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Cossack Owners Club |
Written By: Chris Piper
I saw the bike advertised in a local free paper when it was six months old. I
knew about the Cossacks and realised that they were no different to the British
bikes I owned.
They could be good to drive but needed maintenance on a regular basis to keep
them in running trim.
On the day of collection the shop could not get the bike to run. The lights
worked but there was no spark. The mechanic was trying all sorts but was under
the impression that it was a magneto system but then realising it was points and
coil. It was then realised the one fuse had blown and when replaced the bike ran
well. But this was a phenomenon that continued to plague the bike. It would
sometimes run until I parked it up but then it would not restart.
When I eventually rewired it never blew another fuse. The one thing I could not
get used to was the side to side rocking when stationary and at low speeds
making the bike difficult at slow speed manoeuvres. One day when trying to set
up the carbs, K301's, I could not get it to tick-over on the left cylinder.
While looking down the throat of the carb I noticed it had no slow running
outlet hole. I used a drill of the right diameter and hand drilled the hole
until there was a breakthrough of the right diameter. After this it ticked over
and the running was transformed.
One problem that did happen on a regular basis was a failure to start. This
could be when it was hot or cold. This continued until recent times but more of
that later. During this time of ownership I found Chris at Speedway was good for
info and spares though driving into London I never went the same way twice.
In 1989 I got married and we used the bike as our "wedding car" complete with
ribbons and bows. On the way to the reception it started to pop and bang and
after the meal it would not start. After some time it just fired up but was not
running right but it got us home. On the way the heavens opened but we dare not
stop in case it did not go again. On checking the engine over we found a valve
guide had come loose so we had to borrow a bike to go on honeymoon to France.
When we come back we got a replacement head from Chris and it was back on the
road. I continued to persist with the bike but was still wary of its starting
problems. It would start but by the time you were ready to go off and tried to
restart it you could kick until you collapsed. With the constant need to keep
kicking the engine over I experienced a recurrence of a septic arthritis in the
knee and was hospitalised. The recommendation of the doctor was no more kick
starting so in 1991 I sold the bike to a close friend's brother.
I bought a Honda 550 which sufficed for a short time but trying to go over small
minor roads in the Welsh mountains, as I would do with the Neval, the gearbox
decided to lose 3rd gear. I decided that despite the doctor's instructions I
would buy an Indian Enfield 500 and had this for a few years, being wary of my
knee. During this time the Neval was used infrequently by its new owner as he
was used to Jap bikes and it did not prove reliable enough for him. It
eventually ended up residing under a cover outside his house to stay that way
for a few years. I tried a few times to get it back and he eventually agreed to
sell it in 1999.
I got it home put some fresh fuel in, cleaned the plugs and points and it fired
up and run. I was now getting my parts and advice from David Angel at F2 and
despite all the knowledge I gleaned from him the starting problems persisted.
During 2001 I tried some Jikov carbs and a new coil and points unit. I rebuilt
the top ends and replaced the barrels and pistons. Still the problems persisted.
In 2002 I rebuilt the gearbox as it had got noisy, changing bearings and seals.
I was not disillusioned by Urals and after deciding I needed to get a bigger
bike than the Enfield my wife and I went looking for a custom cruiser with
electric start, as I was suffering more with the knee.
Having tried offerings from Japanese and Italian dealers and being disappointed
with what was on offer we went to try a Wolf at F2 and bought one in mid 2002. (
I think trying a large Kawasaki and finding my leg could not twist to an angle
that would allow me to operate the back brake lever, and the salesman offering
to sell me a conversion kit consisting of an extended brake lever so I could
stop the bike may have partly had a decision on my purchase choice.)
I was very pleased with the Wolf but a problem came up in the first few weeks.
When I pulled in the clutch the engine stalled. I took the bike back to F2 and
the engine was replaced with no question. I still persisted with the Neval.
Alan Voase at Peterborough BMF show, maybe trying to get the
electrics to work on a Neval Gallant (Ural M67 or later model?), whilst the
customer looks on bemused!
