Update:May 22

Well, the total loss system is working out ok...I have been getting around 200 km per cycle with no worries, usually with over 12 volts still in the cell. Although to date most of those trips have been a collection of small jaunts. No long road trips all at once. However, the weather has finally turned into something I don't need 15 layers of insulation to ride in and the Boy in in daycare now...so that may change.

I did do a 140km (~70 miles) night ride last week, and I learned something very important....the stock headlight sucks.
So...replaced the old 6014 incandescent headlight with a 6024 halogen bulb, and added a PAR52 floodlight to the sidecar.
I still have the headlight and flood on separate circuits, so I can add them and subtract them as needed.
I now have enough light I am sure...but want to keep the amp consumption down if I can so as to not impact my range.

Still now the odd oil leak from the final drive and oil pan now and then...but I am just gonna accept it as me doing my part to keep the blacktop shiny and move on.

Wanna know what really astounds me? The UDF is awesome...but the fact that seems to amaze most folks is not that Crawler is Russian. It's not that he is a sidecar rig, it's not that he is full-time 2WD. It's that it only has kickstart.
Seriously.

A quick observational note...

Ok,
I am sitting at a suburban Starbucks...anyone who knows me, knows how weird that sentence alone is, but my defense is it's a work thing.
However, I am marveling at an odd ill social function.
I consider myself a 'rider'....meaning I not only own motorcycles but ride the damn things every chance I get. Often not to get someplace but just to RIDE it.
As in turn miles on the clock...as in eat bugs...as in get a sore ass and sometimes a weird sunburn.
I am surrounded by guys who are 'living the dream.'
They own motorcycles (several of them $10000+ machines)... And they rode them here to hang out.

At Starbucks.

I am used to the 'bar hopper' riders....the guys who ride from biker bar to biker bar to swagger around and act like outlaws for a ill bit.

But Starbucks?

Really?

In someway, society has failed these people. They can't even get 'being a antisocial badass' right.

Starbucks....wow.
I need to go eat some bugs.

I know it has been a while...

Sorry for that.
Life finds a way......to screw with me.
Not your problem...I know.
I wanted to share a lil vid that I shot this weekend.

Still working it out...

Well, it's winter. It's cold, and snow is coming soon.
This is the time of year when I resign myself to treating any gas left in the tank, hooking up a battery tender and calling it a season.
Not this year...this year I am still riding, or Ural-ing, or whatever.
The first thing I figured out...even though the Crawler ain't fast, it dosn't take much speed to rapidly multiply how fraking cold it is.

A spin around the block results in me not being able to move my mouth and my hands are burning cold.
There are ways around this...get the proper gear. However, I don't want to end up with 2 sets of gear if I can help it, so I as always find a way to make it work.
The first issue I addressed was my numb face.
Normally I wear an open face helmet, but was considering picking up a snowmobile helmet for the winter.
After a bit of thought..I ended up just acquiring a snowmobile helmet breath curtian and figuring out a way to mount it to my current helmet.

If it looks lil like a fighter pilot helmet...that's not all bad is it?
To this I have added my bib snow parts, and a parka.

Throw in a pair of wool sock under my insulated boots, and we have everything kinda handled...except the forepaws.

I know I might get some flak for this...but I HATE wearing full finger winter gloves when I ride. The reason is, every bike I have ever had requires some 'in-flight' adjustments. There is always something to tweek (idle/air mix screws) or wiggle and I hate having "Muppet Hands" with the dexterity of one Dr. Zoidberg. So...I have ordered some handlebar muffs...like so.

Hopefully these paired with some lighter gloves will help.

Post Holi-daze Update..

Well hello boys and girls, wanted to give ya'll a little look at what Crawler and I have been up to.
We have made it back from the G424 meltdown, and are back on the road.

From this....

 

To this....

 I went ahead and removed the stock bench seat, replacing it with a solo seat from a KZ1000 Police bike and building a rear fender rack out of scrap wood in the shop.

For those of you with sharp eyes...the white scribble on the tank is me noting starting odometer readings with a piece of chalk. I painted the tank with chalkboard paint which allows me to make notes and directions right on it...I think it's pretty kewl.

Some more snaps from today...

My "Official Salute" pic.

My "Oh Crap I'm stuck!" recovery system....

Approach with caution...or you'll spook it.

Ready to try my luck...will it start? WILL IT?

 

 

It Lives!!

Sorry for the lack of action shots, I did have my helmet camera on during the ride and might be pushing a little video later tonight....maybe.

Wiring Diagrams...

Just so they are out there in the wild for other folks to use, here are a couple of versions of the diagrams detailing the way Melee and I laid out Crawler.

and here is one without the colors, if you want to use your own, and so it's a lil cheaper to print out.

Also here is a quick video of how it all works....

Resonable person??

As alluded to in a previous post, I wanted to discuss what kind of person thinks it is reasonable to spend time and money on what is an obscure, and many would say obsolete, machine with a questionable pedigree at best.
So, what kind of person puts themselves through the trial of owning a Ural/Dneper sidecar rig?
Well...there are some informal unscientific stats I can throw out there.
Most foil-heads are between the age of 45 and 56.
Most are experienced motorcyclists, with 25+ years of riding experience.
Most either have school-age children or grandchildren at the time of acquiring their rigs.
Most own other bikes, few have a Ural/Dneper as their starter bike.
There doesn't seem to be a 'feeder' brand of bike. Owners of Russian bikes come from both the Harley and Metric camps, however there are enough owners of British and/or Beemers to cause a statistically significant anomaly.

Few would classify themselves as introverts, and those that do go through a pretty massive paradigm shift due to the UDF (Ural Delay Factor) which forces them into a minor celebrity status at random times.
Most foil-heads also enjoy working on their machines nearly as much as riding them, and take a strange sense of pride in the 'creative problem-solving' and WWID moments necessary to have a happy rig.
Roughly 15-25% enter into the relationship with skewed expectations( 75MPH+ Interstate travel, high performance handling/braking, gas-n-go low maintenance) and discard the rigs in disgust. The remainder are prepared to ride the rigs in the Soviet Style and find they have another problem...they begin to neglect any other bikes they own.