URAL Motorcycles of America
Loyalty and Dedication Transform a Russian Icon in
Redmond
As with many Russian businesses trying to make a go in the
American marketplace, it’s been an uphill struggle for the Russian born Irbit
MotorWorks both at home and in the United States.
In Russia, Irbit MotorWorks primarily produces sidecar
motorcycles under the name Ural and has done so since the late 1940’s. The
company, located on the outskirts of Siberia, has built more than three million
units since then. Following World War II the sidecars became popular with many
Russian families as a means of both daily transportation and leisure time
recreation.
 But
it wasn’t until the 1990’s that the value priced sidecars reached U.S. shores.
At that time engineering of the rigs pretty much mimicked its technical
status from the 1940’s. The rigs were imported into the U.S. and distributed and
serviced at a facility in Preston Washington. For several years the American
counterpart worked closely with Russian engineers to work out the inherent bugs
and make the three-wheelers more dependable.
In 2001 Russian entrepreneur, Ilya Khait, purchased Irbit
MotorWorks and proceeded to overhaul both its Russian and U.S. operations. In
early 2003 he terminated the agreement with the Preston affiliate and together
with Gary Kelsey, a skeleton crew and a dozen loyal volunteers, the team opened
its own operation in Redmond, Washington where they successfully do business
today as URAL Motorcycles of America, Inc.
During the restructure numerous modifications were made to
the sidecar rigs including the addition of disc brakes in the front, electric
start and numerous motor and transmission modifications to improve the
durability of the rigs. At that point all models were re-certified to conform to
EPA and DOT standards.
 In an
effort to expand their market, Irbit has released a two wheel cruiser model, the
Ural Wolf, said to be the "wild child created from an unconventional union
between the Ural factory and the Russian Night Wolves biker club." In order to
prove the Wolf’s ability, Ural rider, Sergey Senelik (at right), who has been
riding Urals around the world for some years now, began a trek last October that
will lead him across the Americas, through East Asia and through Australia on
the Wolf. In all he will log 50,000 miles.
In February 2004 the Irbit team made the trip to the
Dealer Expo in Indianapolis to show their latest models and offerings to
potential dealers in an effort to bolster its U.S. dealer network. As for the
Northwest, there are number of dealers in Washington and Oregon. Interested
buyers can also view the various models at the Redmond offices.
At Left: Ilya Khait and Gary Kelsey worked the
crowd at the 2004 Dealer Expo in Indianapolis in an effort to build the Ural
network of dealers both here and abroad.
Ural maintains a robust website that includes model and
dealer information, downloadable owner’s manuals and a web board where owners
and those considering a purchase can exchange information.
Prices on the bikes are very affordable with the Wolf
model starting at just $5075 msrp, and full tilt boogie, Patrol, which can
deliver power to both rear and sidecar wheels, lists at under $10,000.
For more information, visit the website at
http://www.imz-ural.com
TM/Winter 2004
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