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IRBIT is a small city in western Siberia, situated on the bleak plains east of the Ural Mountains. In the main square, it has a statue of Lenin that cheeky capitalists have painted pink.
That monument is not the only thing that distinguishes Irbit: its 43,000 or so permanent residents are said to own, in toto, some 60,000 motorcycles. Noteworthy, indeed, for a place with a subarctic climate — brief cool summers and brutal winters worthy of a Boris Pasternak epic.
Still, it is a mecca for the Russian motorcyclist, with two vocational schools for motorcycle mechanics, a university for motorcycle engineers, a motorcycle museum, a huge annual biker rally — and the factory where motorcycles sold under the Ural name are made. Irbit is Daytona, Sturgis and Milwaukee all rolled into one.
To a market that seems to have endless affection for nostalgic machinery, Ural brings an interesting product line: sidecar-equipped motorcycles that look for all the world like vintage BMW’s. (This is not a coincidence.) The bikes offer a curious blend of modern technology, like a front disc brake, and retro touches, like spare wheels and gas-can carriers; some have a powered wheel on the sidecar, an artifact of military service. Prices in the United States top out slightly above $10,000.
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