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UPDATE ON REGISTERING OLD L-H DRIVE SIDECAR OUTFITS

Bill Northcote will write some more words on this soon, but further investigation by Bill with UK Government departments suggest strongly that:

An owner of an imported pre–Aug 1981 LHD (sidecar on right) outfit can legitimately register and use the outfit in GB (NI may be different) with the sidecar on the right IF the outfit has been registered before somewhere (even outside UK & EU) AND you have documentary proof of this. Documentary proof ideally will be the foreign registration document, but other compelling proof may possibly be satisfactory. Look on your vehicle registration certificate (commonly called log book or registration document) and you will see an entry for ‘1st registration’ and ‘1st registration in the UK’. So you could have ‘1951’ for the first entry and ‘2008’ for the second, then you can have a sidecar on the right!

Well what has this got to do with USSR and in particular Urals? Not quite a ‘Caspian Sea monster’ but a younger sister.

*****NEWS from the President & Editor in Chief*****

"All Hail the Pres"

Summer 2008 Horizontal View ~ your magazine: I have been slaving away on this for the last few weeks, we have another 56 page edition due to be out in the post in mid to end of July. So if you have some thoughts of contributing to a December issue, then put pen to paper, fingers to keyboard and index finger to camera shutter button. I do not tend to keep contributions over to the next issue, so my cupboard is rather bare for the end of year issue. So with the rally season & better weather, just think of what you can contribute ~ thanks! Good high quality photos are always welcome.

Right Hand sidecars. I have been talking with the guys at MAG recently, they have not really been taking our cause seriously with respect to the silly restrictive UK laws on sidecars. They now seem to have taken our concerns on board.

In their colour journal they keep publicising a newish illegal left hand drive two wheel drive Ural outfit whilst not doing anything to reverse the law or point out that the featured outfit was illegal! UNIMPRESSED! We wait and see!

Future of Ural production. Communicating with the UK dealers, the EU Ural importer and the USA based IMZ

Ural HQ ~ they are all talking with the same voice, the production of Urals is secure for the foreseeable future. I for one get annoyed when rumours get started, for whatever reason, that the IMZ factory is closing etc etc. We had members and owners coming up to us on the club stand at the Stafford Classic Bike show asking if it was true that the Ural factory was shut, the rumours all came from the same source, strange that! I am very impressed with the quality of the new Urals coming out of the factory, tempted? I am looking forward to a ride on a new 750 Ural sometime, “What’ll it do mister, flat out like?!”

Fancy a position on the committee? As you will see in this edition we are always looking for new blood (with sweat but no tears please) on your committee. Some of the formal jobs we have split up to reduce the load on each committee member but also to ease new officials into the system. If you have time and skills to offer, then please get in touch, give me a call to have a chat about what you could do. Professional ‘bean counters’ (accountants) are currently in demand!

Mad Hatters 2008

I think this is the eighth year that David Angel has organised the Mad Hatters camping weekend in the field behind his Middleton Cheney HQ. Deliberately designed as a low key event there was plenty of opportunity for inspecting transport, discussing modifications and upgrades and making new friends. A large part of the machinery present was of Soviet/ Russian origin, mainly new and fairly new Urals. One Ural owner had brought with him a sizeable group of Japanese bike mounted friends, though some of the machines said Triumph on them. Also notable were a very nice ‘60s BMW fitted with a later engine, a Reliant engined Ural and a couple of the new Rotax Jawas, one of them with a chair.

Saturday was windy (Ed too much beer?) but sunny with much sitting around, communal eating etc. Our president came for the day on his recently lowered Planeta Sport outfit and this writer was relieved of his ignorance of the Soviet/Japanese partnership that produced it. New COC member Jim Turner attended for the weekend on his Dnepr MT11, but then he only lives four miles away from F2.

The twenty mile run out on Sunday by back roads to a transport café for lunch was not spoiled by the torrential rain, running water and deep puddles, though numbers were possibly affected. Led by Dave’s Trabant were Peter Barker on his solo Ural, Young Maisie and her granddad on a Ural outfit (sorry, forgot your name mate), Jim on his MT11 and myself on the BMW/Ural. The run was equal to Jim’s longest ride on the Dnepr so far, so things are looking good. As usual I felt inferior running a BMW engine, but I also have and MT11 and Jim and I made a pact that we would keep our Dneprs going for ever and not be tempted to opt for BMW motive power.

Back at the site half-hearted attempts were made to erect a rain shelter near the fire, but strong wind meant that the project was doomed. At one point several of us sat in a row at the fire with the blue polythene sheet held over our heads. Thankfully the rain eased, but by then it was time for the pub. Jim used to drink in the New Inn in Middleton Cheney when he was younger, but said he never remembered it looking so old, it having been converted to an olde worlde pub to cater for the influx of Londoners who want to live the Archers dream when they aren’t undertaking million pound advertising jobs or playing with other people’s lives on the stock market. Refreshingly discussion was wide, encompassing history, politics and philosophy - it's too easy just to talk about motorcycles and pretend the world doesn't exist.

Home cooked, reasonably priced proper meals were provided from the bungalow at the top of the field and tables had been set out in a big tent so no-one needed to risk immediate bowel cancer by eating three burgers in a row. All dogs were well behaved and no cats attended.

Star of the event was Maisie (top right) , who at eleven years old sat and listened to old blokes talking about motorcycles all weekend and never once complained. If only more of today’s youth could be content to whittle sticks and enjoy the countryside.

Three day events such as this are rare and only a handful of people stayed over on Sunday night. Dave had left a much appreciated ammunition box of potatoes in the fire for our return from the pub, along with butter and cheese. There was still wood left at 2am, but everyone needs their beauty sleep.

Monday, for me at least was fine after one small shower. Peter, Jim and I, new friends, rode ceremoniously out of the site together to go our separate ways – me to Cleckheaton by unclassified and B roads wherever possible, Peter to Humberside and Jim to the next village, hopefully to all meet again at some future fine event such as this was.

Many thanks to David Angel for his efforts, the great welcome and his vast knowledge of Russian tackle round the fire – and the potatoes were great.

Dave Ramsden

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