Ural Sidecar Motorcycle Company. Did You Know?

1ural2uralYou know that Ural sidecars are made for rocks, mud, snow and rivers. They will not take you fast to your destination, but they will take you to impossible places.

Ural sidecar motorcycles are built since 1941 in Siberia, Russia. Originally they were destined to be used as battle bikes for the Soviet Red Army. They are still built, in very limited quantity  (about 1000 units) by Irbit MotorWorks Factory (IMZ) in Irbit, Russia. At one time, the factory was manufacturing more than 132,000 sidecars a year.

Ural sidecars are modeled after a late-model 1930s BMW R71 sidecar motorcycle although no one seems to know for sure the story of how the Russians got the engineering.  One story is that Nazi Germany provided the Soviet Union an R71 after the countries signed a nonaggression pact in 1939. Another story is that the Soviets bought several R71s through another country and Soviet engineers took the bikes apart and reverse engineered them for production in Russia.

IMZ was privatized in the early 1990s, so has no relation with the Russian government. In 2000, a group of Russian entrepreneurs led by Ilya Khait bought the brand, keeping the manufacturing in Irbit, Russia, but moved the headquarters in Redmond, near Seattle. Irbit MotorWorks of America, Inc, or Ural IMWA for short, imports and distributes the Ural sidecars in the United States.

Today, 140 people are employed in the Ural factory, producing a little over 1,000 motorcycles, 600 being sold in the USA, 160 sold in Asia and only about 60 motorcycles in Russia last year because for Russians it’s still a fairly expensive vehicle.

Irbit MotorWorks of America in Redmond, Washington has 10 employees, a mix of Russians and Americans and is legally the Ural international headquarters. An incorporation in the US makes it easier for the company to look for new investors.

All Urals are now fuel-injected instead of carbureted. Average range is 180 miles on a single tank with a top speed of about 70 mph although 50 mph is recommended on a rough road or terrain…

Ural sidecars can carry about twice their weight. The fun is to customize it for the type of adventure you are looking for. And it’s where Ural is making most of its money. Selling you windshields, LED search lights, snow shovels, spare tires, first-aid kits, axes, ammo canisters, luggage racks, specialized tool kits, and almost whatever are your needs to travel in solo or duo with a passenger, your dog, your belongings, etc.

12 Responses to “Ural Sidecar Motorcycle Company. Did You Know?”


  1. 1 Sharkey Apr 7th, 2015 at 8:19 am

    A couple of them in my part of the country. Rugged, slow and always piloted by an eccentric..

  2. 2 TJ Martin Apr 7th, 2015 at 8:20 am

    I can see the detractors and the ” its not a motorcycle ‘ whiners coming from a mile away … so let me just say before they get here .. when it comes to sidecars in general …. and Urals in particular [ which are by the way available in 1WD and 2WD ] ..

    Don’t knock them till you’ve tried them . They aint fast … they don’t blast around corners like a ricerocket on rails … and no one’s gonna mistake you for a 1% on one ….

    But ohh…. what a way to ride .. Funky … Eclectic … somewhat Iconoclastic …. Practical ….. and a heck of a lot of fun to boot ! Once you get past the sidecars little … errr … quirks that is 😉

    Now if only a few custom builders would see fit to build some sidecar customs … Lots of untapped potential there if you ask me … and a heck of a lot more original than yet again another Cafe/Scrambler etc

  3. 3 richards Apr 7th, 2015 at 12:48 pm

    “It’s not a motorcycle”….I don’t see why anyone would think that. They ARE motorcycles equipped with a side car.

