Ural in the Desert
 

Here's a picture of the Ural with the mountains in the background. I'll try to get some pictures of the rest of the stable in the next couple of days.

I am not sure if you mentioned it, but where did you move to? I love the shark-mouth paintjob! :tup:

Great pic. Looks like the Estrellas in the background.

Culcune - I moved to the Phoenix area. The paint job is a decal from the 105th flying tigers in WWII. I thought it was fitting, and with the color scheme on the Ural, it just really looks sharp.

Wheelbender - Close, it's the Ahwatukee Foothills in the background. I'm trying to decide how many of the bike I want to get a OHV sticker for this year, and then where to ride. The Ural is a great off-roader, especially with the two wheel drive on my Gear Up model, but it's a little oddly shaped for some of the single track I've seen around here.

Kinda has that rat patrol feel

http://www.imcdb.org/i526592.jpg

I had envisioned purchasing a Bashan from one of the dealers in Phoenix, and riding through Buckeye and taking the back roads from there back to Yuma. Interstate 8 is out of the question being a 75 MPH highway, so either I rent a pickup, or find some back roads. I am guessing some of the roads are what 'Cannonball' Baker rode after he got east of Yuma on his famous 11 day ride from San Diego to New York. The Ural might be doable on those roads. I mapped it out on Google and using the satellite view, they look like canal and next to railroad roads rather than raw off road roads that usually run through the deserts.

The roads that are usually next to the railways aren't public access. Usually they're owned by the railway for maintenance, and they have a very dim view of people riding on them. It would be an awesome ride to go from Phoenix to Yuma dodging paved roads. Google says its about 185 miles, so that's kind of stretching it in one tank. A small two gallon can strapped to the rack would certainly see you through, though. We should definitely try to get together now that the weather has cooled down.

I am interviewing in less than an hour for a job in California (via video chat--not looking forward to that), but if I end up staying in AZ, or get the job in L.A. which wouldn't start until next August, I want to buy a bike and register it and use it before I move. That is one of the very few loopholes of registering a Chinese bike in California (I think I need to own if for at least 6 months prior). Finances right now have been keeping me from a Bashan or Hawk. But, if all goes well, and I can buy one in the next few months, I will definitely try to buy it in Phoenix (Advanti Powersports deals in Chinese motorsports and have a few Bashan Storm 250s on their site) and ride it back.

Let me know how it goes, and when you're ready to buy. I can even go out to the dealer for you and do a video chat or FaceTime and give you a virtual tour. Let's get together once you have some marching orders and see about doing a ride. In any event, you're welcome to make your way out here and ride my Hawk for a bit. Let's see how things shape up and go from there.

I can think of two roads well suited to the Ural.
-The first is the dirt road up the Four Peaks.
The second is the highway from Apache Junction to Roosevelt Lake. It turns to dirt after Tortilla Flats and there are a lot of one lane bridges.

Thanks, Wheelbender. I'm all over that like a fat kid eating cake. When are you coming out to do some rides? There are a ton of good places for all sorts of troublemaking out here.

Unfortunately, Emerikol, I learned the good dirt roads because I was a big mountain biker when I lived in AZ. I travelled a lot of good dirt roads to access some of the laesser known mountain bike trails.
I ride a motor scooter these days. It would be fun to ride it thru Awhatukee but my scoot wouldn't handle a lot of dirt roads.

"I am interviewing in less than an hour for a job in California (via video chat--not looking forward to that)"
-I had to do a video interview once, culcune. I did well enough on it to get a face to face interview. The questions were computer automated, and my answers were video recorded on my laptop and stored by the company site. My biggest concern was that the company would not be able to hear or see my responses due to tech problems.
-The interview site allowed me to do a few practice questions and play back my responses. When I replayed my responses, I could see that the camera and microphone in my laptop were working fine and that put me at ease.
-I would not mind doing more of those video interviews. You can interview while wearing a pair of shorts and flip flops.

Not to get too off topic, but I was wearing a nice sweater and shorts and flip-flops. Couldn't hear every other word from the interviewers, so they called me on my phone...Every answer I gave, there was a serious delay, so I could hear myself talking a few moments behind; it was AWFUL! I could have gone in person, but it was 6 hours away, and I only had a day and a half notice. On the plus side, there is a massive shortage of teachers, let alone Special Ed. teachers, so we shall see...