Background first. Me, 36. Son, 5. Wife, well, I have a wife. 🙂
I own an '06 KLR650. Wife has an '02 TW200. I like to ride with my son (wearing a child harness) - but am not crazy about it, especially for long rides.
So...the discussion has come up in the family. Do we sell the KLR and buy an Ural (tourist, patrol, whatever), or do I hook up with the awesome guys at Dauntless and get a Sputnik (or Ural) hack on the KLR?
Basically I want to be able to ride with my son. Or dog. Or wife.
Money IS an object, we are not rich. I am an E-7 in the U.S. Coast Guard, about 7 years from retirement (if I do just 20).
What are the pros and cons of each? What would you do, if you couldn't have both the KLR AND an Ural?
Kinda confused, I hope this makes sense. Just looking for some advice.
Thanks!
Andy
The Ural and the KLR will have similar performance. Either rig will do what you want. Niether are well suited to fast travel over the open road, both work well on slower roads and would be a fun way to haul the kid. The Dauntless subframe and mounts for the KLR work very well. It really comes down to cost and what you like.
Thanks for the reply.
I'm actually leaning towards getting an Ural passenger hack, as I like the looks much better than the Sputnik. But...Dauntless has none in stock and they aren't sure if they are getting anymore...
Not to worry, I have time as I won't be doing anything for another 6-8 months or so!
Ural Patrol or GearUp with 2WD and reverse standard. Not suited for the freeway but happily putt along at 55 mph. More to see and experience at this speed.
URal needs a fair amount of maintenance so if you don't like to wrench, forget it. Or make your dealer rich doing it for you if you are lucky enough to have one close to you.
Bob in Minnesota
2006 GearUP
I had a new Ural Retro (an 05) I sold it when I was getting my 3rd rig.
The ural is really cool, but I would bet the KLR would be WAY more reliable. The Ural is great if you like to tinker, but they are nothing like a modern Japanese motorcycle. I am not knocking the Ural, it depends on how mechanically inclined you are.
jmho
greg
Another sidecar possibility; Cozy sidecars (imported from India)state that they have a kit to adapt their hacks to most other bikes aside from the Royal Enfields they usually accompany.
Well I can atest that the sidecar is reasonably light weight and the RE can move it along fairly well (I was clocked at 60 MPH) I'm not too keen on the mountings used. Some struts look spindly and I've had a mounting specifc bolt break.
I'm not suggesting they are worthless, I've done OK with mine. However there is more info on them that you can get when you link off the Royal Enfield Motorcycle site.
Jawa sidecars are also sold here in the US and I've seen one attached to a H-D Sportster. Different looking but not too shabby.
Originally written by retro-rig on 10/13/2007 5:25 AM
Jawa sidecars are also sold here in the US .
Would you have any contact info?
thx
greg
The Jawa cars mentioned are the current Velorex models.
The Velorex mountings are also used on Cozy installations for sturdier mounts.
Lonnie Cook
Northwest Sidecars
Boise, ID
A Velorex dealer
nwsidecar@aol.com
The 'Universal mounting kit' for a Cozy are Velorex mounts AT THIS TIME.
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