While procrastinating on the whole Advocate of the Year brief today, I came across this story in the New York Times. I found the following quote both humorous and troubling:

Turning the Ural requires actually pulling and pushing on the handlebars; leaning, as you would on a two-wheel motorcycle, produces nothing but a hernia with a full sidecar.

Why troubling? Because even on a "two-wheel motorcycle," you typically turn by pulling and/or pulling on the bars. It's part of the process of counter-steering, and it's what initiates a lean. Yes, as part of a turn on a standard motorcycle you lean during a turn, but you won't turn well expecting to initiate a turn in that way. And sure, you might be able to get a motorcycle to start a turn by leaning, but it only works effectively at lower speeds, and it becomes nearly impossible at higher speeds. See, for instance, Keith Code's No B.S. Machine.

What's more, when he mentions that Urals have a reverse gear, he includes that Honda Gold Wings and "BMW K1200" models do, too. Well, sort of. The BMW K1200LT does. The old K1200RS and K1200GT didn't. And the new K1200S, K1200R, and K1200GT don't. There is no "K1200" in BMW's motorcycle lineup.

I don't know who this Jerry Garrett of the New York Times is, or what his background with motorcycles is. He's written a number of articles about motorcycles, but he mostly writes about cars. That, perhaps, is a topic he's better off sticking to.

You also have to turn the handlebars on a 'non-motor'-cycle... If I rode a motorcycle that style/age would surely be cool, NOT: in torqousie though... (ebay seems to have quite a few actually in reasonable price ranges)

-Chris

Counter-steering works all the same. Code actually addresses that fact -- and the fact that most people just don't realize it because of the light weight -- on that page I linked to. In short, the guy who wrote the article may well not belong on a motorcycle. It definitely seems questionable whether he should be reviewing them.

As for Urals, a few years ago, a guy tried to do the Iron Butt Rally on newer Ural. It was not pretty. He was "fabricating" parts on the side of the road, had several tows, etc. Not for the faint of heart.

Riding a bike with a sidecar is like driving a Miata without the front right wheel. When all of the sidecar rig's three wheels are on the ground counter steering does not come into effect. When going around a curve to the left you can 'fly' the sidecar wheel and then the unit turns into a motorcycle and the physics of counter steering take effect.

I wasn't making the point that one rides a sidecar differently than a two-wheeled motorcycle. My point was that one doesn't effectively steer a two-wheeled motorcycle by leaning. Rather, a two-wheeled motorcycle is steered by "pulling and pushing" on the handlebars, as part of the counter-steering process.

The author of the New York Times article seems to think people steer motorcycles by leaning. Motorcycles turn by leaning. They are steered through counter-steering.