Check Out This Machine Gun Mounted to a Portuguese Military Motorcycle Sidecar
Ural Technical Hero
That's certainly one way of using a Ural's sidecar.
There are some pretty safe places to be when you're getting shot at in a conflict zone, i.e. war. But you don't always want something big, bulky, and a pain to move around when you're in a firefight. Sometimes, you want light, nimble, and fast.
This is not either of those things.
What we have here is a Ural motorcycle and sidecar used by the Portuguese military, with a rider manning the controls, and a secondary soldier in where the sidecar used to be behind a big-ass machine gun. But I'm not sure why you'd choose a Ural for this specific case, nor am I sure why you wouldn't armor it in some way.
Cause, I hate to break it to the Portuguese army, but Ural's ain't fast.
I found the picture floating on Reddit's r/ShittyTechnicals where folks go on to post, well, weird versions of heavily armed machines. It's where we found that odd maybe Indian motorcycle a while back complete with an anti-aircraft weapon. But this, it struck a cord both thanks to its very odd look and the motorcycle being a Ural.
RideApart's old editor Jason Marker loved them, talked about them all the time, and even worked for Ural for a hot second. So as soon as I saw this, I knew I had to continue the tradition of talking about the brand.
But why would they pick a Ural?
Like I said, Urals aren't fast. In fact, they're slower than molasses on a cold winter's day. In Antarctica. Sure, they have two-wheel drive, which makes them great at conquering undulating off-road terrain, but it's weird they'd be using them outside of very specific circumstances.
Even more so, the rider's entirety is exposed to the elements. And by elements, I mean the rounds that will surely be shot in their direction as soon as they get on that MG 3 machine gun. Though, I'm sure the soldier's plate carriers will help...
The whole picture seems pretty funny to me, as I'd pick something either a little bit more robust or way faster, personally. I wouldn't want to be the guy behind the gun, as that's where all the bullets will be headed.
But what do you think? You up for joining the Portuguese military just to drive the heavily-armed Ural?