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A Visit to the Shop

Jan 20th, 2010
by Kelsey.
5 comments

So, Marc and I finally threw in the towel and sent Smutyanka off to the mechanic’s.  We found out that the other Ural owners in this area use a very small shop called Brooks Cycles.  It’s only a two man outfit, but they’re really nice, they offer free towing, they have experience working on Urals, and they don’t charge for diagnostics if you end up using their shop for your repairs.

It was a hard decision to make to send her to a shop, but really, it will be a good financial move in the end.  There are a lot of small and easy to fix things wrong with her, but we don’t currently have the know-how to find them or know where to begin.  There are also some major things wrong (her throttle cable is seriously screwed up and her front brake disintegrated), and we’d rather have a professional do the work than end up with the side effects of the hack-job we’d do.  The other factor was weather.  It’s too cold right now to be spending large amounts of time outside working on the bike, and it’s bad for the bike to just sit outside in the parking lot all winter.  The shop will not only fix her, but will also help to keep her out of the weather during the bike’s non-working downtime.

The other thing is that really, once we get her completely fixed and running, it will be much easier to find and deal with problems as they arise.  Right now there are so many small problems that they end up masking eachother, making it difficult to really tell what’s actually wrong with the bike.  Once we get her “zeroed out”, so to speak, it will be easier for us to do the repairs ourselves.  We’ve gotten some flak from the Ural community for trying to “save” a 1992 bike, but really, we both feel that there’s no point in condemning a bike to the parts pile just because it’s old, if all that it needs is a little TLC.

We’ll let you know what the results of her visit to the motorcycle doctor are.  Hopefully by spring she will be in good enough condition to be a daily rider.

Posted in: Ownership, Wrenching.
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Throttle Problems

Dec 15th, 2009
by Kelsey.
1 comment

So, apparently we need to severely shorten our throttle cable, but nobody seems to be able to give us directions on how to do so.

Ah, the joys of Urals…

At least it’ll probably be warm enough to ride by the time we get her running!

Posted in: Wrenching.
Tagged: · ·

Smutyanka is misbehaving again…

Dec 7th, 2009
by Kelsey.
8 comments

So, Smutyanka is living up to her namesake again.  (Smutyanka is “female troublemaker” in Russian)

We did a lot of work on her last week and replaced the air filter, put on the new carburetor flanges and heat blocks, and replaced the torn fuel line.  Our plan was to take her to Crossroads Cycles this week to get the carbs balanced, now that they are firmly attached, and with that and her inspection, she should be good to go for regular riding.

No dice.

We tried to start her up on Friday and got nothing.  I couldn’t even really hear the engine trying to turn over, which usually means something is very wrong.  We headed over to the Soviet Steeds forum, and folks advised that when we drained the tank, we probably pulled some gunk into the petcock, and to take it off and clean it.  We did that, and there was indeed a little bit of gunk (especially blocking the reserve tank hole), and then re-attached it.  It still won’t start up.  The fuel flow now seems fine, but in the process of looking at all that stuff, we realized that our throttle cables are barely hanging on, and are literally hanging out of the throttle assembly on the right handgrip.  Back to the boards!

This is starting to get really frustrating for both of us.  We enjoyed getting to work on the bike and learn about motorcycle maintenance, but we have had the bike for three months and have driven it for only around an hour and a half, total ride time.

So, we’re thinking of selling Smutyanka and buying a brand new Ural Patrol T, sometime in the next couple months, once Marc starts his USIS job.

There are a few reasons for this:

  1. The Patrol T comes factory painted in the original Soviet army green/brown.  While we have photographic documentation of black, civilian sidecar bikes being requisitioned for military use, using Smutyanka in her current color configuration makes her stand out at events, and might draw some “farb!” remarks, even though it’s not.
  2. The Patrol T has 2WD.  For city driving it’s not an issue, but both of us really want to do some offroading with our Ural, and Smutyanka’s seemingly brittle condition and 1WD make that a little more difficult (though not impossible).  2WD would also allow us to drive in the snow, which would be nice.
  3. With a fresh, brand new bike, it would be easier to diagnose problems.  Right now we’re stuck in a cycle in which we fix one thing, only to realize that it was just a symptom of something else that has been broken the whole tine.  With a new bike, you have a fresh starting point, so it’s easier to know when something is wrong.
  4. Quite frankly, we’re not really in a good position to be doing major work on a motorcycle right now.  If we were living in a house, with a garage, it might be another story, but it’s very difficult to do any major work on a motorcycle when all you have is an apartment parking lot.
  5. Urals now come with a 3(?) year factory warranty, and we live only two hours away from a dealer.  We can continue to do the minor stuff ourselves, but it’s nice to know that if something really goes wrong, we can get it fixed for free for a couple years.
  6. The biggest of all:  even if we got Smutyanka running well, neither of us would trust her to be anything more than a “fun around town” vehicle.  I wouldn’t trust her to get me to work, and we would have to trailer her to all reenactments we took her to, however close.  A brand new Ural is reliable enough to be used as a daily commuter, and then it truly could be our second vehicle.  Marc wants to get a new car, but he would prefer to wait a little longer to replace his, and having a Ural that works might be a good stopgap.

