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