New To Me '06 Ural Patrol

Scott,

Looking forward to your progress on the elder Patrol. I have no doubt Dana will be a great asset to your project. Have fun with the electrical side of the project as that is portion of a project I enjoy the most as well. 

Dave

Thanks Dave!

Quick update:

Needed a DVM for the BDFH (Broken Down Farm House) project that was in the garage, and on the way back into the house thought, "might as well check the Ural battery."  Connected the leads to the SAE cable which had been installed to make monthly battery charging easier by the last owner, and saw 0.0V.   Hmmmm!  checked at the B+ starter lug to starter housing and it was 12.0V (dead, but not damaged battery).  Found the negative lead to the SAE connector had been crushed, and the circuit was open.  Connected a charger at the starter to let the battery charge up, and after a bit of charging, the bike started just fine.  running voltage was about 14.5V so Alternator is working fine as well.  Plenty of electrical issues with lighting, horn, etc.  to make me happy though. 🙂

First putt through the yard and down the street impression: 

Engine sounds & feels good mechanically.  Transmission and Final drive feel and sound fine.  Reverse and 2WD functions (shifters need some "love" for solid operation).   Front brake feels decent.  Sidecar brake feels decent, rear brake isn't functioning, and is already adjusted to max. 

Sure drives a lot different than the R1100 GS with Dnepr.  Somethings better (reverse gear, 2WD, easy steering & diminutive size of the bike), Somethings not as good (brakes, power, comfort, stability, suspension).

Along with electrical to make it a "driver", carbs will need servicing, intake manifolds replaced, Cross Over fuel line repaired/replaced, etc., etc.. Speedometer will need some love.  But nothing that should be too expensive.  Overall, just a lot of attention needed. 

So now it sits until next week, when I'll rummage through the boxes of parts to see what is there, and what needs to be ordered, and then get to work.

Pictures:  * Crushed SAE negative wire,  * Speedometer needle broken and missing the pointer.

Needed a break from working in the attic on wiring, so went rummaging through the Boxes-O-Parts.  Lots off good stuff!  🙂  Found the complete paperwork package, to include Operators Manual, two different brochures, original bill of sale, and all the PDI paperwork.  Pretty cool to find out the bike is "papered".  Also found a carb kit with float needle that is needed on the left carb. 

Need to see if the original plastic float bowl vent caps are available.  If not, I'll run the lines up under the tank with vents (which would be better for fording deep oceans any way).  Also needs new intake manifolds originals are dry rotted and cracked through.  This will force me to get a set of carb stix, or something, to balance the carbs on this bike, and check the BMW throttle body balance. 

So that was a fun way to chill out for a bit.  Tomorrow it's back in the attic for more exciting fun and adventure. 

Pictures:  * Ural pouch with all the cool paper work.  * Left carb with home brew vent, and cracked manifold.  * Right carb & manifold is the same way except vent hose is missing screen. 

Scott,

As soon as you mentioned "next week to dig into the parts box" I knew damn good and well you would never last that long without discovering what is in your box of goodies. LOL     Good for you as this provides fantastic distraction from the BDFH and attic choirs....

Still tossing popcorn 🙂

Dave

Dealing with an attic where they've put batt insulation and then blown in another 16" of insulation over top.  Digging through the rafters to find electrical that has been ad-hocked for about 100 years is back breaking work.  I can still work hard, but not for as long as I used to.  lol

Just did a search over on Soviet Steeds for those vent caps and ran across a very helpful thread.  Not only is there a source for those caps (pretty much any Ural dealer), the thread also had part numbers.  Also many responses regarding running the vent hoses up into the frame (what I was thinking). 

Funny part was there was a mention of a plugged vent causing the float bowl to over fill.  So I went out to check that "screen" in the home made vent cap on the left carb.   Turns out it isn't a screen at all.  It is a plug.  I think the idea is that the hole in the side of the fuel line is supposed to be above the opening in the plastic elbow.  As soon as I raised the piece of fuel hose to the correct spot, the carb stopped leaking.  Imagine that!  roflol  

I have a lot to learn about all things Ural.   Thankfully Soviet Steeds has a good search engine. 🙂 

Picture:  *Proper Position of the "vent cap" 🙂

Scott, if the wiring in the 100+ year old house happens to be Knob & Tube wiring, save as much of the Knobs and Tubes as you can, as they are great collectors items, and are worth a pretty penny in the collectors markets.

