Ural is a Russian company that has been building motorcycles with attached sidecars since World War Two. Ural's Gear Up model features a driveshaft running from the rear wheel hub to the sidecar wheel to enable this trike to engage two-wheel-drive.

By the numbers, the Ural Gear Up cannot keep up with its offroad competition. The Ural was first engineered as a copy of a 1930s BMW, and its design has seen minimal upgrades. Any modern side-by-side can conquer more difficult terrain at higher speeds. If you need an on-road/offroad machine, a dual-sport motorcycle such as the venerable KTM EXC-F enduro is a smarter option. If you are after swoon-worthy vintage charm, build a 1965 Ducati Scrambler. The Ural Gear Up is heavy, relatively expensive, and primitive. Yet motorcycling and offroading are not about the numbers--or about logic. There is nothing on the road or trail remotely like the Ural Gear Up.

Riding one is a timeless, visceral experience. The bike's vintage looks draw a crowd everywhere it goes. This sidecar motorcycle is one of our favorite vehicles of all time!

The Ural Motorcycle Originated In World War Two

Here's How The 2021 Ural Gear Up Stands Against Off-Roading Competition

At the dawn of World War Two, the German military was the first fully-motorized army in history: the Nazi war machine had a spot aboard a truck or half-track for every German soldier. This allowed the Reich to devastate its enemies with lightning-fast Blitzgrieg attacks. In early skirmishes, the Russian army found themselves outmaneuvered by the Germans at every turn. As Stalin began to expect that the German-Soviet nonaggression pact wouldn't hold, he knew he needed a faster way to move troops.

The Germans refused to share any of their technology with the Soviets, so Stalin's engineers hatched a daring plan. It was no secret that BMW's first motorcycles were very impressive. So the Russians contracted Swedish intermediaries to buy five late-1930s BMW R71s. The Russians disassembled and reverse-engineered these motorcycles. Stalin approved the final vehicle, and the Dnepr-72 was born. These motorcycles, many outfitted with sidecars, proved a reliable favorite vehicle of the Red Army.

The Soviets produced the first generation of Dnepr-72s in a Moscow factory (labeled M-72s by the military). As they grew more concerned about German bombing raids, they invested in a new motorcycle factory in the Ural Mountains. After the war's end, the Ural factory continued building motorcycles for the Soviet military. Recently discharged Russian soldiers returned to their home villages, many of which were inaccessible by car. They began seeking motorcycles as capable and reliable as the Dnepr-72s they had ridden during the war. The Ural company immediately began offering a version of its sidecar motorcycle to civilians. The motorcycles became a part of Russian life, and by 1953, Ural began selling the bikes abroad.

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This Sidecar Motorcycle Is Built On Stolen BMW Technology

Here's How The 2021 Ural Gear Up Stands Against Off-Roading Competition
Via: Ultimate Motorcycling

By the time Russia began building its M-72 sidecar motorcycle based on the BMW R71, the Germans had already replaced the R71 with the famous BMW Sidecar R75. But the Russian soldiers found the simple, opposed-twin, air-cooled motorcycles to be reliable and serviceable.

Today's Ural motorcycles feature a 749 cc opposed-twin engine (the same configuration found on a modern BMW). Each cylinder features two overhead valves. They are air-cooled 4-stroke machines producing 41 horsepower and 42 ft-lbs of torque. The compression is 8.6:1.

Here's How The 2021 Ural Gear Up Stands Against Off-Roading Competition
Via: Motorcycle.com

The Urals route power through a double-disc dry clutch to a manual transmission with four forward gears and a handy reverse gear. Like BMWs, the Ural has a driveshaft and a final drive (ratio 4.62) similar to a car. Upmarket Urals (such as the Gear Up) also feature a driveshaft from the rear wheel to the sidecar wheel. When this driveshaft is engaged, the sidecar motorcycle becomes a two-wheel-drive, capable of navigating more difficult offroad terrain.

While much of the Ural's engineering has remained unchanged over the decades, owners of vintage bikes report that the newer machines are built of higher quality metal and finished to a higher standard. Driving the resulting vehicle is a tactile, even visceral experience. The 2021 Ural rides like a vehicle outside of time: shifting requires decisive movements, and cornering means fighting the sidecar's added weight. But with the Ural's fuel injection and disc brakes, motorcyclists can enjoy a vintage experience coupled with modern reliability.

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The Gear Up Is The Top-Of-The-Line Ural

Here's How The 2021 Ural Gear Up Stands Against Off-Roading Competition
Via: Pinterest

The modern Ural motorcycle does enjoy several necessary upgrades. The Ural features disc brakes, with one rotor at each of its three wheels. The front brake lever actuates the front wheel's single rotor, while the rear brake pedal activates both the rear wheel's disc brake and the sidecar wheel's disc brake. This odd configuration requires some getting used to but has excellent stopping power.

Ural has also upgraded the fuel system has been upgraded from a carburetor to a modern electronic fuel injection throttle body. The modern motorcycle has a twelve-volt electrical system and a modern 40 Amp alternator.

The front suspension now features an IMZ leading link fork. The rear suspension and sidecar suspension both have Sachs hydraulic spring shock absorbers that are 7X adjustable. All three rims are identical and are wrapped in Duro HF-308 tires. At 730 lbs, the resulting motorcycle is far from a trials bike but can navigate surprisingly difficult offroad terrain at a steady pace. With only four forward gears, the Ural's top speed is somewhere between 70 and 75 MPH.

The Gear Up model's sidecar features LED fog lights, a tonneau cover, and a power outlet. It also comes with several accessories: a "jerry can" gasoline tank, a folding utility shovel, a luggage rack, and a spare tire. The Gear Up model comes standard with the otherwise optional sidecar driveshaft required for a two-wheel-drive mode.

Some might dismiss the Gear Up as a ninety-year-old dinosaur. Others would praise it as a priceless time capsule from an era when machines were simple yet reliable. The Ural is far from the world's fastest offroader...but it has endured for decades because it just might be the coolest!

Sources: Motorcyclist Magazine, ADV Pulse, WomanRider.com, Ural Motorcycles

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