Ural Motorcycles
It was a brutally cold November of 1941. The Nazis were at the outskirts of Moscow, preparing for the all-in assault on the Soviet capital.
At the same moment, in a small town of Irbit, located on the eastern slopes of the Ural Mountains, 2000kms away from Moscow, a freight train arrived with the machinery, materials, and drawing boards.
With this train came people with an impossible task to build a factory in the middle of a Siberian winter and produce combat sidecar motorcycles for the Red Army.
The motorcycle that was to be built at the Irbit factory was called M72. The M72 was essentially a copy of a BMW R71, the best sidecar motorcycle of the time. A rugged, all terrain motorcycle, capable of carrying three people and heavy loads, was ideal for mobile troops. The Nazis were to be beaten with their own weapon!
The first motorcycles built by the Irbit Factory were sent to the front lines in February of 1942 and were used by the troops in the Battle of Stalingrad. During the War, 9,799 M72’s served in reconnaissance and dispatch detachments, and were also used to evacuate the wounded from battle fields.
After the war the factory continued producing motorcycles with sidecars and built over three million outfits. People who laid the foundation of the factory would have never imagined that 70 years later this factory would remain the only sidecar motorcycle manufacturer in the world and Ural would become a cult motorcycle.
Ural dedicates the Anniversary Edition M70 to those who built the first M72’s.
M70 is based on the Retro model. It is painted in olive drab, the sidecar has a machine gun mount and its tonneau cover is made of canvas similar to the one used on the M72. Just like the M72 it also includes a spare wheel and shovel. The tear drop gas tank is decorated with a replica of the original factory badge. The motorcycle features a tractor style seat and luggage rack on the rear fender. Each Ural anniversary M70 also comes with a special commemorative plaque.
While M70 keeps the aesthetics of the original M72, it is also an extraordinary road going sidecar motorcycle.
The Ural M70 comes equipped with 18″ aluminum rims, 40 mm Marzochhi telescopic forks, Sachs shocks, Brembo front disc brake, and other modern features. A longer wheel base and lower sitting sidecar make this model the fastest and best handling Ural.
Total built for the US: 30 sidecar and 10 solo.
The following Ural dealers have M70 in stock and arriving:
- Triquest Motorcycles, Calif.
- Mark’s Custom Cycles, Calif.
- Holopaw Ural, Fla.
- Leos South, Minn
- St. Croix HD & Ural, Wis.
- Ural of New England, Mass.
- Xtreme Machines, N.J.
- MotoItalia, Ill.
- Cumberland County Cycles, Maine
