Ural 2016 Dark Force combination

November 2015

Motorcycle sidecar outfit | 749cc | Russian bikes

Talk about desperate marketing. Or is it really just very shrewd marketing? You can decide for yourself after you have a gander at Ural's latest scheme to rope in a few more buyers for its increasingly dated looking 749cc flat twin shafties (and, we might add, "increasingly dated" isn't necessarily a bad thing). As you've probably surmised, this outfit is clearly hoping to cash in on the latest Star Wars movie, and it plans to do that by appealing to your dark side.

Essentially, this machine is the same 78mm x 78mm, 2-valve-per-cylinder, air-cooled boxer-engined combination c/w four forward gears and one reverse coupled with Stalingrad styling drawn from more than half a century ago. It doesn't feature Ural's famous sidecar driving wheel arrangement which, on other models in the range, can be engaged as and when the going gets rough. But this right-on Ruskie arguably goes one step further by including a three-feet long Darth Vader-style light sabre (or Lightsaber® in US-speak). These bikes will be available only in America with a price tag of $14,999, and just 25 examples will be built to keep it nice and exclusive.

You might think that no one is going to buy this motorcycle purely for its overt Star Wars connection. However, you'd probably be wrong. The bike immediately above, after all, is the 2009 Red October model. The crimson livery is intended to commemorate the ... wait it, "25th anniversary of the novel, The Hunt for Red October, or the 90th anniversary of the October Revolution, whichever comes first." And Ural has, apparently, flogged a few of these.

Our next witness is the bike above and below which is the 2013 two-wheel-drive Ural Gaucho Rambler. The price was $14,350, and "only" 50 were built for the US market. Features include the "sunburned canvas upholstery and a 'Journey West' blanket by Pendleton Woolen Mills."

Ural tells us: "This is a bike ready for the long road and the spiritual journey devoid of stuff. No need to pack, no need to prepare, there’s nothing to do but go." [look, we gotta get out more - Ed].

Meanwhile, the bike below is the 2014 space age Ural MIR model complete with a tonneau cover that serves as an emergency blanket, a high intensity LED spotlight, an engageable sidecar driven wheel, and a solar panel for trickle charging the bike during those long Siberian winters (see Sump October 2014 for more on the Ural MIR).

Ural's entire marketing strategy appears to be the creation of limited edition bikes pandering to whatever happens to popular or trending on social media. Not that we care one way or the other. Different strokes, and all that. And at least Ural is putting some fun and adventure into motorcycles which is where it's at, or (as far as we're concerned) ought to be at. And there's a two year unlimited mileage parts & warranty guarantee with these bikes which will be a great comfort in those dark reaches of whatever galaxy you happen to be in.

www.imz-ural.com

— Big End