In 2004 I tried a Boyer unit that retained the points but the difference was
marginal. In 2006 the next stage was to replace the ignition system with a Ural
electronic ignition set. Eureka!!!! The engine starts and runs nice and smooth.
There is no more kicking until I collapsed in a heap on the floor with
exhaustion or rolling up in pain with my knee. I still found that kicking the
bike caused knee problems so the next stage was to look at electric starters.
Because of the long term ownership and we had got married on the bike we were
loathe to sell it. Then last year we saw an advert in Horizontal News from Tony
Jones for a later bike needing some work, sale or swap for older bike. Emails
passed between us but the older bike he required was a side-valve. I explained
my circumstances and an email came back to say that he had a complete gearbox,
flywheel, clutch, starter, and air cleaner I could purchase. A price was agreed
and a trip to the north later we had the bits. Now the work begins.
I first stripped the old gearbox and flywheel to check basic dimensions. The
overall length of the box was 12mm longer so I hoped the shaft would accommodate
the difference. I tried to fit the flywheel but the seal face on the new
flywheel was 60mm diameter, 10mm bigger, so I purchased a seal to suit. The next
thing was the flywheel went in to far and was catching on the bolts holding the
rear bearing housing. I removed each bolt and thinned down the heads. The
flywheel still caught on them. I then checked the taper in the flywheels and
decided to construct a 0.25mm shim to wrap around the crank taper. I put sealant
on each side of the shim and fitted the flywheel. Hey presto the engine turned
over sweetly.
With the gearbox fitted I then marked out the location for the starter motor
nose to be able to engage with the flywheel. I started off with a saw, the alloy
is tough, so reverted to an angle grinder. A short while later the metal was
removed and the flywheel, clutch, and started fitted. I bodged some wiring as a
test and the starter turned the engine over and fired into life and the box
worked.
Now came the hard bit, literally. Offering up the final drive it did not line up
with the bolt holes in the swinging arm. A bit of a calculation and I took the
drive shaft coupling to a local engineering company and had the internal spline
recessed 10mm deeper to allow the shaft to go in deeper, the rubber coupling
thinned by 15mm, and the shaft shortened by 10mm to sink further onto the ball
end on the gearbox shaft. They charged £40 for the work. Everything was fitted
together and fired up and ran.
Now for the wiring. I purchased a copy of an early Harley starter button,
designed to fit on the curve of the handlebars, drilled a hole in the frame tube
under the seat and fitted the switch. All this was wired up correctly using a
relay and the engine started and ran superbly.
I took this opportunity to upgrade the generator. I had already fitted a larger
14 amp-hour battery as it needed more power for the electric start to work
efficiently. I had upgraded the alternator on the Wolf so fitted the old
alternator to the Gallant and modified the wiring to suit doing away with the
control box which gave me a space for the starter relay.
Now came the time for a test drive. I took a slow trip up my road and everything
seemed fine. I then took it out onto the main road and went up through the
gears, 1,2,3,4, and then 5? I went back down the gears then back up and there
was definitely 5 gears. When I got home I phoned David at f2 and he said Urals
did not have 5 gears but he did believe that a special was produced using a
Dnieper with a 5 speed box for special use for the police/military. He felt [Ed
so true, nice box!) the box was rare and I was pleased to own one.
The only problem to solve was the speedo. Though the cable from a later bike
fits the gearbox the ratio was wrong so I have temporarily fitted a pushbike
electronic speedo which will suffice for now. In the future when I have worked
the difference out I will strip the speedo and repaint the face figures.
One other item I had trouble with was the original Y type fuel tap and purchased
a CZ tap from Mick Berrill M/C's which fits the thread and gives a good fuel
flow and does not have a taper to leak past.
Since all this work the bike is now working fine and though it has took 20 years
I have enjoyed the ownership and the work put in. I may have not enjoyed the
cost, but this is what happens if you decide to persist with ownership. If
someone else finds themselves in the same position, and wishes to change to an
electric start box if have notes of the changes I have done available.
Chris Piper
[Ed, this is indeed a story of perseverance, and finding a five speed box, now
where was that one I lost, Emmm!]