A One-of-a-Kind Motorcycle Maker Just Diverged Wildly from Eight Decades of History

Perhaps it was only a matter of time till this Russia-born brand updated its classic WWII styling — and the manufacturing behind it.

Close-up of a black motorcycle engine with visible bolts and a foot peg on a blue bike frame.

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By Steve Mazzucchi

Published December 12, 2025

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Updated December 13, 2025

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I don’t know about you, but when I think of sidecars, I think of Indiana Jones (and his dad) outfoxing Nazi bikers in The Last Crusade — and also Ural Motorcycles.

Russia began producing the M-72 military sidecar motorcycle in 1941, with a design reverse-engineered from some Nazi Wehrmacht BMW R71s the Red Army sneakily purchased through Sweden.

Dark blue Ural NEO motorcycle with sidecar and clear windshield on a gray reflective surface. — Thanks to its ADV-style fairing and windshield, the Neo 500 looks quite different from the Urals that have come before.

The main production facility became a former brewery outside of the town of Irbit, on the fringes of Siberia in the Ural Mountains. After the war, what came to be known as IMZ-Ural/Ural Motorcycles began making commercial bikes for the domestic market and beyond.

Though the look remained charmingly retro (and pretty similar to Indy’s bike) for decades — even after the HQ moved to Redmond, Washington in 2006 — a big change is brewing, headlined by a bike called, fittingly enough, the Neo 500.

A new bike for a new age

This may shock you, but Russia-based production of the bike has gotten rather difficult thanks to the war with Ukraine and associated sanctions against Russia.

The company set up a new production plant in Petropavlovsk, Kazakhstan, in 2022, but so far it has not been a profitable enterprise, a problem made worse by significant tariffs in America, the brand’s biggest market.

Blue motorcycle with a sidecar attached, viewed from the front on a white background. — Another big change is the shift to smaller, more angular twin headlights, replacing the classic big round headlight.

So Ural is doing what many others have done before: moving production to China. In tandem with that shift is a partnership with Chinese brand Yingang and the introduction of the Neo 500, which promises to be both more modern and more affordable than the Urals of yore.

When it rolls out to the US market in May of 2026, the price is expected to start under $15,000, which would be roughly $5,000 less than the base model Ural Gear Up.

Matte black and gray motorcycle with sidecar and knobby tires on a plain background. — The new bike will likely feature a 452cc parallel twin engine, which makes a promising amount of power and torque.

According to Cycle World, the Neo 500’s design derives from Yingang’s SUV500 II. That means goodbye to the classic Ural boxer engine and hello to something like that bike’s 452cc liquid-cooled parallel twin, which makes nearly 46 horsepower and just over 30 lb-ft of torque.

That engine is controlled by a five-speed-plus-reverse gearbox and resides in a sidecar-specific chassis with leading link front suspension. The weight is 736 pounds, not all that much different from the Gear Up, which has a dry weight of 730 pounds.

Modern mods

Just as notable are some of the Neo 500’s trappings, which represent a big departure from Ural’s classic look, typified by round lights and mirrors and the lack of a fairing.

The Neo 500, meanwhile, boasts an ADV-style fairing and windshield and angular twin headlights. I’ve yet to see a prototype image with mirrors, but presumably those will be more squared off as well.

Dark maroon Ural NEO motorcycle with sidecar and black leather seat on a gray background. — The paint scheme, dubbed Burgundy Metallic, may be the best of the bunch.

Assuming this bike adopts the SUV500 II’s tech as well, it could boast a 7-inch vertically oriented TFT display and an integrated dashcam above the headlights.

It’s worth noting that the brand is making a clear distinction between the Neo and its traditional bikes, going so far as to establish a separate website and Instagram account.

Dark blue motorcycle with a sidecar labeled "URAL NEO" on a plain light gray background. — No specs on the sidecar itself are available yet, but it does look pretty spacious and comfortable.

The good news for US fans is that they’ll actually be able to get the new bike. While the Irbit factory is still active, it currently only produces classic Urals for the Russian market, with tariffs preventing them from reaching our shores.

Which means that even if you prefer the throwback style, you should be rooting for the Neo 500. Ural says the odds of future availability of the old bikes rides heavily on the success of the new one.

Availability and pricing

The Ural Neo 500 will reportedly reach US dealers in May 2026, with a starting price under $15,000.

Dark blue Ural NEO motorcycle with sidecar and knobby tires on a light gray background.

2026 Ural Neo

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About the Author:

Now managing editor, Steve has served in a variety of roles with GP since 2019. Having previously written and edited for such publications as Men’s Health, Men’s Journal, Esquire and ESPN, he enjoys covering a range of topics — but mostly those pertaining to cycling, snow sports, pocket knives and motos — and dreams of a utopian world in which everyone’s bike seat is at the proper height.

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