  4. 4 Rodent Apr 7th, 2015 at 1:49 pm

    I had a BMW R69s motorcycle
    I bought a Steib sidecar
    I hooked the Steib to the BMW
    I had a side hack rig
    I unhooked the Steib Sidecar from the BMW
    I HAD A BMW R69s MOTORCYCLE
    A TRICYCLE IS NOT A MOTORCYCLE

  5. 5 TJ Martin Apr 7th, 2015 at 2:21 pm

    See richards … I knew it was coming . As predictable as the rain in London ! If not from R … then someone else .. but inevitably there’s always the ….” Sidecar ‘ outfits ‘ [ get the terminology straight R ] are not Motorcycles ” … comment coming from one end of the peanut gallery or another . Same goes when a trike is featured . Because of course … R and his cronies are the arbiters of all things good taste when it comes to M/c’s as well as defenders of the definition of the word …. motorcycle

    But ahhhhhh …… R ? Y’all might want to invest a bit of time actually reading the history as well as definitions and origins of what constitutes a Motorcycle . Cause when you do … you’ll realize … from day one … sidecar ‘ outfits ‘ … as well as two in back /one in front / sit on it / not in it trikes … are … always have been … and always will be …

    Motorcycles … Best part R ? When you do .. you’ll also discover …. several Motorcycle …. cars .. 4 wheels and all . Yet still considered … Motorcycles . The hint being … there is nothing in the word Motorcycle [ unlike the word Bi- Cycle ] that defines how many wheels a Motor-cycle should have . So errr … R ? Get over it !

    History both past and present says you are wrong … Eco … va bene … basta !

  6. 6 Aloha-Terry Apr 7th, 2015 at 5:18 pm

    More fun than a circus wagon at high noon in Times square and able make a $50,000 custom Chopper disappear ( when you slip into reverse and ride around the whole crowd).
    Big fun and you had better not be shy, you will meet a ton of people wanting to know …what it THAT!
    I owned a red Ural from 1995 to 2007 and should have NEVER sold it,
    Slow and no brakes but big fun,,,
    Aloha

  7. 7 richards Apr 7th, 2015 at 6:22 pm

    T J Martin….Are you drinking?

  8. 8 nicker Apr 7th, 2015 at 7:35 pm

    A far bigger issue then “MC -vs- Other” is a play here.
    We seem to have fallen into the “rewriting of history” trap.

    How did a BMW design get transplanted to the USSR….???

    Undoubtedly stolen, like all the manufacturing process, plants and people the Russians grabbed at the close of WW-II, as they raced the allies to swallow up as much of Germany as they could.

    And by the way, for all you “enlightened” liberals…… the Russians not only enslaved over 100 thousand captured German soldiers, in the process they also enslaved tens of thousands of US soldiers who were in German POW camps. All these people vanished into Russian work camps never to be heard from again.

    -nicker-

  9. 9 MagnetMan Apr 8th, 2015 at 7:24 am

    URAL’s are a delightful machine, reminiscent of the past with new updated touches every year.

    I try to leave history as history, before my time and space. If I did not, only American bikes would be palatable, which would narrow your choices considerably.

    Ural’s are a FUN machine, ever take the time to talk to a Ural rider? They are having more fun!!!

    A Ural is on my bucket list, love to see one go by.

    Cheers

  10. 10 Hillbilly Jim Apr 8th, 2015 at 11:11 am

    A few years ago I met the man who owns Ural motorcycles while at the Indianapolis motorcycle Expo. He is a motorhead like the rest of us. Despite the language barrier we had a nice visit. I have been a sidecar pilot for twenty plus years. Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it. I wouldn’t want a rig to be my only motorcycle but I plan to never be without one ever again.

  11. 11 fuji Apr 8th, 2015 at 4:16 pm

    tricycle
    [trahy-si-kuh l, -sik-uh l]
    Spell Syllables
    Examples Word Origin
    noun
    1.
    a vehicle, especially one for children, having one large front wheel and two small rear wheels, propelled by foot pedals.
    2.
    a velocipede with three wheels propelled by pedals or hand levers.
    3.
    a three-wheeled motorcycle.

  12. 12 Reyn Mansson Apr 8th, 2015 at 11:02 pm

    Dogs love sidecars

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Cyril Huze