The speed limit only needs to go down a bit. Then I can really drive too fast. So far I have had to do it with a glowing red matrix sign: "You are driving 84 km / h!". That does not work well on the dike threatened by high water.
Better a Russian than a virus
Speed is strange stuff anyway. The modern 1200 that I recently drove, it just ran best at 140 km / h. And then there was once again the maximum speed as a bonus. In the meantime my Ural combination has been upgraded to daily driver. The sidecar combination makes hoarding toilet paper and paracetamol even easier. But just fumbling around on that very heavy combination without power (approx. 36 hp) and almost without brakes is a feast of relaxation. My current Ural is my third Russian in 25 years. And I find the somewhat clumsy Urals with their roller-bearing crankshaft a bit more fun than the actually better and more modern Dneprs.
Ural is a coined name
In Soviet times, there was no room for brands and marketing. It was produced according to the planned economy. What we know as 'Ural' are IMZs.
In Russian it stood for Ирбитский мотоциклетный завод, Irbitskiy Mototsikletniy Zavod. And that meant nothing more or less than Motorcycle Factory from Irbit. You also had KMZ in Kiev. The Dneprs came from there later. But before then, both factories made the same motorcycle, the M72. Because a serial number in production was also sufficient at that time. The M72 was a 99,8% clone of the pre-war BMW R71.
The whole M72 track is a story with quite a few ambiguities. But M72s are meanwhile sought after - but still affordable - classics of 75 years old. It was 750 cc side valves of a horsepower or 23. You no longer have a good, neat 650 cc OHV for 1.500 guilders, nor for 1.500 euros. But under three thousand you are a merchant and if you look at the kilo price of your purchase, it is all day party. For a side valve, currently calculate something like a third of the value of a Harley 750 cc side valve.
Ural and the OHV
In 1959 the people M / V from Irbit stopped producing side valves. In Kiev they continued as usual. The M61 was a 650 cc OHV. And - just as with Harley-Davidson for a long time with the V twins - the new boxer was actually based on the old one. The block was actually an M72 crankcase with new cylinders and heads. The cylinders were cast iron, the heads aluminum. The stroke became 68mm and a differently profiled camshaft slipped into the greasy darkness. With a bore of 78 mm, the cylinder capacity became 649 cc. The new power unit delivered a healthy 28 horsepower at 5200 rpm. That was quite something then. That a modern 650 produces more than four times the power? That is clever but pointless. The concept has been maintained for decades with only minor modifications. At the end of the turbulent sixties, locally less turbulent and called 'burnyye shestidesyatyye', the M66 came with more compression and a different camshaft timing. It delivered 32 hp, had an exchangeable oil filter and a different mounting of the dynamo. For the rest, most parts of the 650 cc OHVs are simply interchangeable over a period of more than half a century. And they vary in price between dirt cheap and very cheap.
The reputation
The Russian tricycles have a strong agreement with the Citroen BX's: Anyone who has never had one loudly knows how bad they are. Owners of BX's and Urals know better. A BX with a 650D killometer on the clock and an Ural that easily drives to Rügen in three days? BX and Ural drivers know that it is possible. But such an Ural has - just like one Citroen BX - needs more attention and care than a Toyota or a Honda Goldwing. The kind of maintenance that every XNUMXs biker took for granted.
In the meantime, yesterday was a field work day for me. On the Ural I went to Terborg, Drempt and Tiel. All delicious, sun-drenched indoor kilometers.
Back home, the Ural marked his spot with a happy drop of oil. He is getting some attention again this weekend. A flap taps on the left. A new oil filter is coming in, the Action has already provided fresh oil. The tricycle still starts at the first stage. That I believe the ignition is good, I believe that for a while. So give me a Russian instead of a virus.
More stories about classic engines can be found via this link.
Especially for Ural enthusiasts:
Beautiful Ural, Dolf Peeters. And what a beautiful windshield !!
Yes Yes…. I have my address for that! The result is after two hours of mechanical scouring and two spray cans of the Action. I am completely behind it and have to keep the window clean. By the way, it is not a double thermoplane window ...
Nice, that agreement between the car and the motorcycle. And, everyone who has never had one loudly / knows how it is.
And we continue to be amazed smiling!