Three years ago we visited Yekaterinburg in the Ural Mountains, the range between Russia and Siberia, most infamous for being the place where the Romanov family were exiled to at the start of the revolution.  As we all know, in the end they were finally lined up against a wall and shot in good old Bolshevik style. We were there not as morbid tourists, but to celebrate the opening of the Stephen Webster boutique.  It was during this trip that I started thinking about making my next project the restoration of an iconic Ural motorcycle with side car.  

Eighteen months later Assia, my ever resourceful wife, had located and shipped from Yekaterinburg to England a vintage 1957 model, post-Stalin but without a doubt a product of the Soviet Union.  When it arrived, the box was so large and substantial that my friend Ted, who took delivery of the combo in his furniture warehouse, moved the box to his garden and covered the roof in tarpaulin making a new home for his 3 goats.

The bike wasn’t a wreck but 51 years service on the permafrost roads of the Ural Mountains had taken its toll.  The amazing thing was that this perished looking three wheeled agricultural vehicle actually started with one kick.  Thirty seconds worth of coughing and grumbling and the engine shuddered and died.  Trawling the internet I came across Road Star Cycles in Dover, Kent.

At first, John and Steve (the Road Stars) were cautious about taking on what was obviously going to be quite a project.  Forever the salesman, I conveyed to them the vision I had for turning this lump of old iron into a chariot to taxi my glamorous clients between my shop and the watering holes of Mayfair.  I could tell by the blank looks I received that these two veteran bikers knew they were listening to the rantings of a madman.  Then I signed the first cheque to show I was serious.

One year later the project is finished.  Every Saturday I would visit the Road Star workshop and film the previous week’s progress.  John and Steve became totally immersed in the Ural project, finding parts all over the Ex-Soviet Union, even coming across the original instruction on how the bike was built.  When all avenues were exhausted and a vital part required, they would engineer the new part themselves.

Today the lovingly restored black double saddled eagle is complete.  The only thing left to do is for me to learn how to handle this piece of war time hardware before taking my first fair victim for a perambulation in the Chesterfield-like side car.

Special thanks to John & Steve at Road Star Cycles www.roadstarcycles.co.uk