I'm considering a '98 Ural Deco with 20,000 km I'vew seen on Craigslist. The current owner says there are no defects. Taking him at face value, I'll say Okay, but what are the inherent problems with that model year, other than being slow (which may not be a bad thing for a newbie). I'd love to hear some thoughts :O
It would be a great rig for your first sidecar. I bought a very similar one to find out what riding on three wheels was all about. Wanted to see if Barb would continue to ride with me if she could ride in a sidecar, and to see if Archie would take to it and to see what I'd think of riding on three wheels. I didn't really expect to think much of it. Well, two out of three ain't bad! Barb had her mind made up she wanted to quit riding. Archie loved it and so did I. The rest is history. For a couple years we rode the Ural while the Harley mostly sat. Finally sold it, my Kwik Kamp and an old parts tractor to raise the money for the Liberty and haven't rode on two wheels since.
I own 2 Urals. The most recent one being a 1998 Ural Deco. I have not had this rig for very long but I like it a lot. My 2006 Gear up has some much nicer aspects to it. Mostly the front disk brake but I am loving the deco. It is a real fun Sunday cruiser.
Urals as you may or may not know have some inherent quirks (not all of them) but they are considered to some extent a RPOC (Russian piece of crap). This of course can be a term of endearment to us foil heads 🙂 . If it runs good, sounds good, looks good (some rust is normal) and smells decent you may very well have a rig you will love IMHO. The price would have to be right but they really are cool bikes. Good luck on your decisions. Cheers!
As in "Wow!! Cool old Beemer! Did you restore it yourself?" Can't tell you how many time I heard that when Archie and I were on the Ural...
