Old Bike Australasia – July 21, 2019

76 :OLD BIKE AUSTRALASIA

SUITABLE PARTNERS

The Sahara may not be your ideal holiday

destination, but if it were, the Ural Sahara SE

would get you there. And in a country such as

Australia with its vast outback and deserts, a

solid, dependable outfit would be a great way

to catch the sights.

The latestoffering from the Russian
company can be a bit of a handful in
city traffic (what isn’t?) but leave the
urban lights behind and a whole new
world awaits. The 750cc twin engine
has been around long enough that it
should be virtually bug-free, which is
what you want when you’re exploring.
After all, the company has been in
business since 1940, initially to

Ural Sahara SE

From Russia with love

TestJim Scaysbrook Photos Gary Reid

counter the invading Germans with

their R71 BMW outfits. Their solution;

capture, copy, attack, win.

Following WW2, the Ural was put

into civilian guise and sold extremely

well, and with subtle and continuous

refinements, is the machine you see

here. Of course, those refinements

have included such mandatories as

Electronic Fuel Injection and a CDI

ignition system sourced from Italy, but

the flat twin is still air-cooled and

coupled to a four-speed gearbox

which also incorporates a reverse

gear. This is engaged by shifting a

chrome-plated lever on the right side

either by hand or foot, and backwards

you go. With 41 horsepower on tap

and more than 330kg (plus humans

and luggage) to shift, you’ll not see

much more than 110km/h on the

dial, but that’s comfortable and would

allow you to cover plenty of terrain

between stops, which with the 19

litre fuel tank equates to around

350km. However should you run short

of essence, you have the standard

fitment jerry can lashed to the sidecar

flank to see you through.

The Sahara SE is the top spec of the

Ural range and essentially the Ranger

model with lots of extras. The

substantial leading link front end is

controlled by Sachs spring/damper