Ural Web Log - Page 3

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Mon, 20 Mar 06: Rode to work on Saturday for a few hours of overtime. It was colder than -10C with the windchill; I know this because the damn signal lights quit working again. Went to the Southern Cruisers brunch on Sunday morning (me on the Ural, Angie in her car) and was surprised to see our 1^st Officer's Harley in the parking lot when we arrived. Kudos to JJ Willis! When I returned home, the odometer was at 7,381km so I decided to do the 7,500km service. Didn't find any problems, although I did forget to wipe the spilled oil off the header crossover pipe afterwards, which resulted in a nice smokescreen at the first traffic light on the shakedown run. I've checked the spark plugs a couple times since doing the carb synch and they've looked a little on the lean side, so I think I'll get Ken to send me a set of 130 main jets and try them (leaving the washers underneath the needles this time) in place of the 128's. This week's forecast looks good for riding; I'm on the afternoon shift so I'll have a warmer ride in and a cooler ride home for the next 5 days.

Wed, 22 Mar 06: Took the rig to work on Monday, but ended up having to leave it there. I tore up my left index finger while working on the lathe and had to go to Emergency where the Doctor had to lace it back up with 8 stitches. A co-worker was kind enough to roll the Ural into the warmth of the company garage and lock it up so nobody could mess with it. I had to get Angie out of bed to come get me in her car at the hospital; as much as I wanted to ride home it just wasn't a good idea. The swelling had gone down enough so that I could ride it back home last night after work, but I'll be taking the car for the rest of the week to give the wound a chance to heal. Hopefully by Friday I'll be back on three wheels.

Sat, 25 Mar 06: The finger is healing up nicely, but there's a dead spot below the knuckle now that has me a bit concerned. I'm wondering if the nerves have been damaged, although there's still sensation in the fingertip and everywhere else. Drove the car to work on Wednesday, hated every minute of it. Rode the Ural on Thursday and the Harley on Friday, felt a lot better and the finger didn't give me any pain. Decided to re-jet the carbs again this morning, as I had forgotten to mail the 132's back to Ken and thought I'd give them another try. Left the washers under the needles this time and took Hector for a good ride through the backcountry under partly cloudy skies and a mild +5C temp. There was noticeably less vibration, better acceleration and I could swear it was running quieter. Stopped in a farmer's field to let The Wonder Dog out for a run and had just shut the bike off when I heard the distinctive sound of breaking glass. At first I thought I'd run over an old bottle or something, but a check under all three tires didn't reveal anything. I checked all the signal lights next (DUH! They're all plastic, not glass) and then noticed the headlight was cracked. The weird thing was that I couldn't find any point of impact from a rock, it's almost like the headlight just imploded upon itself. I stopped at the local auto parts store on the way home and bought a $10 Halogen automotive sealed beam, chuckling to myself at how easy and cheap it is to keep this rig on the road. Pulled the spark plugs when I got home and they definitely looked better, showing a hint of tan now, so I'll leave the jets in for a few days and then check the plugs again. Oh, I have a new navigator now. I had made a stainless steel bracket for the Harley with the intent of using it as a perch for Norbert, but it just didn't look right once I mounted it so I put it on the Ural instead. Norbert was my faithful navigator on my old Harley FLHT for the two years and 54,000km I rode it; he's been on standby ever since I traded to the new Superglide. I must say, he looks pretty good on his new Ural perch and I trust he'll continue to do an excellent job of watching the road ahead for me. I think I'll make another mount for the Harley, only this time I'll commission a new navigator duck.

