Gummiente's Blog!

[Gummiente]

cool ride, i have a jawa sidecar!

what engine does the ural have?

is it 2wd or 1wd?

brw waht engine did the dneper have?

and was it 2 ot 1 wd?

The Ural has a 750cc and is 1WD. The Dnepr is a 650cc and is also 1WD. You can read more about the Dnepr on my web page: http://www.gummiente.ca

BTW, I was at my old Army buddy's place yesterday, he has a business that caters only to sidecars. He has a '74 Jawa boat tail sidecar for sale that I'm thinking about putting on my Harley.

[ZooTech]

I'm not a fan of sidecars, but I'm really digging that Dnepr. It has a really cool exposed, old-skool look to it!

[Gummiente]

Well, that's what I'd call a good long weekend - got lots of riding time in, on both two and three wheels. Took the Ural to see an old Army buddy of mine on Saturday, he lives about 2hrs away and runs his own bike shop strictly for sidecars. He's pretty good at it, too, having collected customers from all over Canada and the US. We spent some time digging through his garage and looking at a good used Dnepr sidecar, as well as a '74 Velorex boat tail unit that needs a bit of TLC. See, I'm thinking of putting a chair on my Harley now.

Sunday we went Ural-ing around the county, stopping in at a storage unit of a co-worker who was trying to get rid of a massive stock of clothing. He's actually doing it as a favour for his friend, who went through a depression after his mother passed away and went nuts just buying stuff with his inheritance. So there were literally boxes full of brand new, never worn, brand-name clothing with the tags still on them just sitting in storage and he wanted to get rid of it all. So for $100 I got three pairs of Levis, two Wrangler denim shorts, two heavy duty t-shirts, two leather belts, a brown suede jacket, a fleece lined vest, two pairs of hiking shoes and three watches. Now that's what I call a deal!

Yesterday I finally dragged the Harley out and went for a cruise. We rode along the St Lawrence River all the way to Iroquois Locks, one of the many control gates along the river where all the big cargo ships have to pass through. Unfortunately we timed it wrong, as no ships were scheduled until later in the afternoon, so we had an ice cream and took our time riding home. All together we rode about 700km this weekend, during which my Harley rolled past the 51,000km mark and the Ural hit 1,400km. It's been a pretty good season for riding so far.

But back to putting a chair on the Harley...

That damn Ural and Dnepr have corrupted my soul; I had forgotten how much fun it was to have a sidecar and I find that the Ural gets more road time than the Harley lately because it simply has a bigger fun factor. The weird thing is, though, when I got the Dnepr and then the Ural I had no problems adapting to the difference in riding style - and believe me, there's a difference between two and three wheeled riding techniques - but yesterday when I saddled up the Harley I felt like a newbie rider for the first few km's. I've had that bike for almost two years now but in the space of only two weeks of riding the Ural I almost had to re-learn how to ride it all over again. And all I can think about now is putting a sidecar on it so I can have two rigs - the Ural for running errands and leisurely rides and the Harley for commuting and higher speed touring. The Ural is comfy enough, but at 95kmh it's pretty much running at 80% WFO and the ride can get a little buzzy after awhile. The Harley, though, is a friggin' Barco Lounger on wheels and is glass smooth even at speeds of 130kmh; if I were to hook a sidecar to it my cruising speed would naturally be reduced to around 110-120kmh, but that's all I would need to stay alive on the major highways. I wouldn't DREAM of taking the Ural on HWY 401 - doing 95-100kmh is just too dangerous on a road where the average semi trailer is hauling at 110kmh, so a "hacked" Harley would be a better choice.

I still have a lot of thinking to do...

[Gummiente]

Went to a BBQ yesterday that was hosted by the First Officer and his wife from our SCRC #446. It was a great time and there was lots to eat - had my first taste of deep fried turkey and it was awesome!

I took the Ural so that Hector could spend the day with us...lemme tell ya, nothing steals the show more than a blind dog in a sidecar.

[Gummiente]

I totally wimped out and took the car to work yesterday. The forecast had called for 20-30mm of rain, strong winds and a high of only 16C and they were right - it was miserable out. Long range forecast doesn't look promising and I fear that the run of warm weather has finally come to an end for this year. From now until approx mid-November (when I normally put the bikes into storage) I'll be making full use of the electric vest, cold weather jacket, thick gloves and riding pants.

The Ural is ready for the cold; I've installed a big windshield, metal leg shields, wired up a 12V accessory outlet for the electric vest and also made a sidecar windshield for Hector. My "Douk" is really looking good now.

