New To Me '06 Ural Patrol

One other interesting item of note, the rear light on the bike is a British sidecar tail light. I called a dealer to see if they could order me one, they called the factory to see and it turns out that Ilya was at the factory so he threw one in his briefcase and brought it back for me. If you do not know 2006 was the last year of the real Russian built rigs, square cut cast gears and all. They left the de-burring to the new owner, the oil drain plugs looked like Chia pets for the first few oil changes. I bought the 2006 brand new for that very reason. That picture is an ad they ran in the BMW MOA magazine and Cycle World, your new rig is famous.

Quote from DirtyDR on April 15, 2024, 9:04 am

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.

 

 

I thought it felt too good to be just OEM.  That transmission is tighter, and slicker shifting than the BMW.  Final drive feels similarly crisp.

Cool picture!  I immediately searched the packet to see if that brochure was there, so I could send it to you for an "autograph".  Imagine my disappointment.  lol   May have to do an eBay search for a copy...

If you are up for it, how about a call this afternoon?  Got to tell you, this has been a really fun purchase.  🙂

Medina ran the ad in the BMW Owners News and in Cycle Guide or Cycle World, can't remember. I have copies around here somewhere but I can't find them right off.

Let me know when you want to chat, you have my number don't you?

Quote from DirtyDR on April 15, 2024, 12:08 pm

Medina ran the ad in the BMW Owners News and in Cycle Guide or Cycle World, can't remember. I have copies around here somewhere but I can't find them right off.

Let me know when you want to chat, you have my number don't you?

How about this afternoon around 2:00? 

If your number is the same as in the E/F directory, I've got it! 

Works for me, 2:00 pm it is.

Electrical Repairs Part One:

Well, there hasn't been any "epic" troubleshooting.  Overall the condition of the electrical system seems pretty good.  Things like dielectric grease in connectors & bulb sockets and what seems like quality wire has made things pretty straight forward.  So figured to start with the easy stuff first.   Because why open the tool box when that means actual work... Aaaaack!!!!!!

Horn not operational - No horn to be operated >  Added horn

High beam not functional - High resistance through HB contact tips in relay > Replaced relay

A few burned out bulbs- Sent burned out bulbs on permanent vacation > Installed new harder working bulbs

Left to troubleshoot is brake lights staying on, and turn signals not signaling.  That means disassembling things.  Tomorrow will be a nicer day to actually do work. 

Learned a cool factoid while troubleshooting the turn signals today.  The Ural sidecar tail light can have the sockets swapped around to change the position of the Brake/Running bulb and turn signal bulb, in the lamp assembly.  Why would someone want to do this? Eliminates the turn signal lamp that sticks out on the stalk, just waiting to be ripped off by a tree or big rock. 

Dana had done the swap years ago, but somewhere down the line it got changed up when the correct lens assembly broke.  When I got it there was a poor fitting black lamp base without a dual element socket (had the running light and turn signal hooked up only, no brake light).  

Either I or the next owner can get the correct British/Australian sidecar lamp lens, and then just swap the sockets and bulbs around.  Then the turn signal will be to the outside of the rig in the amber lens, and the running/brake bulb will be in the red lens towards the inside of the bike.  

So many really trick things Dana did.  Yesterday we talked for almost three hours about all the upgrades and mods.   I learned stock Ural transmissions don't shift this tight and slick, final drives on stock Urals have more slop, and about a thousand other little things.

Pictures:  * Rear lamps as currently configured.   * How to swap around the Ural Sidecar lamp socket assemblies to reverse the bulb positions to run correctly on the tugger. the dual element bulb will go in 180 degrees rotated from original to properly seat the offset pins.

Buddy let me know last night that they definitely want it.  🙂  Pretty excited about that.  Couldn't imagine a better family for it to go to.  It will get a lot of attention, and use.

I finished up all the electrical diagnostics/repairs.  Will need the broken rear brake switch replaced.  But not until the rear brakes are fixed, with the linkages properly lubricated and adjusted.  

Ended up installing a new horn, replacing the Headlight Relay, Flasher Relay, a few bulbs, and one fuse I "popped" while looking for a short.  Then wired in the sidecar fender light that Dana had originally put on the bike (but was removed at some point).  Since there was only a U.S. sidecar lens, I swapped the sockets for now (Brake/Running in red lens, turn in amber lens).  Cleaned and adjusted the front brake switch (it was stuck on).   Pretty straight forward stuff.  

Funny note:  Was using the schematic from the IMZ website.   That was interesting.  I've used German, Austrian, Danish, Italian, Japanese, British, Chinese and American schematics before (probably a few others as well, it was a very long career).  For such a simple machine,  they had more circuits drawn that ran in circles than a knitted scarf has knots.   I'm betting whoever drew it got paid by the line.  😉

Took it out for a good romp down the road (about 12 miles worth).  Runs strong, and has a beautiful exhaust note.  Lots of mechanical stuff needs attention, along with plenty of cleaning/polishing/repainting to do.  That will keep them busy.  They are going to have a real nice rig. 

Two more things I found nicer than the R1100 GS/Dnepr:  Clutch pull is really light, with great modulation.  Exhaust note is both deeper in pitch and meatier sounding (more Harley-esque than Singer sewing machine).

That's it for me.  Couple of "Glamour Shots" for posterity. 😉