Sat, 01 Apr 06: It is Spring in Eastern Ontario! The temps are finally into the double digits during the day and hovering near the zero degree mark overnight. I've been commuting with the Harley all week while the Ural has been patiently sitting and waiting in the garage. A few people have remarked that the Harley must be my "summer bike", but I do intend to keep riding the Ural as much as possible especially in situations normally requiring the use of the car. Like on Wednesday, for example; I took Angie to the Harley dealer after work in the sidecar so she could pick up her brand new Softail Deluxe and ride it home. It made for an enjoyable trip and Angie always likes going for a ride in the hack. It also allowed us the pleasure of riding home together, our first ride of the year. Parked side by side in the dealer's parking lot, there was an obvious difference in style and purpose between the two machines; the Harley was all shiny like a big piece of motorcycle eye candy while the Ural was a dour, "industrial strength" black, utilitarian looking rig. And it was rusty, too - I felt a pang of guilt when I saw all the corrosion caused by the winter road salt and made a promise to clean it up soon. A recent article in a Canadian motorcycle magazine noted that the Ural looks like a Gestapo staff vehicle, which is a rather backhanded compliment but an accurate one. I think there is a definite, ruggedly beautiful quality to my "Douk" and it still gives me a feeling of pride and never fails to bring a smile to my face whenever I look at it. Anyway, it's supposed to be a mild but rainy day today so I volunteered for some overtime at work to pass the time. I'll commute with the Ural and wash it when I get home and see if I can get rid of some of those rust spots.

Sun, 02 Apr 06: A little chilly today with a high of only 7C, but at least it was sunny. I woke up early, as usual, forgetting about the daylight savings time change until I logged on to the computer to check my email. DOH!!! Had to scramble to get dressed so I could give Douk a good washdown before going for a ride. Found lots of rust spots and corroded fasteners that will need to be addressed soon, but the Ural still cleans up good and was sparkling in the morning sun when I had finished. By now Angie was awake and ready to go, so we suited up, loaded Hector into the sidecar then rode to my Mom and dad's house for a huuuge brekkie of grilled sausages, bacon and buttermilk pancakes with fresh maple syrup. As we pulled into the driveway, Dad was waiting with his camera and took this pic. Hector was happy to see his brother Jess again and the two of them were in full mooching mode once they smelled the sausages and bacon. It was a great meal and we both ate way too much, with the unfortunate result of suddenly becoming very tired afterwards. We had planned to ride for a few more hours but instead we went home and napped the afternoon away. Total mileage for the day was a whopping 48km. The Weather Network is forecasting the arrival of the Spring monsoon season for next week; starting tomorrow morning it is supposed to rain right through to next Saturday. Bummer.

Wed, 05 Apr 06: Rode through some heavy slush yesterday on the way to work (freak snowstorm) and the bike started running rough halfway there. I figured it was due to water getting into the air filter again, so I decided just to leave it alone overnight in the hopes it would dry out on its own. Today's commute wasn't much better, the bike would cruise at 90kmh but the slightest incline or wind gust would lop about 10km's off the speed so I knew something still wasn't right. When I got home I pulled the left intake hose off and was greeted with this mess. Obviously there was more water ingested than I had originally thought and it was enough to hamper the performance. It had mixed with the discharge from the PCV valve and the resultant goop was smeared all over the inside of the airbox and the left intake tract, so everything was removed and opened up for inspection. The filter itself was waterlogged and FULL of mud and debris, so it was washed, dried and re-oiled and the whole airbox wiped clean before reassembly. And wouldn't you know it, the bike fired up and idled with no troubles afterwards! It was during the airbox removal that I discovered another blown seal, this time it's the kickstart lever seal that has succumbed to all the harsh winter slush and salt. I've sent an email to Ken so hopefully I'll have a replacement shortly. I hope the weather improves soon, because I'll have to take the Harley to work if the oil leak on the Ural gets worse. I just HATE getting the Harley dirty.

Sat, 08 Apr 06: Okay, the airbox problem is solved thanks to a post by a Ural owner on the IMZ-Ural Web Board. He had placed a cut down section of a tin can into the airbox inlet and increased the height of the metal "hat" to compensate. Now only the moisture in the air can enter the airbox instead of water droplets and road spray, which will greatly reduce the chances of the filter becoming waterlogged. I used his idea but substituted an old plastic oil filter wrench instead of a tin can; the beveled inner edge fit nicely over the rubber grommet in the lid and I glued it in place and clamped it down with some large washers on top of the spacers. There's about 3/8" of clearance between the metal hat and the top of the insert, but as a precaution I cut a slot facing to the rear to allow more air to be drawn from that area as it is out of the airflow and less likely to be contaminated by water and road grunge. Here's a pic. The kickstart seal is leaking a bit more but not enough to drip yet; Ken has mailed me a replacement that should arrive by mid-week so I'm not worried about riding the Ural until then. Took Hector for a 170km ride today and we had a great time just puttering about the back roads. Will be going out again tomorrow as the forecast is for another sunny day with a high of 10C.

