The Russians Are Coming
The Russians Are Coming
It's a new world,comrade
Never mind the Lindbergh theme; you can probably blame Stalin and Hitler for this trip. After signing a mutual non-aggression pact, they both attacked Poland and, ultimately, each other. Stalin saw this great struggle coming in 1939 and approved the production of a new military motorcycle/sidecar for his Red Army. Soviet engineers acquired five BMW R71s (either purchased from Sweden and smuggled into the country or loaned by the Germans before the war, depending on which story you believe) and copied them at a factory in Moscow.
By 1942, the M-72, as the Russian replica was called, was in full production, but the factory fled to Irbit, on the edge of the Ural Mountains, to get out of the range of German bombers. Nearly 10,000 military Urals were made during the war, and afterward they were marketed to Soviet citizens, satellite nations and “friendly”
Third World countries such as Cuba. By the mid-1980s, this massive factory was making 130,000 bikes a year. The Ural had become the workhorse, the affordable daily transport of the masses.
Then the Soviet Union collapsed, and its citizens suddenly had other choices-namely, a flood of inexpensive “foreign” cars coming into the old Eastern Bloc. Bad news. Ural production dropped to as few as 2000 units per year. In 1992 the company was partly privatized, and in 1998 was bought entirely by a wealthy private owner. Bikes began coming to the U.S. in 1993, distributed by independent importers in Seattle called Classic Motorcycles & Sidecars.
In 2002, management bought out the owner (shades of Harley-Davidson) and took over the factory as well as control of U.S. distribution, now handled through Irbit MotorWorks of America in Redmond, Washington (www.imz-ural.com).
In the 1990s, Urals did not distinguish themselves as the most reliable motorcycles on God’s earth, but Ural’s American VP of Sales & Marketing, Madina Merzhoyeva, says huge efforts have been made-and are being made-to bring reliability up to the highest standards. “Our standard is the Honda Gold Wing-and up,” she says. “And we offer a two-year, unlimited
parts and labor warranty, with unlimited miles.”
Buyers? They get lots of first-time motorcycle owners, Merzhoyeva says, but also many experienced riders who appreciate the romance of a traditional-looking sidecar rig. Their best-selling twowheel-drive models have also attracted a surprising number of BMW GS owners, as well as riders who live near rugged trails in the mountains and north country. Demographics, she says, are slightly higher than the industry standard in education and income, and most buyers are Internet-savvy people who have researched Urals thoroughly before coming into the showroom.
In 2004, U.S. sales were 317 units; in 2005 it was 527; and this year it will hit about 800. “There’s a growing interest in sidecars,” Merzhoyeva says. “They’re bought for looks but then used for social function-74 percent of our owners have families. They like to take their spouses and children for rides.”
Downsides?
“The only problem with owning one,” she says, “is what we call ‘UDF.’ That stands for ‘Ural Delay Factor.’ You always have to answer questions, so there are no fast gas stops. Everybody is fascinated by sidecars.”
We can vouch for that. Peter Egan