We haven’t made up our minds yet, or even really discussed it all that much, but the topic has been brought up for discussion a couple times.  It wouldn’t be for a couple months yet, but it’s a possibility.

Posted in: Ownership, Wrenching.
Tagged: · · · · ·

Quick-Disconnects For The Battery?

Dec 2nd, 2009
by Kelsey.
7 comments

Now that it’s cold, we have found that Smutyanka’s batteries get depleted pretty fast from sitting outside, so we’re considering installing some quick-disconnects on the lines.  We’re not all that familiar with electronic work and don’t even really know where to start with this.  Can any of you folks perhaps point us in the right direction?

Posted in: Wrenching.
Tagged: · · ·

A Few Ural Videos

Nov 28th, 2009
by Kelsey.
No comments yet

The sound a Ural engine makes is often compared to “a sewing machine missing a few parts”.  I tend to agree, but here, you can decide for yourself:

An amusing video in German about the superiority of a Ural sidecar rig over a Harley sidecar rig:

Who needs a snowmobile if you have a Ural?

The Ural factory display team doing donuts on wet pavement:

The display team showing how the bike can be driven from the sidecar and the sidecar wheel can be changed while driving (2 videos):

Urals in Siberia. At the 3min mark, you can see them drive through over a foot of water:

Urals have a reputation for being easy to tip over on righthand turns (due to the fact that the sidecar can’t turn and is much lighter than the bike), but this video proves that you can also tip them over on lefthand turns!

Posted in: Videos.
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If it’s not one thing, it’s another…

Nov 22nd, 2009
by Kelsey.
2 comments

I swear, as soon as you fix one thing on a Ural, something else breaks.

Last week it was our right-side carburetor deciding that it didn’t want to stay attached to the engine head (the flange/compliance fitting on that side is old and the rubber is stiff, making it difficult to crimp the pipe clamp down tight enough to hold the carb on securely), and now we have a hole in our fuel crossover line.

On Friday, Marc and I went out to install the new, louder horn we bought (the old one sounds like a sick goat), and were greeted by the sight of a thin stream of fuel spurting from the side of the bike.  Upon further inspection, it seems that the fuel crossover line (going between the tank and the reserve section of the tank) is made from rubberized cloth, and the pipe clamp holding it in place had rubbed and eventually cut a hole in the line!

Thankfully, the cut was a V-shaped cut, which meant it was just a matter of clamping the V back into place, which I did by lowering the pipe clamp a bit to be located over the cut.  We ordered a new fuel line and it should be here on Monday, along with new flanges.  So, both of those will be installed when we get them.

We have also found out that our carbs are idling too high, and that they need balancing.  If the new flanges/fittings seem to work well, we’ll keep our current carburetors and take the bike to the shop to get them balanced.  If they don’t seem much better than the old ones, then we may look into getting some Pekar K68 carbs, which bolt straight onto the engine head.  You can get a pair, plus all the cables, etc, for about $90, so it might be a worthwhile investment.

Posted in: Wrenching.
Tagged: · · ·

1995 Ural Tourist Wiring Diagram

Nov 15th, 2009
by Kelsey.
3 comments

We finally got ahold of the wiring diagram for our Ural.  Somehow, I suspect this will be very helpful in the future.  It looks complicated, but really, once you figure out how to read it, it’s really quite a simple setup.  Click the image to see the larger version.

Posted in: Reference.
Tagged: ·

Android Motorcycles?

Nov 15th, 2009
by Kelsey.
2 comments

I think our Ural was made by the Weyland-Yutani Corporation.

Separated at birth?

(Crossposted from Marc’s Soviet Steeds post over here.)

