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Ural Sidecar Bikes Cross Rather Deep Raging River Like It Was Nothing

We know everything's tougher in Russia, but we figured in this case things would be even: tough Russian motorcycles meet tough Russian river.
Ural Sidecar Bike Crossing River 1 photo
Photo: Screenshot from YouTube
But the encounter is far from a boring stalemate as the video below clearly shows. If we're to be historically accurate, the Ural sidecar motorcycles are loosely based on a BMW design acquired by the Russians before the outbreak of the Second World War. Ironically, the first models were obviously devised as military vehicles and were used against the Germans on the Eastern front.

The Ural motorcycles, also kindly referred to as "Cossack motorcycles" together with the Ukranian sister model Dnepr, are renowned for their sturdiness and refusal to die even under the most severe circumstances.

Crossing a white-water river would qualify as a pretty extreme feat for most modern motorcycles, I'm sure you'll agree. Actually, for a two-wheeled motorcycle, it would be nearly impossible as the brute force of the water flow would knock the rider down in a matter of seconds and probably even drag the stalled motorcycle downriver.

By the looks of it, there is this one gentleman on the near river bank with a long pole in his hand. He appears to be responsible with evaluating the riverbed's depth and choosing an adequate course. That sounds just as high-tech as the motorcycles themselves and, apart from that, we all know how hard it is to have any clear bearings on a flowing body of water. The riders probably just follow their guts, lean into the oncoming water and pull on the gas.

Slowly but surely they make it over to the other side of a river that would have most weekend off-roaders on four wheels return home in shame. Bear in mind, though, that the Ural bikes are most likely 2WD, which means a huge improvement in traction.

The poor quality of the image doesn't allow us to see the snorkels on the engines, but you can bet they're there. Otherwise, there would have to be some Flinstone action there from the moment the engine's air admission caught even the slightest whiff of water.

So watch this clip and then answer one question: wouldn't you just love to have one of these Motorcycles right now?

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About the author: Vlad Mitrache
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"Boy meets car, boy loves car, boy gets journalism degree and starts job writing and editing at a car magazine" - 5/5. (Vlad Mitrache if he was a movie)
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