Fri, 14 Apr 06: Had my first close call of the year today, courtesy of some airhead in a Ford Expedition. Hector and I went for a ride to Kingston this morning and as we were leaving the city to head back home, we came up to the main intersection by the Army base. We had the green and there were a few cars lined up on our right, waiting to exit the base and turn left. The Expedition was first in line and for some reason decided to jump the light as we entered the intersection, pulling right out in front of us. I hammered the brakes and the Ural nosed down, front tire howling. I could see the driver look towards me and immediately stop, giving me an escape route around the front. As I passed by the grille of that huge SUV, I saw her whack the gearshift up into park and go for the ignition, obviously having stalled it (how the hell do you stall an automatic, anyway?). She looked up and saw my face, then started flapping her hands about and mouthing "I'm sorry, I'm sorry" over and over. I must be getting soft now that I'm in my mid-40's, because I just shook my head and rode away. Normally a stunt like that would have been grounds for a least a one-fingered salute and several choice epithets, but I guess I was in just too good of a mood despite her trying to kill me. Hector wasn't too amused with the sudden panic braking, as he had slid right up into the nose of the hack and had to wiggle himself back after we had resumed speed. Anyways. We got home and met Angie out in the garage as she was getting ready to fire up her Harley and follow us to my parent's place for lunch and some homemade hot cross buns. We took the long route and I told Angie we'd be stopping along the way to look at an old, crumbling house that I thought she might want to use as inspiration for a painting. I was right, because as soon as she saw it she wanted to take a picture. Problem was, the house is situated about 100m from the road with only a set of tractor ruts and a railway crossing to get there. She had to leave her bike at the side of the road so being the gentleman that I am; I folded down the rear passenger pegs and told her to hop on. I figured even though she would be sitting on the rear fender luggage rack she would be okay for a short trip like this. She looked at me like I'd just grown a third eye and politely refused, saying she'd rather walk. Whatever. So I popped the Ural into first gear and Hector and I putted down the tractor trail, over the railway crossing and up to the house. When we got there I realised I couldn't see her bike because the railway crossing obscured it, so when Angie walked up a few minutes later I offered to ride back to the road and keep an eye on it while she took her pictures. Just before I motored off, I had her take this photo. Pretty damned good pic, if I may say so myself. Angie spent the next ten minutes getting all kinds of different views before finally returning to the bikes. Halfway back, she turned and took this pic of the house. Then, seeing me patiently waiting ahead, she took this one. We saddled up again and had a lovely ride to mom and dad's, where we were treated to a "light" lunch of BBQ steak, fresh salad, baked potatoes and, of course, fresh homemade hot cross buns. As is usual whenever we eat at my parent's, we were suddenly tired afterwards and following a nice chat with them we headed back for home and a nap. I powered down for about an hour, then went out to the garage to polish up the Harley. During the shine session I realised that I had never re-syncronised the carbs on the Ural after the last wet air filter incident. So I dug out the manometer and reset the carbs and then went for a 50km blast. Much, much better performance now - it pulls strong all the way up to 105kmh just like it did when it was new. Colour my butt happy!

