You probably associate Ural with sidecar motorcycles. But the new Ural sT has extended the classic Ural experience to solo riders. The company says, “Think of it as a bike that could have been produced by Ural in the 1970s if the engineers were allowed to fulfil their ambition for a performance two-wheeler.” The sT keeps the traditional Ural look, and like its sidecar cousins, it’s at home on a forest road as well as the Interstate. Interestingly, Ural will build each sT to order, using what it calls ‘Ural A La Carte’: “The starting point is the base model in flat black. It comes with straight stainless steel exhaust, standard gas tank, black trim, single ‘tractor seat’ and a black rear fender rack. You can choose to order additional equipment and/or upgrade from standard specification.” There are two seat options: a base model single ‘tractor’ seat with a rubber shock mount, or a two-up bench seat. You can also have two single seats, if you mount the second seat on the rear fender. There’s a menu [PDF] that potential owners can download, choose from, and send back to Ural. It allows you to specify the color, shinier trim, seating configuration, engine protection, fender racks, toolkits and so on. But unlike most bespoke bikes, the starting price for the sT is eminently reasonable: just $6,999. That’s the same as a base model Harley-Davidson Sportster 883 Low—which is arguably packing the same level of technology. I know what I’d rather have.
Nikon D80 | 1/100s | f/16 | ISO 125 | Focal length 28mm
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13 Comments
8 Negro posted a video of someone tearing ass through a forest on one of these.
Looked like fun.
Shame theyre still not availible in Oz…
Anybody know that tires those are? I like ‘em.
The tires are Duro HF-308s, which are replicas of the classic Pirelli MT-53—which I think was popular with flat-trackers in the 60s.
I usually like bikes based on classic designs… I’m afraid that this has all the personality of a wheelbarrow, however.
Why is that?
@ jobee58.
think of urals as Landrover Defenders. Compared to the quashquais (or how do you spell the japanese word for ‘tacky plastic wannabee’ they may look like a wheelbarrow on the screen of your laptop. In real life they’re much more authentic than one can shake a stick at. More than many other machines they sod all and do theire very own thing. And that’s what they exepct the the rider to do as well.
Given the choice between this and that monstrosity of technical excellence the all-new XTZ1200 Super Digital Tenere for a real world trip, not just a weekend warriors idea (i.e. a run to the shops and back) I’d take this every single time.
It could be rebuilt by a yak herder, fuelled on vodka and it would fade into the background of a Vietnamese rush hour.
Just the job!
Cool bike. Funny thing — I had never heard of these before, but the day after I read this post I saw one of the sidecar models up in Kent, CT (a popular spot for Sunday cruising on a sunny day). It was olive green with camo canvas tonneau cover, spare tire cover, and tool bags. Looked like a sharp bike, considering how affordable they are.
What I didn’t see was what size is the motor? I have to agree, I’d also preffer this to the HD 883.
It’s a 745cc air-cooled boxer engine with around 40 sturdy Russian horses.
@ Chris Hunter, Thanks, I’m not very up to date on the Urals.
The Ural Motorcycles is a excellent bike.