Ultimate Bushcraft Vehicle !!!

[pumbaa]

I am looking at changing my 1200 bandit , i NEED to ride slower ! In my search i found These and reckon they look like a handy bit of kit . Unfortunately they dont have the extra drive on the UK spec ones as the chair is on the other side .
Check out the movies of it in action .
Do you think its worth a go without the extra drive ?
Does anyone have any experience of them ?
Cheers
Pumbaa

 

[Abbe Osram]

I am looking at changing my 1200 bandit , i NEED to ride slower ! In my search i found These and reckon they look like a handy bit of kit . Unfortunately they dont have the extra drive on the UK spec ones as the chair is on the other side .
Check out the movies of it in action .
Do you think its worth a go without the extra drive ?
Does anyone have any experience of them ?
Cheers
Pumbaa

Canoe in summer and sledge dogs in winter is the way to travel.

cheers
Abbe

 

[bothyman]

Give Mick a ring at MPC he may be able to help.

>> http://www.uralmotorbikes.info/index.htm

 

[Motorbike Man]

Pumbaa......NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!

The only people I have ever known to make these reliable have had to spend AT LEAST the price of the bike again on getting the whole thing rebuilt in particular the gearbox. They are agricultural to say the least. I once saw the insides of a gearbox on one of these and it looked the the gears had been hand filed!!

If you really want something with more than two wheels and want offroad capability, go for a quad as there are now several that are road legal.

 

[pumbaa]

Are they worse than Italian wireing ? the Moto Guzzi suffers from that Real bad !
Pumbaa

 

[Squidders]

I would also recommend a quad because sidecars tend to drag you one way or the other if you hit anything like a bump... I've ridden my mothers a few times also and getting used to the accelerate to turn left, brake to turn right bit is weird too.

I would also look at something big and reliable like a Honda Africa Twin perhaps.

Strange that I was looking for a Bandit 1200 very recently... I'm now lookin for a ZZR or VFR. If I were you, I'd get a horse. canoes are ok but most of my bushcraft is on land and a canoe can't paddle its self when you're all tuckered out.

 

[arctic hobo]

Pumbaa......NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!

The only people I have ever known to make these reliable have had to spend AT LEAST the price of the bike again on getting the whole thing rebuilt in particular the gearbox. They are agricultural to say the least. I once saw the insides of a gearbox on one of these and it looked the the gears had been hand filed!!

If you really want something with more than two wheels and want offroad capability, go for a quad as there are now several that are road legal.

That surprises me - I know Ural trucks (now a separate company) used to be amazingly tough bits of kit. Oh well.

 

[innocent bystander]

Look on the plus side. You'd have somewhere to mount the mg34 machine gun that you might need in the wilds !!

 

[pumbaa]

Look on the plus side. You'd have somewhere to mount the mg34 machine gun that you might need in the wilds !!

Now we are talking , thought a wooden one might be in order !
Pumbaa

 

[Motorbike Man]

Look on the plus side. You'd have somewhere to mount the mg34 machine gun that you might need in the wilds !!

One of the guys I knew that had one actually had a replica mounted on the sidecar, he used to get pulled by every new copper in the area until he sold it after it died once too often

That was of course a few years ago, do that these days and you'll probably get scary men in black suits pointing real guns at you

 

[arctic hobo]

One of the guys I knew that had one actually had a replica mounted on the sidecar, he used to get pulled by every new copper in the area until he sold it after it died once too often

That was of course a few years ago, do that these days and you'll probably get scary men in black suits pointing real guns at you

The bloke shot for carrying a table leg comes to mind...

 

[Motorbike Man]

The bloke shot for carrying a table leg comes to mind...

Exactly

 

[innocent bystander]

Just in case anyone is wondering, i did not seriously suggest going out and buying a machine gun to put on the side car.
Just that the bike is actually a copy of the ww2 sidecar outfits, used by the germans.
Just in case anyone thinks that it would be a good idea, outside of reinactment circles..

 

[pumbaa]

In all seriousness my reasons behind a ural is that i can get the twins on board , which i couldnt with a quad . I thought about building a trike out of my old guzzi spada mk1 (another agricultral beast , without a single chain in it ) but cant work out an off road design that doesnt look awful (and the wife has her eyes on it for a trike for her).
There are some cheapish space frame buggies available , but no storage and only 2 seater . What ever i get will need to be usable on the road as well as i would use it for the school run in the summer (or when the kids dont winge about the cold).Luggage space is another plus even just racks .
Any ideas ?
Cheers
Pumbaa

 

[Motorbike Man]

In all seriousness my reasons behind a ural is that i can get the twins on board , which i couldnt with a quad . I thought about building a trike out of my old guzzi spada mk1 (another agricultral beast , without a single chain in it ) but cant work out an off road design that doesnt look awful (and the wife has her eyes on it for a trike for her).
There are some cheapish space frame buggies available , but no storage and only 2 seater . What ever i get will need to be usable on the road as well as i would use it for the school run in the summer (or when the kids dont winge about the cold).Luggage space is another plus even just racks .
Any ideas ?
Cheers
Pumbaa

I reckon you'd get more go out of something like an old CX500 outfit in decent nick, or even on old R or K series BMW outfit for the same money and the BMW's are basically an evolved Ural anyway, only with bombproof reliability.

 

[AJB]

Hi,

Came across this

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=424&item=4556574190&rd=1

a BMW R 71 Military with Sidecar Repl. Dnepr,II World War at £400!

thought your might be interested!

Andy

 

[pumbaa]

Cheers for that , could be just the ticket .
Keeping an eye for sure.
Cheers
Pumbaa

 

[JimH]

I reckon you'd get more go out of something like an old CX500 outfit in decent nick, or even on old R or K series BMW outfit for the same money and the BMW's are basically an evolved Ural anyway, only with bombproof reliability.

Which is far from the case with the Dnepr - I know folk who've had them

Buy a BMW R80 outfit, it'll actually go, and they are quite cheap, if a bit thin on the ground.

The alloy on Dnepr/Ural bikes is made from a cheese/plasticene alloy.

<edit>

And the kickstart fouls the sidecar when set up for the UK

</edit>

Jim. (BMW R1150GS)

 

[Great Pebble]

That surprises me - I know Ural trucks (now a separate company) used to be amazingly tough bits of kit. Oh well.

Kinda debateable. In the sense that they may continue to move seemingly without end, possibly. Keeping them on the road in a legal and safe (UK standard) condition is another thing entirely.