Had lots of time to do these mods because the insurance was cancelled on 20 Sept due to a mixup with the VIN number. Seems that all the Canadian spec Urals were cleared by Transport Canada and approved for road use with an "81" in the VIN code to signify that they were for the Canadian market. But someone at the factory put "MH" (the code for the USA market) in the VIN codes on the accompanying paperwork and nobody caught the error until it was too late. In my case, the insurance company issued me a temporary coverage slip when I bought the bike and a few days later tried to verify the VIN on their database. The VIN came up invalid, so they sent me a letter informing me of the problem and that I had 20 days to correct it or the insurance would be cancelled. So I got in touch with the dealer and the importer and learned they had just found out about the problem and were working to correct it asap. Well... "asap" didn't happen due to delays caused by communication issues between Ural Canada and the factory in Russia, amongst other things. So the insurance ended up being cancelled and I was NOT a happy camper. But last week the problem was finally sorted out and new registration papers issued with the correct VIN's on them. My insurance company reinstated the policy yesterday (temporarily, of course, until everything has been verified) and I can now ride my Ural again!

Just in time for the cold, rainy weather.

Well, at least the Harley was problem free throughout the whole ordeal and continues to give reliable service and a comfy ride. It now has over 54,000km on the clock and now THE most reliable bike I have ever owned. None of the others I've ridden over the years ever went this far without any issues, so I think this is a testament to Harley's build quality.

So you'd think I'd be happy with my FLHT and willing to keep it forever, right? Well, normally I would but this damn Russian sidecar bike has warped my mind and soul. Despite the fact that it is half the bike in terms of comfort and performance when compared to my Harley, it has twice the fun factor and is an absolute blast to ride. Lately I've been thinking of selling the Harley and buying either a Gear-Up (the military version of the Ural, with a sidecar that has a machine gun mount!) or the Retro Solo, which is a retro styled Ural that has been weaned off the sidecar at the factory and fitted with taller gearing for better performance. It's not a dedicated touring rig like the FLHT, but is capable of sustained 115kmh cruising and can be fitted with niceties like a windshield and saddlebags and would make an excellent commuter bike. I love my Harley, I really do - but the Tourist has taught me how to slow down and enjoy the ride with the bonus of being able to take Hector along with me and now I'm asking myself if I really need a big*ss touring bike when something smaller and lighter would suffice. I think what I might do is put the Harley on consignment sale over the winter at the dealer; if it sells then I'll get another Ural. If it doesn't, I'll probably keep it... and maybe put a sidecar on it.

[Gummiente]

I was supposed to meet up for a ride with a fellow Ural rider and his buddy with a Norton/Velorex combo yesterday, but they both cancelled so I was on my own. I had taken the day off and even though it was misty/foggy/drizzly and only 10C outside I wasn't going to waste the time by sitting around the house drinking beer. Although sometimes that IS a good idea. So I washed the Harley, then put my cold weather riding gear on and rumbled off to the Harley dealer for a chat. It's something I've been meaning to do for awhile now and finally got the opportunity/nerve to do it. I've been back and forth over whether to keep the big FL, sell it and get a Ural Retro Solo, or trade it for a more nimble Harley (ok, all you up there in the peanut gallery - pipe down!) and yesterday I went to see about what Harley had to offer. After a long talk with the sales rep, we crunched some numbers on an '06 Dyna Super Glide with a few accessories. A brand new "Vivid Black" unit with fuel injection, full windshield, hard saddlebags, engine guards, forward controls, factory alarm and a 6 year extended warranty would cost me $30 more per month over what I am paying now for the two year old FLHT. I had some thinking to do, so I told him I'd be in touch at the end of the week to let him know my decision.

I rode home and put the Harley in the garage, then went inside to talk it over with Angie. She understood where I'm coming from and didn't seem upset by the concept, so I decided to go for another ride to do some more thinking. This time the Ural was rolled out and I chose a route that would take me down some of my favourite, quiet county roads so I wouldn't have to fight traffic while mulling things over in my head. I find that riding is the best way for me to do serious thinking; getting out on the open road somehow allows me to dump all the extraneous sh*t in my mind and deal with whatever issue needs attention. I've made some major decisions throughout my life this way and so far it is a technique that has worked pretty good. I can focus on the issue while simultaneously carving up the roads; it's like my eyes and reflexes go on autopilot while the brain is otherwise occupied.

