Ural cT and Ural MIR Limited Edition
After
the big changes last year, the Russian manufacturer of sidecar motorcycles has
announced some minor updates to its lineup to the new model year. The stripped
down cT got some tweaks which improves handling and makes the bike faster sort of. Ural also announced an interesting addition to its lineup, the Limited
Edition MIR. The Ural MIR celebrates the 20th anniversary of the joint Russian
and American space program, Shuttle-MIR.
The
cT is the cheapest version of the company, leaving more than enough room for
customization. Ural offers an extensive line of accessories available to tailor
your Ural to your specific needs as of 2015, you can even order every Ural in
almost every color from previous model years. The updated cT got a universal
spare wheel, a new H4 headlight with housing and the engineers also redesigned
the rear brake pedal. Good news is, all new items are retrofittable so if you
already have your 2014 Ural, just get your dealer to order these updates and
easily install them on your Ural.The cT is a bit lighter which means better
handling and faster corner speeds.
The
other interesting news from Ural is a limited edition motorcycle, the Ural MIR
(in Russian МИР). The bike is powered by a 749 cc Boxer Twin, features a
four-speed manual transmission with reverse and double-disc dry clutch. The
four-piston (two-piston at the back) brakes come from Brembo (295 mm at the
front, 256 mm at the back), fuel capacity is five gallons and dry weight is 730
pounds. The bike features a special white colorway called “orbital white with
fine metal flake” and a solar panel fixed to the nose of the sidecar, which can
be used as a battery tender or accessory power source. Another cool feature is
the QR-Code based instruction system. A QR code has been fitted on a large
wrench, and when accessed, it provides “when all else fails” instructions. The
Ural “МИР” is the only motorcycle that comes with the solar panel, the wrench and
the Lev Andropov’s problem solving method – meaning beat it with a wrench to
get it running again. To defeat the darkness of space Ural fitted the sidecar
with dual high-intensity LED lights and a custom tonneau cover that uses
reflective insulation and can be used as a rescue thermal blanket. Nice touch,
Ural.
The
Ural MIR has a price tag of US$ 16,999 and will be limited to just 20 units and
arrives at dealers in November.
