Ural I Want is a Triumphant Hack

Well except for the people living on the west coast, most Canadian riders have their bikes put away for the winter. So not many of you are riding anymore. I never really store my bike, any opportunity to ride over the winter I will take. Like today, high of 0C, and the rain has washed the salt off the road again, so I'll warm up the bike, plug in the heated jacket and head out for a spin. Extended forecast calls for 10C on Tuesday. Woohoo. El Nino, where have you been the last couple of years? Good to have you back my ol' friend.

Sidecars.......yes I want one, a Ural would be very nice. A 2015 Gear-Up would be the ideal choice, however I have come to the realization that good used ones are hard to find, and a new one is just not in the cards financially at the moment. $21K tax in! Ouch.

Yesterday, I began searching for a retro-style bike that I can have a sidecar attached to for a reasonable amount of money. The ol' Vstrom was $9000, because a subframe had to be fabricated.

I love the Harley Sportster Iron 883, and the Yamaha Bolt, but those are street bikes only, so they really don't fit the bill. I need to simplify my life not complicate it more with multiple bikes. (Ok that last part is a lie, I'd really have a garage full of bikes if I could) Then I came across this picture and I had my ah ha moment.

A Triumph Scrambler. A very cool bike, almost too cool for me, because this guy rode one and he is the King of Cool.

"What about the Ducati Scrambler you lusted about?" You ask. Well, I do love the Duc, and if it wasn't for my sidecar obsession I'd definitely be leaning towards the Italian side. The problem with the Duc is, the engine is not cradled in a frame like the Triumph, which makes installing a hack (sidecar) impossible without fabricating a subframe, like my current situation with the Strom. 

The one bonus I do see over the Ural in this situation besides price, is.......the sidecar on the Scrambler can easily be removed. Only four attachment bolts. So if I was going off on the CMG/Bigland Off Road Maritime Discovery Route documentary ride I could disconnect the hack and go. Going to ride with the dogs for the weekend, install and I have some K9 company.

How could you not want to take these two beauties for a ride? Retro cool bike, two cute dogs in a sidecar, I'll beating the women away with a stick.

See how the Scrambler attracts them, even without the dogs.

The other thing I really like about the Scrambler is the customization that is possible. Some builders are making some pretty kickass bikes. Why make a CRF250L, or WR250R, rally/ADV build when you could do the same with a Scrambler. Steve MacQueen raced one back in the day.

That's not the King of Cool, unless he is back from the dead on a modern Scrambler.

From this

to

this

or this

I'm thinking, new exhaust, tires, seat, suspension, skid plate, foot pegs, GPS mounting bracket, some other odds and ends, maybe a custom paint job, viola........Fundy Adventure Rally bike. A British rally weapon. For sure CMG editor 'Arris, the man from Yorkshire, would fully agree. I'll change my name to Nigel, start drinking tea, and develop an uncanny British accent from the Liverpool area. Bloody nice.

You all have to agree, it would not be something you'd normally see being turned into a modern day rally bike?

Oh ya, just remembered, I was supposed to write about the CMG/Bigland off road Maritime trip. So sorry, it will have to wait til next time now.