I'm in love with a Russian!

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Back in Spring of 2009 my wife encouraged me to get a motorcycle. I hadn't ridden in a few years. I gave away my last bike while living in Creve Coeur, a town full of grayheads who tried to kill me every time I went for a ride. I figured I should quit while I was still alive.

Anyway, I missed riding, badly, but I didn't think there were any recent bikes I'd like. I wanted an old fashioned bike with modern engineering. I knew there had been at least one fairly recent retro-styled Japanese parallel twin but last I'd heard none were sold in the US.

So I googled "retro motorcycle" and guess what popped up. Yes, my Bonneville. And I bought one two weeks later. But guess what else popped up. Turns out there is a motorcycle model called the "Retro."

To make a short story long, the Retro is just one of several models of sidecar motorcycles built by Ural, a manufacturer in Russia. The bikes and sidecars are knock-offs of a 1938 vintage BMW rig. Ural has improved its machines over the decades but without stylistically deviating from their original "borrowed" inspiration.

A couple of models, including the Patrol pictured above, have a driveshaft linking the rear wheel of the motorcycle with the sidecar wheel, for a switchable two-wheeled drive that rivals the off-road traction of an ATV.

A 2WD Ural is a motorcycle you can ride in the snow! Do I really need to say more?

I need a 2WD Ural. I want to ride a motorcycle in the snow. And I love the funky old fashioned look of the Urals. I love their noise and their low-tech design. The Ural is made to be serviced by the owner. And it's made to be serviced with normal tools. This is the motorcycle for the proletariat... and for petit-bourgeois dilettantes like me.

Since a fully-equipped 2WD Ural costs about $13,599.00 it might take me awhile. I might have to finish paying for the Bonnie first, but I clearly see a Ural in my future.

Now would be a great time to buy a Ural. They have just upgraded the machines a lot. And yet they still have carbs. That can't last long, given increasingly rigid pollution standards. If you can swing it, get your Ural now. Then swing by Westport and give me a ride.

If you're anywhere near St. Louis, get your Ural from Dave Clark in Eureka. He's a top BMW tech and he upgrades and stands behind the Urals he sells. Check out Dave's shop at:

http://www.abcbmw.com/

1WD models can be detached from the sidecar and ridden solo. The 2WD models cannot be used without the sidecar.

The entry level 1WD Ural rig costs $10K. But I just have to have a 2WD model.

How to modify a Bonneville and then make a really poor photo of it.

On June 30, 2010 I shot the above poorly-composed photo of my 2008 Bonneville with its latest modifications. Since then I've been too busy riding the bike to make blog entries.

My Bonnie now has three mods: Triumph centerstand, Triumph King and Queen seat and Dart Flyscreen. I put the centerstand on shortly after I got the bike last Spring. I just added the other two.

The stock seat on a '08 Bonnie is as uncomfortable a motorcycle seat as my butt has ever been spanked by. I've never had an iron butt anyway and almost always stand up during stops to let my brains breathe, but the stock Bonnie "plank" made me burn after only about ten miles. The seat and my butt got a little more used to each other after a few thousand miles, but it was still torture on a long ride.

I heard great things about the comfort of the K&Q but the seat's non-traditional look had few fans. I tried the gel seat first, but it was all wrong for my leggy 6'2" and bony butt. I swapped it for the K&Q and transformed my humble horse into a royal mount. Not only is the seat super comfortable but it actually makes the Bonnie feel like a different, and better bike. I feel more solidly planted in that seat and the bike feels more under my control. Psychological? Fine.

I'm not bothered by the looks of the big seat. To my eye the new Bonnie looks chunkier than the old Bonnies and I think the big fat seat suits it fine. Anyway, when I'm riding I don't see the seat. And my bike is for riding. But yeah, I still stand and look at it for awhile after almost every ride.

I also added a Dart Flyscreen. I don't like the look of windshields on anything but a big bike (Electraglide, Indian Chief) but I also don't like being smacked around by the wind when I'm driving at highway speed. The Dart Flyscreen got great endorsements on all the forums so I thought I'd give one a try. I love it.

You wouldn't think such a tiny screen would do much and you'd be right. It doesn't do "much" but it does some. It doesn't eliminate wind buffeting but it noticeably improves it and makes the bike feel much more comfortable and stable at higher speeds. So you still have "the wind in your face" without having the wind kicking your ass.

And I found that if I lay all the way down on the tank, I can go over 80 mph without feeling any buffeting at all. If I ever go for the "ton" (100 mph) I'll be glad I have the flyscreen.

Best of all, when I'm sitting upright the tiny screen doesn't obscure my view of the pavement in front of me. I love to ride bad back roads and I need to see the road! I would never ride a faired bike on my favorite roads. Seated on a bike with a monster fairing, like a Goldwing, you can't see the pavement directly in front of you for ten or fifteen feet!

(To be honest, even the flyscreen obscures my view of the closest foot or two of pavement, but by then it's too late to change course. In other words, it's acceptable and well worth the benefit.)

I'm still not used to the different look of my bike. All my previous bikes were unmodified naked standards. But when I'm in the saddle, cruising up and down the twisties, I'm very happy with my modifications.