Quote from FlyingMonkeys on April 10, 2024, 6:34 pm

Scott, if the wiring in the 100+ year old house happens to be Knob & Tube wiring, save as much of the Knobs and Tubes as you can, as they are great collectors items, and are worth a pretty penny in the collectors markets.

Thanks for the heads up.  There are some of the old knobs and tubes still attached that have been abandoned during various "remodels".  Not sure I'm going to have the patience to take them out.   Maybe I'll just raise the selling price, and leave the new owner a treasure map.  🙂

are you wedded to keeping the keihin carburetters? i dont know what the parts availability is for them, or whether theyre hopelessly integrated into the ducting. but other options are available.

Quote from kevin on April 11, 2024, 4:51 pm

are you wedded to keeping the keihin carburetters? i dont know what the parts availability is for them, or whether theyre hopelessly integrated into the ducting. but other options are available.

Good question.  I'm wedded to keeping expenditures to an absolute minimum.  🙂 

As long as it runs good there are no plans to modify, or modernize.   The current goal is to fixthe deficiencies, and enjoy it for what it is. 

if they work, they work

I've rebuilt the Keihen carbs and it's not bad.  Kits are available.  One thing to check for is if the rubber diaphragm is dry or cracked.  They can be had too but you need to order it for some ATV.

I'm 82.3% sure these are they

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08HN3W9XG

Attached are two guides

Quote from Drew on April 13, 2024, 2:14 pm

I've rebuilt the Keihen carbs and it's not bad.  Kits are available.  One thing to check for is if the rubber diaphragm is dry or cracked.  They can be had too but you need to order it for some ATV.

I'm 82.3% sure these are they

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08HN3W9XG

Attached are two guides

 

Thanks Drew!  Sincerely appreciate the links! 🙂

I think they are okay now that I've got the vent thing figured out.  bike runs very well and starts easier than the R1100 GS.   Also found a couple of kits in the Boxes-O-Parts.

Buddy is stopping by tomorrow to take a look at it.  Hoping if he decides to take it, I still get to do the electrical.  Of course it will probably end up being something simple like a relay or fuse.  But at least I'll get to play for a bit.

Have to say Reverse and 2WD is awesome on this loose, rocky driveway.  Where the Beemer would just get stuck, the Ural doesn't even get loose.  My next rig will have some type of reverse and 2WD system (along with over 100HP and cruise control 🙂 ) 

Buddy came by today to look things over.   After they left I took the Ural for another ride around the neighborhood.  Found two more things I really like better on the Ural than the BMW/Dnepr;  The external trunk, and the low first gear. 

This has been a really great purchase.  It has been enlightening to get the experience of another rig, that is a "known quantity".

A pleasant surprise has been the overall build quality.  I was expecting it to be more loose and floppy.  Even with about 24,000 miles the bike feels taut.  It will be interesting to learn how much of that is OEM, versus work Dana did.  Looking forward to talking to him when he is home and rested from the big Texas Light Show Adventure.  🙂

Summary of my thoughts regarding pluses for the Ural over the BMW/Dnepr are:  Reverse,  2WD, responsive steering, smaller size, external trunk access, low first gear, immediate engine start and smooth idle (cold & hot). 

All this information I'm "cataloging" for the next rig, which will replace the BMW in a year or two. 

There is a lot on that old Ural that has been changed. I had the transmission rebuilt by Sergey at IMWA and he said that he did a few modifications for me when he did it. I put new pistons and rings in it not too long before I sold it. I replaced the heads with a newer style when I bashed one when rock climbing in Moab. If you look you will notice that the valve covers do not match, I had to order a new one after another rock climbing incident in Moab. When I opened up the package it had a Retro valve cover in it even though all of the packing said it contained the correct one, factory screw up. The dealer I bought it from offered to replace it but I told him the Retro one would work fine. Nothing wrong with those Keihen carbs, just check the diaphragms occasionally. By the way they are the same carbs used on the Kawasaki 250 Ninja if you need a reference. The Hagon shocks are an inch or so longer than stock so if you notice a little body roll when cornering it was intentional to get the softer suspension I wanted for off road riding. The up swept pipes are off an older 650 solo, I was told they would not fit but they worked fine. I swapped them left to right and vice versa and cut off the passenger foot pegs to use for mounting the mufflers.

Let me know when you want to chat.