Ural Trailered to Service

Kevin from Scrambler Cycle showed up this weekend to tow my Ural back to his shop. Ural agreed to replace the final drive as an entire unit under the warranty. The downside is that they are on backorder and are awaiting a shipment from the factory in Russia. Ural FDs are not known to fail in this manner. It seems like just bad luck. It did get me all the way home (and the winter), so maybe not SO bad of luck.

There isn’t an ETA on the part yet, but I’m going to guess a month based on my experience with the wheels last summer which also came from the factory. The extended warranty is looking mighty inviting right now.

Last year, my wheels were breaking spokes left and right because the place I bought it didn’t have the alignment setup correctly even after “checking” it twice! It’s been fine now for several thousand miles since Kevin set the alignment properly.

I spend a bit of time this morning emptying out the trunk and sidecar,

and getting it ready for the 100 mile trailer ride. I covered the grips with my old handlebar mitts to keep the salt and grime out of the switches. I might want to re-use the awesome hippo hands on another bike while I wait for the Ural to return.

It was a bit sad to see it hauled away. There is a big empty space now in the garage. Kevin promised to keep me updated as things develop.

If the weather cooperates, I should be back on two-wheels in a few days, so I won’t mind waiting a while for the part. Hopefully we won’t get too much more snow. It’s supposed to be spring right?!

In the meantime, my wife has been awesome driving me around. I’m enjoying spending the extra time together each day (she is too).

Thanks Kevin for working with me to get it towed back to your shop!