Pandora Update

Started in: Wellington, KS
Ended in: Ankeny, IA
Pandora’s Status: Purring like a very dirty kitten.

This is for my fellow Ural'ers...

Pandora is a 2005 Ural Tourist. I bought her from Dave's Cycle in Spring Valley, Minnesota in August of 2005. Pandora is all stock, except for a pair of coolers I had installed.

I have found riding Pandora the best way to see the country -- I will gladly take her on another long-range trip! My cruising speed is 50 to 55 mph. I have ridden well on both four-lane and two-lane. When I am on four-lanes, I just stay in the rightmost lane.

I had a few initial problems, and they were all fixed under warranty. Those problems were:

• incorrectly installed wrist pin -- both heads were rebuilt
• faulty ignition module
• cracking fuel lines
• incorrectly installed rear axle (it was too loose)

Other than these problems, Pandora is running great, and seems to be very reliable.

Under advice from Derek in Albuquerque, I switched my spark plug gap from .040 to .030. Pandora has run a lot smother since then and Her plugs are toasty brown. When I was at .040, there was a frequent amount of arc-ing going on in the timing box when I would accelerate.
I use synthetic oil in both the engine and transmission. I noticed a very big change when I switched the transmission to synthetic. Pandora was much quieter and seemed to run smoother to me. I have not noticed any more seeping than normal.

I adjust my valves to a gap of .005. Initially I was adjusting them to .004 and found that they would sometimes tighten up on me. With a gap of .005 Pandora ticks along in a very pleasing way!

My first rear tire (the original from Ural) held up for 8,000 km.

I have the following minor problems that I will have fixed under warranty once I get back to Minnesota:

• the horn is having problems (its not very horny)
• the rubber engine mount washer under the gas tank is splitting
• replacement wheel for the one that was damaged from the loose axle
• The plastic starter cover needs to be replaced