2 wheel drive conversion????

[vito lich12]

Many years ago I owned a DNEPR, it was 2WD but had a differential that split the power between both rear wheels like a standard rear in a passenger car. I see that many guys have the 2WD lock option on there URAL. Has anybody put the 2WD set up from a DNEPR in a 1WD Ural? I would love to see if this would alleviate the torque steer at higher speeds or abrupt take off.
Vito. 2006 URAL 1WD

[Mech-nik]

Just guessing, but I suspect that an open diff, as seen in cars, might handle strangely on right turns. When the sidecar gets unloaded I would expect the sidecar wheel to spin up and all power get diverted from the bike's rear wheel until the sidecar gets planted again.
Bruc

[ReCycled]

The Dnepr drive system is a pleasure to drive. After you get used to it, the first ride on a Ural sure seems crude.

I've never seen the conversion done but it would require half a Dnepr as donor. I don't think the swing arms are interchangeable so You'd have to make a custom swing arm. Probably a lot easier to drop your Ural motor in a Dnepr frame.

Ural did make the Sportsman with differential 2wd in the 90's. It is a simplified version of the Dnepr system and not quite as well engineered. Ural opted for the even more simplified and less problematic locking system still in use. There aren't a lot of the Sportsman drives out there and parts are even more scarce. But if you found one, it would be as close to bolt-in differential drive as possible.

[windmill]

I recall reading about someone who did it several years ago, and if I remember correctly they indeed found it cheaper and easier to just put their Ural engine in the doner Dnepr.

[vito lich12]

Ok, That is what I thought. Thanks for all the input. I did email Arbalet to ask the same question, waiting to hear back still. Thanks to all.

[GregAus]

It's been done, but you'd require a new sidecar chassis. I've been told that a Ural 2WD bike swingarm will work, a Ural 2WD bike swingarm wont work, that you need to graft part of a Dnepr 2WD bike swingarm to the Ural swingarm. I don't know what is correct, but I'd try grafting the Dnepr swingarm to your 1WD swingarm. The Dnepr sidecar chassis is very different to your Ural chassis. You might be able to modify a Ural 2WD sidecar chassis to take the Dnepr parts, but easiest would be to just fit a Dnepr 2WD sidecar chassis. You can get a difflock kit for the Dnepr 2WD.

[Lokiboy]

That seem to be an awful lot of work to alleviate something that is easily taken care of with toe in/out adjustments, and just being slightly lighter on the throttle off a stop.

[ReCycled]

It is absolutely true that the vast majority of rigs do just fine with 1wd. Heck, the first 4.1 million Urals were 1wd before they started marketing in the US

But if you ever got used to a rig with differential drive, you'd know why he's asking.

[vito lich12]

Yes, this is true. My DNEPR road much better and much straighter than my URAL. I had no slip off the line from the side car wheel and it almost no torque steer.

[GregAus]

It is absolutely true that the vast majority of rigs do just fine with 1wd. Heck, the first 4.1 million Urals were 1wd before they started marketing in the US

But if you ever got used to a rig with differential drive, you'd know why he's asking.

It's actually about 3.1 million 1WD Urals. And they started marketing in Germany before the US. Total numbers are about 3.25 million.

[BeaverBiker]

The Ural Sportsman differential model is definitely a better ride on the Highway. You just have to teach yourself about NOT lifting the hack in the curves.
Drives straight better. Take off is better . Using proper riding techniques, you find yourself going faster coming out of a downhill right hand curve that when you went into it. Great control feeling.
I have both single wheel and Sportsman models
“Ask a man who owns one”