Posted in: Humor.
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New Air Intake Hoses

Nov 6th, 2009
by Kelsey.
5 comments

As I mentioned in my last post, we replaced Smutyanka’s air intake hoses today.  This was our third, and finally successful, try.  Our first attempt was with aircraft hose, which was too big (2in, when our diameter is 1.75in).  Then, we bought rubber hosing (rated to the proper temperature) that was the right diameter, but it was too stiff and ended up crimping instead of curving.  Marc was feeling somewhat at the end of his rope as to what to do about these hoses, when he suddenly had a breakthrough idea last night while I was out buying groceries:  combine the two!  Let me explain:

Continue reading →

Posted in: Photos, Wrenching.
Tagged: · · · ·

New Toys!

Nov 6th, 2009
by Kelsey.
2 comments

Smutyanka has gotten quite a few new toys recently!  Some are more necessary than others.  In order of installation:

smutka

Duck Boards

Urals come with a rubber mat that fits in the floor of the sidecar.  It provides some nice traction, but water gets underneath and if you don’t air it out regularly, you can get some pretty severe rust underneath.  During WWII, the traction problem was solved by putting slats of wood, called “duck boards”, into the floor.  We ordered this stained oak set from Heindl Engineering and they are quite beautiful and work perfectly.

Hopefully they will help with keeping the sidecar dry.  I prefer them to the rubber mat already because they also make a nice ridge to brace your feet against.  On righthand turns it really helps the driver if the monkey (sidecar passenger) leans strongly to the right, and it’s much easier to do this if you have something to push against with your feet.  These do the trick nicely.

Kill Switch

Some of you may remember that our engine kill switch cover fell off a few weeks ago.  Well, for $2.50, Holopaw Paul sent us a new one.  We couldn’t find a screw quite short enough, so we had to punch through the other side of the plastic.  It’s fine for now, but some time soon we will get a metal file and file down the end of the screw that sticks out.

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For a tiny piece of cast plastic, it was quite a surprising pain to attach, as you can probably figure out from the photos.

Trunk Lock

One of the great things about having a sidecar is the instant storage it provides.  Behind the seat is a trunk of sorts, in which we keep our toolkit, voltmeter, wire cutters, test lamp, spare battery, WD-40, oil funnel, tarp, spare tonneau (sidecar) cover, paperwork, tie-down ropes, and helmets.  With all that in there, you really want to be able to lock it, and thankfully there are a few after-market solutions folks have come up with, from ghetto to sophisticated.  We chose the sophisticated route and bought a lock system from Delaware Dave.

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Installing it was a pain in the ass (and involved drilling a 1in hole in the side of the sidecar), but the lock works quite well.  It’s a bit counter-intuitive because you turn the key the opposite direction from what you’re used to, but it’s sturdy and it looks professional.  Installing it has made us both wonder why Ural doesn’t just include them straight from the factory.  I’ll post some photos of the inside of the trunk tomorrow, but by the time we were finished it was too dark.

Tarp

Smutyanka’s engine isn’t the most watertight thing in the world, and folks on the forums really recommend keeping Urals out of the rain.  Water can quite easily get into the carbs, air filter, transmission, etc, just by nature of the way these engines are assembled (which is to say, by hand and not very precisely), so it’s good to keep them under some sort of protection.  A few weekends ago we went to a reenactment and it was supposed to storm that weekend, but I couldn’t find a tarp that wasn’t massive.  So, I improvised:  I bought a $1.50 poncho at Target and punched some holes in the plastic around the edges, ran some rope through it, and managed to completely cover the engine and important bits:

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MacGyver would’ve been proud.  Marc said it reminded him of stuff he saw when he was living in Africa, but it did the job, and now we have a real tarp:

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Eventually we will buy a Ural-specific cover (they’re about $80), but for now, the tarp will do.

Air Intake Hoses

I have mentioned our need for new air intake hoses several times on this blog.  Our old ones were ill-fitting and full of dry rot, and if you don’t have a tight seal around your carburetors, the engine will run too lean and you risk getting dirt and debris in your engine.  Plus, the location of the air hoses on Urals is not the best, and they are very close to where your foot sits on the shifters, making it easy to knock out of place if it’s not secure:

IMG_0584

Since this post is long enough already and the frankenstein-style tactics we had to use to create new air hoses and install them were quite complex, you will have to wait until the next post to get more details on that.  I’ll try to get that posted later tonight or tomorrow morning.

Posted in: Photos, Wrenching.
Tagged: · · · · · · · · · ·

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