Tuesday, January 14, 2014

Out With The Old, In With The Slightly Less Old

Back in December, Ural released the exciting new figures and statistics for the all new 2014... um...

Can an Ural be honestly described as "all new"?

Serious fun, dressed for success
Anyway, Ural made some significant changes to their bikes for 2014.  New colors.  New (to Ural) technology.  At least, that's what I'd heard.  I wanted to see some stats for this new Russian hotness.

Prior to December, Ural did a great job of getting me all excited about a certain special edition, and I already had a bit of a thing for these bikes anyway. And then they started tempting me with low, low closeout prices on the 2013 models.

Last chance at a low price on the last year of a model? Tempting, because I don't buy the first year of anything. It's not that I don't want the latest and greatest, it's that I'd rather let someone else find out about the bugs that are going to crop up with a new model of anything.

Cutting edge is fun, but "works consistently" is pretty damn cool too.

Once again, I find myself asking if an Ural can really be described as "cutting edge."

But I digress, let's see some of those sexy new numbers for the new Ural!
Are you ready for some hot, raw data?
The engine displacement has stayed the same (749cc), but they have somehow managed to wring a whopping extra one horsepower out of that power plant, bringing it up to a blistering 41 HP on tap for 2014. 

They've made a fairly serious increase in the amount of torque available at a slightly lower RPM, it now makes a stump-pulling 42 ft-lbs at 4300 RPM.  It's lost 9 pounds, dry weight..  It gets better gas mileage (31 - 37 MPG claimed).  Oh, and it has real brakes now: discs on all three wheels.  

And for the biggie: the recommended maximum cruising speed has gone from an already smoking fast 65 MPH to a street-scorching 70 MPH.

Phew.

I'm not buying one, but I am going to be keeping my ear to the ground for reports on how these updated machines treat their new owners.

[Photo and Model Comparison Chart swiped from Ural's website]

8 comments:

RichardM said...

I'd get one if it wasn't so $$$$$! Seems high but I'm a cheapskate.

VStar Lady said...

It's retro new ... looks the same as the old, but it's new ... Retro. It does seem to be in a niche of it's own.

Chris Cope said...

And ina few years they'll have ABS (or Ural will pull out of the European market entirely).

Lucky said...

Richard M - They're definitely not cheap. They're about in line with some of the bigger Harley-Davidsons, price-wise.

VStar Lady - It's really almost identical to the old bike, just with some nice tweaks. They definitely have their own niche - I'm not aware of anyone else mass-producing a similar bike.

Chris Cope - I suspect they'll have ABS rather than pull out of the market. Which will be interesting. If they add ABS, what other high-tech features might they add?

Dar said...

Love the vintage look of them. If I had extra cash I'd buy one, there is something so enticing about them.

Anonymous said...

Fuel ignition should be an improvement on startups.

Lucky said...

Dar - I'd love to have one in the stable, but they are kind of expensive and I don't know if I'd really like one as my only bike.

Steve - Yeah, EFI should be a major improvement in general.

Kathleen Jennette said...

I loved mine, but sold it awhile back. The looks really don't change, the price has gone up since my buy, but I'm glad they made some improvements for a better ride. I got neck aches a lot...LOL, but did ride it a lot too. It was loads of fun.