Post #1000

The Ural was out of commision for 24 hours while the glue was drying on the new heated grips so I took the Beemer out today. As you can see, I put the sidecar back on. The two rigs are distinctly different. There is more engine vibration with the Beemer, more clutch slipping is needed to get going as first gear isn't as low but it has much better acceleration. For those that care, the Beemer has a better (though not noisier) exhaust note. The Ural has a really noisy air intake and, currently, more wheel vibration but the steering is oh so much lighter with none of the low speed shimmy of the Beemer. I think that new tires are in order as the front and sidecar tires are really worn and that is the reason for the vibration.

The leaves are all changed and are starting to fall. But we are having a real warm spell with highs in the 70s (°F). I didn't ride the Beemer at all while the sidecar was detached beyond the test ride. I didn't remove the sidecar subframe and was afraid that it would scrape the ground on right turns. It hangs down pretty low. But only four bolts and the rig was back together again just as before. Maybe half an hour including the wiring.

I was able to remove the broken heated grip on the Ural with some carefully hand sawing. I didn't even nick the plastic throttle tube. The new heated grips came from Ural Northwest and were the same brand as the failed installation (ShowChrome). The diameter of the left handlebar is 22mm (as opposed to ⅞") and the throttle tube is exactly 1". The new grips matched both of these measurements and even when test fitting them, they were nice and snug. A perfect fit. BTW, I did test them before installation to make sure they both worked. The new grips also came with a handlebar mount for the controller so I moved the controller from my mini-dash to a spot near the left grip. The hardest part of the whole installation was getting the throttle lock re-installed on the new grip.

The Ural has a crossover on the gas tank which passes underneath the top tube of the frame. This makes removing the gas tank a very messy job as the crossover line needs to be disconected from the tank. I ordered a quick disconnect from Crawford Sales in SE Michigan. They also had a used throttle tube in case I wasn't able to salvage my old one. And they ship USPS! I removed the gas tank spilling gas in the process and installed the quick disconnect. When disconnected, both sides are shut off and you spill just a drop. Now it won't be a hassle to remove the tank for easy access to the wiring.

Also, based on the strong recommendation from the Anchorage based Ural expert, I removed the cat factory installed obstruction from the pipe between the exhaust header and the muffler. Especially after rejetting the carbs. The richer mixture could clog things up quickly. The right one was already pretty black. Plus, probably less back pressure.

When I started this blog, I had no idea that I would have ever reached 1000 posts. The first couple of hundred posts are now long gone as the services I was using (before Blogger) are now long gone. I didn't really expect Blogger to continue long once it was purchased by Google.

 

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