Why a Ural?

People ask me  why the Ural?… Easy… Its cool, its unique and its fitting.  

Fitting?  your damn skippy its fitting..  For you see… I am an old Cold War veteran that saw the collapse of the Soviet Union and the resulting social changes. I was part of that history.  So for me to be able to own a Russian Military Motorcycle that is now publicly available on an open US market and built by the folks that largely own the privately held company is just simply a level of poetry.   I would call that sociotechnical evolution.  

Cool?… your damn skippy it's cool.  For you see… when you travel via sidecar there are several things that happen that are unlike other modes of travel.  Sidehacking is like a relationship;  once you realize that you "effect" it and cannot "control" it… well… everything is much more enjoyable.  So you learn to not worry about the dumb stuff and you are forced to slow down and see the things that matter. 

 One of those things is human interaction.  When you travel down the road via sidecar everyone smiles.  It's like being in a perpetual parade and you are the lead float.  I often tell people it feels like a public service because you leave leave nothing but smiles in your wake.  

When people see you they wave.  Well… "to wave," may be an understatement. They all but throw their arm out of its socket.  I had one guy almost fall of his bike because he could not prevent himself from waving.  It's like tossing a ball around a Border Collie; they are going to chase it.  Who knew that sidecars were programed into our DNA. It's innate. 

Of course you have the riders;  technically if they are in the "Chair" aka sidecar, they are referred to as the "monkey".  take a look at any side car racing clip and you'll understand why.  On-Board a sidecar race hack However all of that aside, the riders also cannot help themselves.  They have an innate reaction as well.  Regardless of age or gender, they all do the same thing.  They grin from ear to ear. I swear someone is going to break their face one of these days and my insurance is going to go up. 

Cool?… yep thats pretty damn cool.

So there you have it.  Why a Ural.  

PS.: They go anywhere and you can haul a pant-load of stuff!  I can't do that on my Guzzi so that begs the question; Why the Guzzi?  More on that in another installment.  

out there…--jp