Ural, which I've also owned is slightly different. MZ's were "right" straight out of the box. I got mine in 1993, did nothing mechanical to it for nine years except nail it up and down the M-1 from Leeds to London at full throttle and commute in the city and outskirts. I then left it at the back of my mums garage until last year when it went back on the road with nothing except the consumables required to un-sieze a clutch and tidy up some corrosion. That is IMHO the German engineering "gene" in action.

I hear similar stories of Jawa and CZ.

My Ural was new in 2002, only ever ran on one cylinder and after 9 months was heading for the shop keepers window due to the bits of bearing you could hear moving in the gearbox! This I am told is normal for a Ural not set up by the likes of F2 who can spot and replace or set up rubbish Russian bits. With the 750's there is less of this to do as they now use Japanese electrics, bearings etc. That said I've seen a 750 with a crank that moved about 5mm because a poor dealer hadn't reacted to the expressed symptoms and had let it destroy itself. They even have items on them know by the symptoms, the first type of alternator on the 750's for example is known as a hand grenade!

I you get a Ural, you need to know a lot of it's history, preferably know the seller is a real expert and then you need to learn how to perform major surgery as required. I think they are great bikes, but only long distance tools in the right hands.

The weight of even a solo Ural 750 brings the performance down to a similar level to a 300cc MZ. Of course many prefer the lower reving twin to a frantic stroker.

Not all "Eastern" bikes are the same IMHO, but apologies to any Ural owners I just upset regardless

Andy

Ural: Been there, done that, never EVER again... Now, an MZ or Jawa outfit, on the other hand...

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HansP
All you wanted to know
about riding in Norway

Yes, my vote also goes to MZ, had a few 250's in the early 90's and I put a ETZ front end on one and it totally transformed the braking, no longer did I need to book an appointment to stop. Joining the MZ riders club is a must, full of very knowledgeable and helpful owners who actually ride 365 days per year, instead of polishing and being armchair travellers.

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'He who laughs last, was too slow to get the joke'
Never confuse the map with the journey.

My vote too goes towards MZ....the real DDR made ones!took my test on a TS125 then hopped straight onto a TS250 supa5 which took me all over the country several times,won me special gold awards on every ACU national rally between 1989 and 2004,did 2 Lands end-John o'Groat's trials before being sold on to my travelling buddy who got knocked off it by some drunkard in Andora,where it caught fire and burnt to a cinder! RIP YBX 107V....

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Just going for a short ride on my bike....

I owned am MZ ETZ250 for 5 years. I rode it in all weathers commuting, 2 up holidays around the Highlands and Islands of Scotland, a wee bit of off road and even cleaned it now and then. It was not without it's annoying faults, breaking rear wheel spokes, blowing bulbs and water tracking down the throttle cable to make it stick in bad weather, but, I bought it with just under 12000 miles on the clock and sold it with over 42000 miles on the clock. I replaced various cables, tyres and drive chains, (MZ sprockets last a long time!) had it serviced once a year, and it just kept going. In the time I owned it, the cylinder head was never off, the exhaust was decoked once. As far as I am aware, the bike clocked up 42000 miles on it's original piston and rings.

Age is against them now, but a good one, sorted out properly would make a great do anything bike. Plenty of people used to make the pilgramige to Zschapau in DDR on them from the uk, and used them for continental touring.

Pete