From Russia with love
The Sahara may not be your ideal holiday destination, but if it were, the Ural Sahara SE would get you there. And in a country such as Australia with its vast outback and deserts, a solid, dependable outfit would be a great way to catch the sights.
The latest offering from the Russian company can be a bit of a handful in city traffic (what isn’t?) but leave the urban lights behind and a whole new world awaits. The 750cc twin engine has been around long enough that it should be virtually bug-free, which is what you want when you’re exploring. After all, the company has been in business since 1940, initially to counter the invading Germans with their R71 BMW outfits. Their solution; capture, copy, attack, win. Following WW2, the Ural was put into civilian guise and sold extremely well, and with subtle and continuous refinements, is the machine you see here. Of course, those refinements have included such mandatories as Electronic Fuel Injection and a CDI ignition system sourced from Italy, but the flat twin is still air-cooled and coupled to a four-speed gearbox which also incorporates a reverse gear. This is engaged by shifting a chrome-plated lever on the right side either by hand or foot, and backwards you go. With 41 horsepower on tap and more than 330kg (plus humans and luggage) to shift, you’ll not see much more than 110km/h on the dial, but that’s comfortable and would allow you to cover plenty of terrain between stops, which with the 19 litre fuel tank equates to around 350km. However should you run short of essence, you have the standard fitment jerry can lashed to the sidecar flank to see you through. The Sahara SE is the top spec of the Ural range and essentially the Ranger model with lots of extras. The substantial leading link front end is controlled by Sachs spring/damper
units, which also adorn the rear and the sidecar wheel. ‘Substantial’ is a word that adequately describes most aspects of the Ural, and this extends to the sidecar itself, which is very spacious. There’s also a roomy (83 litre) boot compartment at the rear that will swallow a huge amount of stuff, including a shovel. The sidecar wheel is sprung via a swinging arm, and has its own disc brake. Overseas models with the sidecar on the right have the sidecar wheel driven from the diff, but this is not possible with a left-mounted chair. Riding the Ural presents a few quirks, most of which manifest themselves around town. Left hand corners need to be treated with respect, and I found a certain degree of ‘Body English’ was necessary to counter the feeling that the sidecar wheel was about to leave the deck – it probably isn’t, but it feels that way. Right handers, conversely, are cool. Careful attention to throttle control is also necessary as a big handful can send complex messages to the steering department – smooth is the word. I also found the placement of the rear brake lever quite odd; it is difficult to avoid resting your foot on the lever while riding due to its proximity to the right side footrest. A handy feature is the hand-operated parking brake. You’ll need it if the road is anything other than flat. The Brembo brakes are linked together and plenty powerful, and currently, not mandated to incorporate ABS – that is probably coming sometime in the next 2-3 years. Switchgear is Japanese-sourced and the overall finish is very good, regardless of where it originated. Standard accessories include LED fog lights on the sidecar (which can be easily removed and hand-held), a 12 volt power outlet in the chair (which has a tonneau cover), a Jerry can, folding shovel, luggage rack and spare wheel that will fit all three corners. There’s also an Off-Road package for $1,800 for serious adventuring. Sidecar riding can be appealing for numerous reasons, including approaching maturity that can make riding big solos a bit of a chore. Going back several generations there were scores of outfits on offer but today, for an off-the-shelf sidecar outfit, there’s a choice of just one – Ural.