Motorcycles

[gratefulmelon]

^love this!

[Bluegrass]

Great picture.  Great smile.  I remember my dad putting me on the back of his Honda 500 Four when I was a kid.  Motorcycles are wonderful.

[A Former User]

I got to drive my uncles Ural for a couple days, it's a fun bike. My girlfriend was kind of scared of the side car at first, but once riding in it was good. Hoping I can find a good priced used one next spring.

[Bluegrass]

That looks like fun!

[A Former User]

The side car is actually really comfortable too, I'm pushing 6'3" and I could fully stretch out my legs in it. I also went on some really rutted out dirt trails and it handled good.

[harley dave]

the ural is a great bike the later ones have better parts and bearings etc ,japanese and german parts we in the uk do not get the 3rd driven wheel model (sidecar wheel)but i beleive they all have reverse.
i have been out with dave angel (yes thats his real name)from f2 motorcycles who is the importer of ural.
i have had several sidecars and they are great fun ,once your used to them you can shift them along at a fair old pace .
just one thing with sidecars is never ever ever go out without some weight in the chair ,the chair can lift easily and then you have no control ,you may end up mounting the sidewalk/pavement  running down a fence and ending up in a field …..............not that this has ever happened to me you understand 

[summ3rhays]

I guess it's informative, but mostly I just find it disconcerting

[Bluegrass]

Yeah, no kidding.  Ice + Motorcycle = Scary.

[A Former User]

@harley dave this Ural was a 2008 gear up, had disc brakes,but no damper on the front wheel which gave a serious speed wobble above 45mph, and no fuel injection. It also came from California and still had the emissions from there and made it suck air and lose some torque. I know what you mean about the side car getting away from you, I raised it a couple times and my uncle started doing circles in the drive way with it balancing in the air and said " don't ever do this".

[harley dave]

with the speed wobble (or not speed) you just power through that and normally it goes away but i think with the ural 55-60 would be your max comfortable speed .
i loved my sidecars and would love one of the new urals unfortunatly in live in england where there is no where to ride off road and its way to crowded .

cool factor is 10/10 for that one though

[summ3rhays]

Happy Halloween. This is my friends Ural. Pretty cool guy and a hell of an illustrator.

[harley dave]

love the ural must admit ive started to look at these again

[ddtrash]

Picked up a cheap high mileage ex Police Force bike via an auction.  The K1300s has not been changed since it's release in 2009, so an older high mileage model made financial sense, saved myself a lot compared to a 2014 showroom model.

All my previous road bikes have been of a higher value and have been loved and cleaned more than they were used.  Having a cheap bike where all the depreciation has been taken care of is the cure.  I have been out on it every day for the last week and not felt guilty about not cleaning it!

The photos were taken yesterday from the top of "Clee Hill" in sunny Shropshire, not bad for November UK riding!

[Giles]

Donor Yamaha SR250 being looked for…....

[harley dave]

ill put a wanted on the bike sites im on

[Giles]

SR500 or GN400 would work too.  Thanks @harley dave

[harley dave]

is this to much or to far away or to expensive http://www.gumtree.com/p/yamaha-motorbikes/yamaha-sr-250-4stroke/1085665790

[Giles]

hahahahaha  - I've asked the boys at autofabrica to look at that one already…..Great minds and all that......

[Graeme]

I was in Gosport this afternoon, and chatting to @Giles about the options. I reckoned that the SR500 would make more sense, as it has MOAR POWER. That's always a good thing in a bike, right?

I thought that the SR250 and SR500 would be about the same weight, but looking at the specs on Wikipedia they're listed as 130 kg and 158 kg respectively. It turns out that the SR500 is a bit bigger all over than the 250, and that'll make it more comfortable for a taller rider.

The extra weight won't be a problem to deal with. My BMW is about 220 to 230 kg, and the only time I notice is wheeling it out of the garage.

The SR250 has a claimed 21 bhp, versus 32 for the SR500. A learner legal 125 is about 15 bhp, and doesn't have a lot of go about it. Yes, you can get them up to 60 or 70 mph, but they'll run out of steam about then, and aren't a lot of fun on a dual carriageway as a consequence.

Still, I'm hoping Giles goes for the red goatskin seat!

[Giles]

An almost complete version of what will be very similar to mine, in the workshop.

Basic spec:

Frame:
De Lugged
Re designed rear section
Integrated hidden fender mount
Steel battery box hidden under swing arm

Seat:
One off Auto Fabrica seat unit
Custom trimming with a unique accent colour.  I will provide the leather for this

Exhaust:
One off Auto Fabrica hand bent stainless steel exhaust with internal baffle

Engine:
New gasket kit
Resealed
Aquablasted aluminium panels

Carb:
Aquablasted
Refurbished with new settings to accommodate the exhaust and open air filter

Battery:
New Lithium ion small battery

Suspension:
New seals
Re adjusted and lowered front
New rear 11.9" shocks with new rubbers

Speedo:
Auto Fabrica adjusted mini speedo

Wheels:
Re laced with stainless steel spokes
New bearings
New shoes
New inner tubes and tyres front and back
Shot blasted rims and hubs

Lights:
Re painted steel front
LED rear tail light
LED indicators
LED indicator, neutral and high beam lights

Wiring:
Minimal hidden wiring

Rear Fender:
Custom 2mm aluminium hand made fender

Handlebars:
Renthal units with custom Auto Fabrica grips to match seat fabric

General items:
All parts shot blasted back to bare metal and re coated
New headstock bearings
New oil filter
New air filter
New oil
New clutch, speedo, brake cables