Quote Originally Posted by Andrew Green View Post
Vincent Black Shadow...
is there any bike more coveted among the collector crowd? Beatiful piece of work.
If you want a sidecar rig with 2WD (rear and sidecar wheel driven)... don't get a Ural, as I have read (from people who own, ride and love Ruskie iron) that they aren't streetable in that fashion... more or less tries to shoot you in a straight line...differential is locked. The Dneprs on the other hand that DO have 2WD option (largely in military models like MB650, or the civilian MT16) have a limited slip style diff that will transfer to the slipping wheel when needed, good for about any weather, and even some interesting off road situations. I THINK that you can engage/disengage it at will too. Plus the bikes were semi-automatic clutch after the MT9, which is interesting.
However, if you just want a sidecar rig, a Ural is the more reliable of them in the modern sense.

I could talk bikes until the sun goes down.

I've been hit riding once, it wasn't very serious, and I am glad for that. It was still quite hair raising. I can't imagine what it would be like to get plowed by someone. I think I would kill the car driver if I was able to get up.
The Urals go from one wheel to two wheel drive only when needed, like in the snow, ice, and off road. The older Urals from a few years ago were bad about the 2 wheel drive problems, the newer ones, with bigger and better engines, and many improvements, are considerably better.

But you are right. You shouldn't go down a paved road with 2wd engaged.

I really love Urals. They look nice, and actually have proper front forks for a sidecar rig. That, and the military models still have the machine gun mounts as well as a heavier sidecar made out of solid steel.