it with the standard sealed beam, but that was a hassle and took up too much room as a spare. Several years ago, I found a Bosch kit online to convert it over to an H4 bulb instead. The H4 is much more convenient since most of my bikes use it as well. They also take up less room on the shelf. It would be nice is the bulb would fail while it is warm out. Taking the fairing off is a messy job with road grime everywhere.

I have a ratcheting box-end wrench which makes quick work of the bolts. It is quite a mess in the headlight assembly with all the wires from all over the motorcycle coming together. Once the headlight was out, putting in a new bulb only took a few minutes. I also took the time to clean the headlight. It was covered in a thick layer of road grime and salt. It is hard to believe I clean it each time I get gas when it looked so dirty. It is nice to have a working headlight again.

Spotted Again

A friend sent me this photo and asked if it was me. One of his Facebook friends spotted me on the way home and took several pictures with his phone while driving. I frequently see folks taking photos, but I rarely get to see them.

Uraling in the Snow

As I hinted in my last post, we finally have winter in Minnesota. It snowed several inches and is now in the single digits. When it was time to leave for work, I emailed my boss to let him know I would be late. I needed some playtime in the snow. I took the long way through the neighborhoods, in parks, and around lakes (they aren’t frozen enough yet to ride on). The Ural is very fun in the snow.

The snow let me test out my new Duro HF307 tires. I am disappointed with them compared to the Heidenau K37 Snowtex. I will buy the K37 snowtex next time. The rear slid a bit more than I would like with the Duro, and it had much less traction on ice and hard packed snow. It made me wish I could put studs on, but MN law prohibits studs on the road. Luckily, I have 2WD. I understand now why the HF307 is a third of the price of the K37 snowtex. I had really hoped they would be better though. This is my fifth winter tire, and I would put it in the middle of the pack.

On the upside, the Duros are quite fun for donuts and other sideways sliding shenanigans.

Below, is a behind the scenes photo my GoPro captured while I was taking the above photo. I had it set to take phone photo every few minutes, and the timing worked out to capture me taking a photo. Funny.

Stuck Axle on Ural and a Hefty Repair Bill Inbound

With the recent snow, I thought it would be a good time to put on my new tires. I was looking forward to seeing how they would do in the snow. When I got home, I eagerly went to work. It would be simple. Just put the Ural up on the center stand, remove the castle nut and cotter pin, loosen the pinch bolt, pull the axle out, and take the wheel off. It should be a ten minute job, but 90 minutes later the wheel was still on and I was a tired sweaty mess.

The axle was stuck. It wouldn’t come out. I sprayed it with various lubricants. I tugged on it. I whacked it with a BFH (big hammer). It only moved about 1/8 of an inch. Damn. I even had to get my phone out to watch a video on YouTube to make sure I wasn’t crazy on how easy it should be. Yup, just pull it out easily. Ugh.

Yesterday, I took it to the local shop. I didn’t think it’d make it 100 miles to Scrambler. I figured they would be able to get it off easily and put my tire on. I was shocked they wanted $126 to swap a tire and I was bringing the tire! 1.5 hours by their shop rate. Arg.

They ran into the same problem I did, but they took the 2WD u-joints apart so they could whack it with a bigger hammer than I used. It moved about an inch.

The mechanic also pointed out my sidecar u-joint was shot. I said “I don’t see what’s wrong.” He grabbed it and gave it a shake and it moved around a lot. “It isn’t supposed to move like this" he said. Oh…

They didn’t have an axle in stock, so they were going to take one from a new unit to get me back on the road unit while they order a replacement. The u-joints they said they could get from Napa. I get my air filters there too. It’s from a tractor.

They finally got the axle out and the wheel off. The wheel bearing is shot as well which I had suspected. Time to use the spare wheel. I should hopefully get the Ural back later today. *fingers crossed*

The repair looks like: new rear tire, new tube, new rear axle, two new u-joints on 2wd axle, and a new wheel bearing. Yikes! I am not looking forward to the bill. I hope this is the extent of my mechanical drama this winter. It’ll be my fifth winter of riding in the snow on the Ural! I hope it means I’ll have some good luck mechanically.

New Winter Tires for the Ural (HF307)

With the temperatures getting colder, I decided it was time to order this year’s winter tires for the Ural sidecar to facilitate my year round riding. The Heidenau K37 Snowtex I have on now are proper winter tires with the snowflake printed on the side. They’ve worked great for the last two years, but are now pretty worn out. This will be my fifth winter riding, so I guess it is fitting that the Duro is also the fifth tire I’ve tried for winter riding (Uralshina, Duro HF308, Kenda K335, Heidenau K37 Snowtex, and now Duro HF307).

Above, you can see the K37 Snowtex on the left and the new HF307s on the right. If the K37 Snowtex worked so well, why did I switch? Cost. One K37 Snowtex is about $180. I found a deal on the HF307 which put them at $65 a piece. I bought three HF307s tires for just under $200 shipped. It was a pretty easy choice once I looked at the money.

The Heidenaus were very difficult to get on because they were so stiff and barely cleared the rear swingarm and drive shaft. The Internet promises me the HF307s will be easier to install. We’ll have to see how lazy I am this weekend before I can find out. I’ve been admiring them in the garage for a week now. hehe.

I wrote about the K37 Snowtex a few times. They worked really well in the snow, but I couldn’t justify the price difference. I hope the Duros work as well as people say they do, and last longer than the crappy K335s.

 

K37 Snowtex posts:

• New Tires!
• Snow Tires for the Ural
• Winter Sidecar Prep
• Riding in a Snow Storm