Ural’s 2021 Gear Up Geo is a limited-edition sidecar motorcycle with upgrades to increase the fun—without losing the weirdness.

My first pickup, acquired when I was just 16, was a single-cab 1971 Chevy C10. It was old, it was loud, but it always ran, no matter what. My dad had kept it around for taking junk to the dump and hauling whatever was too dirty or smelly to be around his nice truck, so it had multiple colors of primer and paint; overall I’d say it was an orangish camo. Despite the looks, the smell of unburned hydrocarbons mixed with burned oil that stuck to you after driving it, and the general weirdness, I loved it.

And so did everyone else. It was legendary at my high school for being the truck that brought smiles to anyone who saw it or rode in it, probably because I drove it like I was The Fall Guy. “Monster Truck,” as we called it, was my first love. There have been a few great motorized loves since then, but none since has hit me in the feels quite like Monster Truck. Until, that is, the 2021 Ural Gear Up Geo.

This latest limited-edition Ural does less than usual to play up the old-school Russian sidecar vibe. Instead, the Gear Up Geo plays it a bit wild with upgraded Nitron suspension, a windshield, extra racks, a skid plate, and an off-road-only exhaust. There are burly Heidenau K 37 dual sport tires, a RotoPaX fuel container, and a mount for your cellphone. It also wears an orange camo paint scheme, hand masked and painted, which means each of the 20 available examples of the limited-edition Geo is unique. Unless you’re ripping through a snow-covered pumpkin patch, it’s hard to miss this three-wheeler.

Powered by an air-cooled 749cc pushrod boxer with 41 hp and a minimal sprinkling of modern niceties such as fuel injection, the Gear Up Geo feels vintage in a good way. You can hear the pushrods and rocker arms doing their thing. Fueling, especially on start up, is not what you would call refined. Sometimes the battery feels like it’s on its last leg, though the engine always kicks off. It’s a coin flip whether or not the check engine light will be on. But the G.U.G. runs every time. And every time is a good time.

As long, that is, as you take your time. Just enjoy the ride. It’s not fast, but it’s quick enough from between intersections to stay out of the way of most anything with more wheels than you. During light-to-light rips, you pay more attention to the heel/toe shifter than anything else. Shifts, only three possible in total, must be made deliberately and sternly when blasting to 65 mph. This Ural will go faster than that, up to around 80, but not one single bit of the Ural is happy at that speed; the engine feels like it will throw a rod at any second, and the chassis is busier than usual. Stay in the slow lane. Nod and wave at all the people taking photos. You are your own little parade; consider filling the sidecar with candy and tossing it to pedestrians. Enjoy the vibe.

You’ll have plenty of time to do so. Fuel economy for the Geo during our testing was 37.3 mpg over 500 mixed-usage miles on freeways, backroads, and off-road trails. That gives the standard 5-gallon tank a range of 186.5 miles, but don’t forget the extra 1.5 gallons in the RotoPaX mounted on the sidecar. That will get you 56 miles farther down the road for a total range of 242.5 miles.

Mark Hoyer, Cycle World’s indefatigable boss, once described riding a Ural as wrestling a seizure-prone three-legged bear drunk on vodka. That’s apt. Normal motorcycle physics do not apply here, but oh man are there plenty of physics. When turning left you push against the sidecar wheel, causing understeer, while the steering becomes as heavy as that Russian bear. At least it feels stable; going right, on the other hand, is a balancing act. Traction from two tires bearing most of the motorcycle’s weight make the left side of the motorcycle much lighter than it is, which in turn makes the sidecar lift into the air if you turn too sharply for your speed. It’s fun when you want to fly the car, but you must always be aware of the forces in play. It helps to have a passenger, in my case a 50-pound Australian cattle dog named Gracie.

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