Travels with Smutyanka » lights http://www.driftingfocus.com/ural Adventures Aboard a Soviet Motorcycle Mon, 14 Jun 2010 13:03:49 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 en hourly 1 The first casualty of the parking lot… http://www.driftingfocus.com/ural/2009/10/07/the-first-casualty-of-the-parking-lot/ http://www.driftingfocus.com/ural/2009/10/07/the-first-casualty-of-the-parking-lot/#comments Wed, 07 Oct 2009 21:34:08 +0000 Kelsey http://www.driftingfocus.com/ural/?p=47 In true Russian fashion, now that we have gotten Smutyanka running, she has started dropping parts.

I was driving around the parking lot this afternoon, practicing my right-hand turns (which are difficult on a sidecar, because 70% of the weight of the bike is on the left, where the centrifugal force is on a RH turn) and practicing driving in reverse (it’s so much fun).  Our parking lot has one small speed bump, but in general, it’s not exactly filled with pot holes or other hazards.  Besides, this is a bike that is generally meant for abuse, so those things are not generally too concerning with a Ural.

Apparently, it is with this Ural.  When I pulled into our parking spot and went to use the kill switch to turn the bike off, I noticed that…the switch was no longer there.  Well, I should clarify.  The switch is, but the cover is not.  All that is left is a little piece of metal sticking up about 1cm out of the handlebar.  The normal/brights switch for the headlights is also now missing, and a precursory search through the parking lot turned up nothing.  Looks like Marc and I get to order two more parts, though these aren’t an emergency, since the kill switch is still usable and we won’t be driving the bike at night in a situation where we would need the brights.

For those curious, here’s what the right handlebar now looks like:

IMG_0563

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