I took a road that I hadn't been down in a few months and, forgetting this was the first time I rode it on the Ural, I wicked up the pace to take advantage of the many tight corners. Things were going fine until I entered an off-camber, decreasing radius downhill right-hander. I was going too fast and before I knew it the sidecar lifted high and I was in serious danger of tipping over. Normally, all one has to do in a situation like this is stay on the throttle while applying the front brake and shifting body weight to the right; this will drop the sidecar back onto the pavement without having to change direction in the middle of the curve. But this time, no matter how much I shifted over and feathered the brake the decreasing radius and off-camber angle kept popping the sidecar back up. About halfway through the curve I crossed over the center line - it was a blind corner and I could not see around it, so I had no idea if anything was oncoming. Eventually, I had scrubbed off enough speed and regained enough control to slam the hack back onto the pavement and get the hell back into my own lane. I was furious - I had made a stupid, rookie mistake that could have cost my life. I allowed myself to get into a situation with no escape route; had a vehicle been coming the other way I would have been completely screwed. So I finally slowed down to a proper speed and spent the next 20 minutes calling myself every name in the book.

And the weird thing is, right in the middle of the corner when I crossed the line, reducing my 23 years of riding experience to a throw of the dice, right at that moment of no return - I made the decision to go for the Super Glide.

So, more cautiously now, I headed towards the Harley dealer. The rest of the road was under construction in various spots, they were laying down that awful oiled gravel cr*p and hammering it into submission with their pavement rollers. It made the corners very slick but this time I was ready for it and actually had some fun experimenting with powerslides around some of the more gentle curves. By the time I arrived at the dealer I was in a good frame of mind and I walked into the showroom 3 hours after my visit earlier that morning. The sales rep saw me coming and gave a smug, knowing grin - he knew why I was there. So we sat down and did up the financing paperwork and sent it off... I should have an answer back some time today.

[Gummiente]

Talked to the dealer yesterday before I left for work; he said it's a done deal. It took a while for the shock to wear off, then the rest of the night was spent dealing with feelings of guilt and second thoughts. But I've decided that I'm still going to do it, so this morning will be spent rounding up all the stock pieces I took off the bike and taking them to the dealer. Tomorrow morning I take "Babe" for one last ride before dropping her off... that's gona be an emotional moment.

Because he doesn't have one in stock, the dealer is contacting all the other shops to find the Super Glide that I want. I've told him I want mine with cast rims and Vivid Black paint, he said he should be able to get one here within the next two weeks. So I might even be able to ride it before the weather gets too nasty, which would be a great way to end the riding season!

[blues2cruise]

I took a road that I hadn't been down in a few months and, forgetting this was the first time I rode it on the Ural, I wicked up the pace to take advantage of the many tight corners. Things were going fine until I entered an off-camber, decreasing radius downhill right-hander. I was going too fast and before I knew it the sidecar lifted high and I was in serious danger of tipping over. Normally, all one has to do in a situation like this is stay on the throttle while applying the front brake and shifting body weight to the right; this will drop the sidecar back onto the pavement without having to change direction in the middle of the curve. But this time, no matter how much I shifted over and feathered the brake the decreasing radius and off-camber angle kept popping the sidecar back up. About halfway through the curve I crossed over the center line - it was a blind corner and I could not see around it, so I had no idea if anything was oncoming. Eventually, I had scrubbed off enough speed and regained enough control to slam the hack back onto the pavement and get the hell back into my own lane. I was furious - I had made a stupid, rookie mistake that could have cost my life. I allowed myself to get into a situation with no escape route; had a vehicle been coming the other way I would have been completely screwed. So I finally slowed down to a proper speed and spent the next 20 minutes calling myself every name in the book.

And the weird thing is, right in the middle of the corner when I crossed the line, reducing my 23 years of riding experience to a throw of the dice, right at that moment of no return - I made the decision to go for the Super Glide.

You had what is known as a "Holy C.r.a.p." moment. It just goes to show you one can never get complacent.

By the way, what does FLHT mean?

[Gummiente]

By the way, what does FLHT mean?

F*cking Large Harley, Touring.

No, really, it's just the Harley alphabet they use to describe particular models. The "F" means it's an overhead valve engine, currently the Twin Cam 88 design. The "L" used to denote the high compression engine many years ago, but these days it denotes the wide front end and large front tire. The "H" means heavy duty and the "T" means it's a Touring model; in this case the Electra-Glide Standard. If mine had fuel injection the model code would read FLHTI.

[cb360]

Thanks for posting your story Gummi. A lot of folks would just keep that to themselves. I thinks it's pretty valuable for folks who might have less experience to see that it can happen to anyone anytime when your mind wanders. Glad you're ok. Ans I LOVE the Ural!