It is indeed an Ural. Easy to see if you know a bit of Kyrillic letters (and read "RAL" on the rear mudflap)
The owner has disguised the bike a bit to make it look like a Wehrmacht R75 by removing some Ural hints but he missed one detail:
A German Wehrmacht R75 Gespann would have the sidecar on the right.
Technically it is quite close to the Wehrmacht R75.
The quality is very poor if you bought the version that was made for the local (USSR) market. They did "export versions" which were of slightly more decent build. Not sure where quality went since the 1990's and Glasnost & Perestroika.
I used to service one in my shop during the second half of the 1990's and rode it many times.
As opposed to p.s. I think they are great fun.
Sideways pull is something typical for side car bikes and is inherited from the assymetrical layout. After a while you learn how to accelerate or brake the thing around the corners.
The wheels needed to get recentered on new bikes. Once that was done they were fine and strong enough as long as the people did not abuse the bikes.
The gearbox is obviously not the Hayabusa's but it works.
IMHO the Ural's are fun factor 100. They are capable of transporting the whole family over rough to non existent roads as long as you sort out sloppy manufacture, take your time and do your service.
Pull into the next biker gathering and make sure to park noticably downhill without forward escape route.
After switching off you mutter something like "forgot something at home" and while the crowds expect to be asked for help to manhandle the monster out of its parking and wrestle it back onto the road, you kickstart, mount, throw the Ural into reverse, and while reversing elegantly, smile and shout "back in a minute!"
Topic: Old Bike with sidecar (Read 915 times)
