OLD BIKE AUSTRALASIA: 77URAL SAHARA SE
the lever while riding due to its
proximity to the right side footrest. A
handy feature is the hand-operated
parking brake. You’ll need it if the
road is anything other than flat.
The Brembo brakes are linked
together and plenty powerful, and
currently, not mandated to incorporate
ABS – that is probably coming
sometime in the next 2-3 years.
Switchgear is Japanese-sourced and
the overall finish is very good,
regardless of where it originated.
Standard accessories include LED fog
lights on the sidecar (which can beeasily removed and hand-held), a 12
volt power outlet in the chair (which
has a tonneau cover), a Jerry can,
folding shovel, luggage rack and spare
wheel that will fit all three corners.
There’s also an Off-Road package for
$1,800 for serious adventuring.
Sidecar riding can be appealing for
numerous reasons, including
approaching maturity that can make
riding big solos a bit of a chore. Going
back several generations there were
scores of outfits on offer but today, for
an off-the-shelf sidecar outfit, there’s
a choice of just one – Ural. units, which also adorn the rear and
the sidecar wheel. ‘Substantial’ is a
word that adequately describes most
aspects of the Ural, and this extends
to the sidecar itself, which is very
spacious. There’s also a roomy (83
litre) boot compartment at the rear
that will swallow a huge amount of
stuff, including a shovel. The sidecar
wheel is sprung via a swinging arm,
and has its own disc brake. Overseas
models with the sidecar on the right
have the sidecar wheel driven from
the diff, but this is not possible with a
left-mounted chair.
Riding the Ural presents a few
quirks, most of which manifest
themselves around town. Left hand
corners need to be treated with
respect, and I found a certain degree
of ‘Body English’ was necessary to
counter the feeling that the sidecar
wheel was about to leave the deck –
it probably isn’t, but it feels that way.
Right handers, conversely, are cool.
Careful attention to throttle control is
also necessary as a big handful can
send complex messages to the
steering department – smooth is the
word. I also found the placement of
the rear brake lever quite odd; it is
difficult to avoid resting your foot on
2019 Ural Sahara SE outfit
At a glance
ENGINE OHV flat twin, 2 valves
per cylinder, air cooled.
BORE X STROKE 78mm x 78mm
CAPACITY 749cc
COMP. RATIO 8.6:1
FUELLING EFI
STARTING Kick and electric
TRANSMISSION 4 speed plus reverse.
Dry clutch with shaft final
drive.
POWER 41hp at 5,500 rpm.
TORQUE 24ft-lbs at 43,00 rpm
ELECTRICS Denso alternator 40 amp.
WHEELS/TYRES Alloy rims with steel
spokes, Duro 4.00 x 19
tyres.
BRAKES Front: 4-piston Brembo on
295mm floating NG rotor.
Rear: Single piston calliper
on 256mm fixed NG disc.
Sidecar: 2-piston fixed
Bremo calliper on 245mm
floating NG disc.
LENGTH 2850mm
WIDTH 1100mm
SEAT HEIGHT 785mm
DRY WEIGHT 335kg
FUEL CAPACITY 19 litres
WARRANTY 2 Years unlimited km,
parts and labour.
PRICE AU $27,490 plus ORC.
WEBSITE http://www.imz-ural.com.auHeaps of storage room.Move this
lever to go
backwards.