Tue, 02 May 06: Obviously the riding season is here because I've been remiss in updating my blog! The Ural is still happily churning along and is now at the 9,700km mark. Should be ready for the 10k service by this weekend; there's lots of stuff to check on this one so I'll be busy. No problems to report save for a mysterious thumping sensation from the rear wheel at speeds between 105-110kmh. Yes, I've had it up to 110kmh and lived! Had a strong tailwind one day on the way to work and pulled out to pass a daisy chain of three slow-moving vehicles, when I pulled back into the lane I looked at the speedo and was shocked to see the needle on the far side of the 110 mark. Sweet! Anyway, the thumping sensations is probably due to an unbalanced wheel - something I've been promising myself to fix for awhile now but keep forgetting. I've ridden through a few days of rain and the modified airbox worked like a charm, there was no water contamination in the airbox and filter save for a light coat of moisture beads on the interior of the intake runners. This was after two days of very wet weather riding, so I'd say that's pretty good and MUCH better than the stock setup. FYI, Ural has redesigned the airbox on the '06 models so that the intake is underneath instead of on top; there's a louver facing toward the transmission to ensure the least contaminated air is drawn in while any moisture and grit will be taken care of by gravity before it can enter. Problem solved. Took my Dad for a ride on Sunday, his car was in the garage for repairs so I picked him up and brought him to our place so he could borrow Angie's car for a couple days (couldn't lend him mine because it still has the snow tires on it and loose motor mounts that I haven't bothered to fix yet, which shows you how little it has been used since end February). Dad was quite happy to have a ride in the chair and kept himself busy by watching the driveshaft spinning, rear suspension working, sidecar wheel and suspension flexing, listening to the exhaust note, checking to make sure the signal lights were working, testing the wind force with his hand at different places around the sidecar windshield and waving to the general public. I'm going to have to take him out for a ride more often. He did have some disturbing news about the ride quality, though, in that the noise level was almost unbearable when the engine was under load going up a hill. This means that poor Hector is being subjected to a lot of noise when he's hunkered down in the sidecar nose at speed; because he's blind his ears are overdeveloped and probably causing him a bit of pain on long trips. I'm not sure what to do about this. I'm going to try and find a decibel meter and set it in the sidecar up near the front where his head would normally rest, this would give me an idea of just how loud it is in there. Maybe I could insulate the steel walls of the hack to reduce the noise...? Make him wear earplugs? (Yeah, right!)

Sat, 06 May 06: Started the 10,000km service last night and finished it this morning. I'm getting real good at whipping off wheels, checking/adjusting bearings, changing oils, adjusting valve lash, tweaking this, tweaking that, etc. These bikes are just SO easy to work on and it's great therapy to do so after a crappy week at work. No problems were found and everything went well except for me forgetting to replace the fuel filters. Will do that later today after I buy them from Tichborne Auto, the local auto parts store. I was surprised to see there was still grease on the driveshaft splines; I had last lubricated them a couple months ago when replacing the driveshaft input seal on the rear end (which hasn't leaked a drop since) and have ridden through much slush, rain and mud to date. I also removed and lubricated the throttle cable and throttle grip, it now SNAPS back when I twist and release it. I wrote an article on how to check and adjust the wheel bearings; it's posted on the new Ural How-To page. This is a new site hosted by one of our CURD members, Craig Willson, and it consists of owner-submitted maintenance procedures. It's well worth a look!

Fri, 12 May 06: Hector is famous again! His picture appears in the June edition of Inside Motorcycles magazine in the column written by Larry Tate. Larry had asked me a few weeks ago for a pic of Hector, the Ural and myself because he was writing an article about winter riding and was going to mention us in it. He did a nice write-up, too, even though he refers to me as being "crazy"... but in a nice way. In other news, Angie and I have booked a campsite up near Barry's Bay for a week from 17-26 June. It's a waterfront site at a motorcycle and pet friendly campground, located about 4 1/2hrs northeast of Toronto. This means that the Ural will be put into service as a packhorse for the trip; Hector and all our camping gear will be loaded into it and Angie will follow on her Harley. We'll take a leisurely route on the back roads to get there, probably about a 5hr trip. Once details are finalised I'll be announcing the location in the hopes that perhaps some other CURD members can join us up there.

Sun, 21 May 06: Spent most of yesterday in the garage because it pretty much rained the whole time and I just didn't feel like riding around in it. I washed(!) and waxed(!) Douk and applied some touch-up paint in several needed areas, as well as replacing some more rusted OEM fasteners with stainless steel ones and applying protectant to all the vinyl and rubber surfaces. By the time I was finished, the rig was positively gleaming... and I didn't have the heart to get it dirty right away. Luckily there was a window in the rain periods this morning and I took full advantage of it by taking Angie in the hack out to the Rockport Lighthouse for brekkie. We stopped in the hamlet of Escott along the way because I wanted to show her my latest dream. There's a public school for sale on a very large plot of land and, should I ever win the lottery, it will become Ontario's newest Ural dealership with Angie, Hector and myself as the friendly staff. My fellow Uralites, I present to you the future home of Gummi's Garage. It will be a full-service Ural dealership, of course, with at least one of every model on display. There'll also be Dnepr parts and service available and the huge back yard will make an excellent spot for a CURD Rally. Dare to dream!

