On Thursday and Friday, JedR came by and we worked his 2015 Ural which had been pretty well set up by Ural of Northeast. First was some electrical work. Since he has a full size automotive battery in the sidecar trunk, the stock battery wasn't really used for more than a terminal block. I had a
terminal block that I haven't used yet, we installed that in place of the stock battery. It's makes it really simple to add additional circuits on the bike. We also installed a 30 amp relay under the seat to provide switched accessory power for whatever else he wanted to add such as heated gear or lights.
We then added some driving lights which mount in place of the headlight bucket mounting bolts. A very clean looking installation. They are powered through another relay which we located in the headlight bucket and it is controlled by the high beam circuit and an inline waterproof switch. This same relay could be used to control fog lights.
I drilled and tapped one of the the aluminum fork caps and used that to mount the analog tachometer. This is identical to what I had done last year on my rig. IMHO, a much cleaner installation than just hanging it off of the handlebars. All wires are nicely dressed with split loom to protect the wires from abrasion.
Quite a bit of time was spent installing tires. He had purchased four Heidenau K37 M/S tires from Heindl Engineering in Ohio complete with heavy duty tubes and rim strips. They don't have the snow flake molded in but the snowman on the label indicated that it has silica embedded in the tread for additional traction on ice. These are the same tires that I had used last year and I now have remounted.
We also replaced the Heidenau K28 that I had been using as a pusher for my road trip. It had been relegated to "spare" until I was able to reinstall the Duro that I had been using as front tire for most of my 2015 road trip.
Here is a shot of one of the new K37. I learned some about the new disc brakes on the pusher and sidecar. The rear disc seems complicated with the parking brake compared to the older style drum brakes but easy enough to work on. Also, the rear brakes require a non-metric (⅜") allen wrench to remove the wheel. This allen wrench is not included in the tool kit. Fortunately, I have SAE allen wrenches. He is trying out Dyna Beads to balance the tires. We put in 2oz into each of the four new tires. Initial report is that the Dyna Beads seem to work great.
I now have a couple of spare rim strips and an almost new motorcycle battery for the Ural. The stock battery is now over three years old and probably due for replacement soon. Thank you JedR!
My screw-in carbide studs arrived in today's mail (from China). They are not as nice as the GripStuds but were ⅓ the cost. Time will tell as to how well they work.
How odd that there are non-metric parts on the Ural. I was under the impression that this brand is (somehow) built to EU standards.
ReplyDeleteThe non-metric bolt was a surprise. Though it does make me wonder what else there is...
Deleteyep, you need to carry a 3/8" allen socket....the brake calipers are the same, I am told, as the ones used on the Can-Am Spyder, hence the need for non-metric allen socket.
DeleteRichard, what type of car battery did he use? Is he only using the stock Ural charging system to keep it charged? Asking because I have been thinking of doing the same thing. You did nice work on the driving lights, they look great.
ReplyDeleteIt is s full size automotive battery in a aluminum box which is vented out of the sidecar trunk. The Ural has a pretty hefty alternator. The current specs say 40 amps though older ones say 55 amp. Either way, it'll charge an car battery. I have a smaller car battery in my BMW sidecar with a 450 watt alternator. It may have burned out the rotor on the stock 280 watt alternator.
DeleteSo, as y'all are now ready... Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow. Unless--are you still waiting for studs for your tire(s)?
ReplyDeleteYep, ready for snow whenever it decides to arrive.
DeleteJust got two new Heidenau K37s. One will go on the pusher, the other on the sidecar for those "interesting moments" when 2WD is called for in deep/loose snow. The present pusher will become the spare, replacing a DURO 308.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a lot of fun at your tech day!
I thought about replacing the K37s but it looks like there is still enough tread. The pusher is last years sidecar tire and looks almost new. The sidecar is last years pusher and is showing quite a bit of wear. The front is still last years front and still has over half of the tread depth there even though it has almost 15k km on it.
DeleteIt was an enjoyable way to spend a couple of afternoons.