A Bit About The Ural Motorcycle
-resized-600.jpg)
The Ural story, as I have been told, began in Germany in 1939. As a result of the Molotov (Soviet Unioun) - Ribbentrop (Germany) Pact, the transfers of technology had taken place in support of Soviet "friends" in different areas. Soviet engineers toured German aircraft factories and brought back complete cannons as samples. The OPEL Kadett blueprints were given to the Soviets just prior to the war; however, it commenced production only toward the end of the war as the Moskvitch 400.
In 1941, BMW began production of the state of the art BMW R75, and ceased production of the BMW R71. The BMW factory supplied the construction drawings and casting molds to the Russians of the BMW R71 motorcycle. That may have seemed a good idea at the time, but a few years later the Russians were using the Urals to fight the Germans.
Today Ural is a very exclusive and personal machine with a long and dramatic history. Ural bikes carried Russian soldiers and military officers in World War II, field agents of the OGPU (the precursor to the KGB), leaders of Collective Farms and factories, police officers in Russian towns and remote villages, UN soldiers, and, first and foremost, the civilian population of the former Soviet Union and many other countries.
Over three million bikes have been manufactured to date. During some years, 25,000 Urals were built annually. To keep up with demand, The entire population of the town of Irbit in the Ural Mountains once worked at the bike factory. Of course, times have changed, the factory is now privately owned, and a successful US business team now owns the majority of the company’s stock. But even today, Ural bikes continue to be manufactured, though for a much more exclusive rider.
Despite high demand, only two to four thousand bikes are handmade by people of Irbit each year, and only a few hundred bikes are imported into the US on yearly basis. The factory proudly provides 2 year warranty with no limitation on the mileage.
We are thrilled to offer these bikes for sale as Mainers will be able to ride year round on their 2WD Ural.
Thanks
Pete