January 2008 - Idiot ride!

I acquired a Ural Patrol in June of 2007 but had little chance to do more with it than ride to work - fact is the longest ride on the Ural had been to Windy Ridge on the back side of Mount St Helens in mid August. Laurie likes ridng in it and I have to confess I like the novelty of driving a hack. Urals are mainly a back road machine having just enough horsepower to do 65 mph or maybe 70 mph with a tailwind. Typically it likes 55 - 60 and the geometry of the rig sort of confines it to that region. The two wheel drive allows one to do unusual things on a Ural, adding a dimension not available on other machines - in all it is a fun machine when ridden within it's limits.

Now, Urals have a reputation for being less than reliable over the years but recently, and on an annual basis of upgrades, the manufacturer has improved the product resolving a lot of the "issues" that plagued the bikes. Regardless, mine has had a few issues consistent with the reputation. My starter hung up and had to be replaced so it was out of commission for a month, and recently there was a recall on the transmission with another three weeks down time. My supporting dealer is in Salem, OR and has been a gem to deal with but gettng the bike to him for repairs extends the time out of commission, hence the lack of miles on the bike in 2007 after I took delivery.

I love my job, but the last time off was in September and I simply needed time away from the day to day grind. A bunch of Ural owners were gathering in Death Valley in January and I figured to take the week off and go ride with them - scheduled my PTO, and went about getting my equipment ready. Unfortunately the cosmos interfered and I decided to postpone the trip till next year. With some time off though, and an itch to go somewhere on the Ural, I decided to go down the Oregon coast a ways and camp out to save money.

Of course, I picked the coldest days to do this. Ordinarily we would have rain and 45 - 48 degree temperatures but this year it is 35 degrees with clear skies and lots of sun, with the evenings dropping into the teens in some places. Laurie suggested I take one of my motorcycles, and the thought of heated grips and seats behind the LT's fairing was appealing but I'm stubborn to a fault and insisted on the Ural. Loaded up, I took off on Sunday morning.

Since the Ural does not do freeways, I was confined to back roads and enjoyed the less travelled route from Puyallup to Raymond, WA where the cold spoke to me, and said "get coffee now!" I complied. Folk in the parking lot looked at me like I was very weird, and an old guy inside the restaurant asked me why - I said 'cause I wanted to. Ordinarily, when riding a Ural, people will stop and ask lots of questions about the rig - it is referred to in Ural circles a UDF or Ural Delay Factor. I had no UDF as the temp reading on the local bank sign indicated 38 degrees, and nobody wanted to talk in that kind of environment.

The Ural ran well however and I was having fun as expected. On highway 101 South of Raymond, one gets to some tight twisty sections alongside the water. I had one little slippery moment on black ice in a shady spot but had an otherwise uneventful ride into Ilwaco, WA where I spent the night in the State Park. Lovely full moon, and very cold, especially when having a bladder break at 4:30 am.

All my stuff was coated in thick frost when I got up, and I tried to make some coffee. The park guys had shut the water off, and my hands were cold having forgotten light gloves. Hell with this, I'll get some food in town. Frosty stuff gets dumped in the hack and I suit up. Bike fired up right away though and I made out of there. Once I start to ride though it becomes hard to stop so I was at the bridge to Astoria before I knew it. Then Cannon Beach - man was it cold. The cold from Canada was blowing straight down the Columbia River and I'm shivering despite the Gerbing electric jacket being on high - I guess the wind chill factor had to be quite stout. Had some coffee, and called home.

Later I rode down past Newport, OR and I caved in just South of there. The road was mostly dry but there were the odd slippy bits, and I was getting uncomfortably cold. Pointed the Ural home.

The ride home, apart from the cold was uneventful and I retraced my route to Raymond. From there I went through Centralia, and home via Yelm. I think I used all the hot water in the shower, ate some food, and went to bed.

Hey it was as much cold weather fun as I could tolerate - and I wasn't at work. The Ural performed well. I think its Siberian heritage orients it to cold weather as the engine just sang its valve clattering song mile after mile and it seemed to want to go faster as the days passed. 30 mpg on a 42 hp, 700 lb rig is pretty good with an average speed of 47 mph. I might just have to take this thing to Prudhoe Bay; no just kidding!