Sat, 03 Jun 06: It was a miserable, drizzly, chilly day but that didn't stop our Southern Cruisers Chapter #446 from our appointed duties. We had promised back in February that we would ride to the Carveth Nursing Home (in my town of Gananoque) on this day to put on a little show 'n' shine for the residents. Despite the weather, 8 bikes showed up at our meeting point and we were quite the sight as we rumbled into their parking lot. They had cordoned off an area for us right in front of the main doors and we took a few minutes to get sorted out first before wandering inside. We had no idea what awaited us and it was quite a surprise to see that the entire home had gotten together to make a display in the lobby welcoming us. Apparently they had been having "biker" theme nights for three weeks prior to this event and many residents had contributed pictures, newspaper articles and memorabilia from their collections. Several of them had even purchased and applied some temporary tattoos, while others borrowed biker duds from their family members. Many of the ladies had made their own bandannas and festooned them with patches that read "Carveth Biker Babes", proudly modeling them for us in the lobby. There was lots of cookies, tarts and lemonade and we all milled about chatting with the residents until the rain let up enough to take them outside to show them our bikes. One 94-year-old lady was absolutely ecstatic to have her picture taken while sitting on Angie's bike, you could tell it really made her day. One of the oldest residents (102!) wasn't about to be upstaged and insisted on having her picture taken with my old Army buddy Pete and his classic Norton. Many of the residents had ridden motorcycles in their younger years and regaled us with stories of their adventures. We began to realise just how much of a positive effect this day had on everyone when it was announced that one of them, a lady well known for rarely getting out of bed much less ever going outside, was fully dressed and on her way out to see us. After a couple hours all the residents had been out for a look at the bikes and we all went back inside for more refreshments, stories and pictures. After profuse thanks from the staff and residents alike, we fired up our rides and motored out of the parking lot. I was the last bike out and as I rode down the driveway I could see smiling faces pressed up against the windows along the entire length of the building, waving as I passed. I felt humbled by the whole experience; we had really made a powerful and positive impact on their lives. We split off from the rest of the group and followed Pete to the local KOA campground, where the Ontario Norton Owners were having their annual rally. We parked next to Pete's tent and talked about bikes, life, beer and other things of prime importance. Pete's old Commando was looking as sweet as ever and I couldn't resist getting another pic of it. The rallygoers were spread over a good portion of the campground and, due to the crappy weather, weren't visible for the most part as they hid in their tents. By now it was getting late in the afternoon, so Angie and I said our good-byes and headed for home and some supper. Despite the rain, we still had an awesome day and we were both still smiling as we finally wheeled into our garage.

