Just wondering if anyone on here has ever owned one. Saw a real clean low mile bike near me, for really cheap too. Sorry I love wierd stuff. It's just the bike itself, no sidecar. Are they fun, reliable, are parts impossible to get, etc? I'm not looking to compare it to a new R1...

 

Ran across a guy riding one yesterday while out in Congress AZ. Nice guy but didn't want to stop talking, lol.

Anyways, he had to remove the driveshaft for the 2wd once a u-joint went out and he couldn't get parts. (sidecar is 2nd wheel drive)

They are Russian copies of late ~1930's BMWs so with that in mind they are not bad.. Just not up to modern standards. What was considered awesome reliability back then wouldn't pass snuff for a current Korean bike. (better than Chinese though probably)

 

Yeah so I'm thinking it's like buying a royal enfield. Basically like buying a new old bike...Just caught my eye, only has a few thousand miles and he's selling it for almost 1k under it's trade in value. I love the red star on the side of it too haha. One of the first things I usually do whenever I get interested in a used bike, especially a wierd/rare one is look up how many pages of parts there are for it on ebay. When there's not much it usually takes alot of that initial excitement away-I'm not one to spend alot of time buying parts in a dealer or ordering them at retail prices from god knows where. It's alot easier/cheaper sometimes to stick to bikes that have long model runs relatively unchanged. Ease and cost of parts & knowledge/forums certainly makes owning them easier. Maybe I'll buy it anyway

 

long model runs relatively unchanged...

Ural sure wins for that one.. Millions of them for decades in Russia. It's merely location (USA) that is the problem.

 

Actually lazn, you are only half right... They are an old design... And they don't compare to modern bikes in comfort or performance...

The part where you are wrong is their reliability... These bikes was made to be serviced by an drunk russian using a toolchest comprised or hammer, prybar and gaffa tape/steel wire... And have you seen the things they call roads?

In all seriousness though... The bike is neigh on indestructible... Make sure it has oil in it and all the bolts are tightened up and it will live longer than you... As for getting parts... Well, if you manage to break something it can usally be repaired, unusual to need a replacement part... If you do however, let me know and I'll get you all the parts you could ever want... My father owns a couple of these old beasts... Picked them up for beer money a while back...