Sat, 1 Jul 06: Wow, it must be summer because it's getting longer and longer between blog updates. If you haven't read it already, check out our Ural camping report, we did one week of waterfront camping from 17-24 Jun 06 with Hector and the Ural and had a great time! Anyway, it was Canada Day today and we chose to celebrate the holiday by riding to the village of Campbellford (approx 150km northwest of home) to take in an annual event known as Indian Days. This is an entire day devoted to the legendary Indian motorcycle and one of the most well known Canadians who worked on them, Charlie Mahoney. He was an Indian dealer right up until the company closed its doors back in the 50's and continued to work on and restore them up until his death two years ago. We took a nice, leisurely route - funny how we always do that whenever we take the Ural, it just makes the whole day so much more relaxing by puttering about on quiet country roads. As we passed north of Kingston we saw a familiar looking shape approaching us in the other lane. It was Cam, our friend from Sydenham on his '05 Patrol. We all pulled over to chat and found out he was on his way into town to pick up his grandchildren for a Canada Day ride, so we didn't keep him any longer than necessary. It was another hot day and we had to make a couple of stops to let Hector out and give him some water, but otherwise it was an enjoyable ride. We arrived a little after 1pm and the event was in full swing. That's Mary Jo, Charlie's daughter and a friend of mine, in the white shirt in front of the car. She's taken over organising the event in her father's absence and has done a great job of it for three years now. There were at least two hundred bikes parked along the roadside and the Ural was quite the attraction. Shortly after our arrival, we underwent the first of many UDF sessions that day. However, this one was a bit different because it involved the staff of Ural Canada; they were in attendance with an '03 Northern Cruiser and seemed quite happy that I had shown up on mine. We spent a few minutes chatting with them before heading out into the crowd. Although the format has been broadened to include other bikes and custom cars it's still about Indians and many beautiful examples of the marque, like this one from Montreal, were in attendance. The CVMG (Canadian Vintage Motorcycle Group) had a display that included this board track racer from 1920. Most of the Indian owners rode their bikes to the event and it was nice to see such vintage machines in use. The center bike is Charlie's own Indian Four, now lovingly maintained and ridden by Mary Jo. After almost two hours of wandering about we decided to head for home. Or rather, to my parent's place for a BBQ that we'd been invited to. But it took awhile to leave, because as soon as I loaded Hector into the chair and swung a leg over the Ural there was a crowd of people gathered around with all kinds of questions. Angie and I did the ambassador thing while we were suiting up and were almost on our way when I heard a Harley pull up behind me. The rider was VERY keen on my Tourist, he had seen the bikes at the recent show in Toronto but this was the first he had seen on the road and had many questions for me. His daughter was quite enamoured with the rig, too, and it soon became apparent that these were not your typical UDF people - he was seriously considering buying one, a Gear-Up. I gave him a brochure (with one of Ken Beach's cards handily stapled to the front) and wrote down my website address so he could read all my ride reports and this blog. Hopefully he has read everything I have on Urals and has decided to make the purchase (hint, hint). We finally finished getting all our gear on, fired up the bikes and were just getting ready to u-turn and head out of town when an older gentleman (one of the vintage Indian owners, actually) decided that was the opportune moment to walk over and ask me some questions. I had to answer them as quickly and politely as I could, because Angie was in gear and waiting to go and poor Hector - who had been in the chair for almost 10 minutes now - was getting hot sitting exposed to the direct sunlight. I managed to leave without upsetting him (I hope) and we were soon back in the cool breeze. Had a good ride home, stopping along the St Lawrence River west of Kingston for this photo of a ship in full sail, then had a good feed at my parent's place before finally making it home in time for the sunset.

Mon, 10 Jul 06: Had a great weekend of riding, both on the Ural and the Harley. Played host to some new friends from PEI, including one of our CURD members who, thanks to his efforts and enthusiasm for the cause, was promoted to Vice Pesident, Atlantic Division. Check out the full story with pics here. Rode Douk to work this morning and rolled past the 14,000km mark along the way. Should have a couple more thousand km's on it by the time our one year anniversary comes up next month.

Mon, 17 Jul 06: Our Southern Cruisers Chapter (#446 Brockville, ON) hosted the annual Cash For Critters Charity Ride yesterday. This is held in support of the Brockville SPCA, who adopted Hector as their Poster Dog for this year's event. Despite the lovely location at a provincial picnic area on the banks of the St Lawrence River, we had a smaller than expected turnout with 40 bikes and their riders showing up. But that didn't put a damper on the event, as everyone ended up having a great time. It was hot and sunny with a nice breeze coming off the river, a perfect day for the self-guided tour along the region's best roads that the participants were sent out on. Hector, Angie and I stayed behind with the rest of the event crew and just relaxed and chatted while waiting for the riders to return. During that time, two reporters from local area newspapers showed up to take some pics and do a few interviews for articles in their respective papers. Of course that meant Hector and I had to saddle up in the Ural for a few photo sessions, but we did so without complaint. When the riders finally returned, I was busy flipping burgers on the BBQ while Angie was raffling off tickets for the motorcycle painting she donated for the event. A very happy couple won that painting but,due to the sheer number of prizes donated by local merchants, all participants walked away with a prize. It was a great way to spend a Sunday and I was surprised and pleased at work today to learn that an article had been printed in the Brockville Recorder And Times - with our pic on the front page!

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