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While the world watches events in Ukraine, it is Ural Motorcycles, with a factory in Russia and headquarters in the United States, that perhaps has the most to lose in the motorcycle industry from the unnerving geopolitical turmoil. In addition, races have been canceled and some riders have spoken out as events outside the insular world of motorcycling are too big to ignore.
Ural still turns out sidecar units at its factory in Irbit, Russia, as it has for decades, but the global operations are run out of a facility in Redmond, Washington (shown in the top photo). In reality, it's just a small number of employees assembling motorcycles and shipping parts. With increasing sanctions being put into place in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, it seemed to me that Ural could be in a very precarious situation. I could easily imagine the company unable to obtain parts from suppliers and unable to ship motorcycles out of Russia. I contacted Madina Merzhoeva, Vice President of Marketing and International Sales at Ural Motorcycles, to ask about the company's situation, and while things are definitely fluid, at this point they seem better than I feared they might be.
"At this moment our factory in Irbit, Russia is operating as normal as it can be under the circumstances," said Merzhoeva. "We are still evaluating the effects of international sanctions and the Russian government’s response to them. It seems that we are OK right now. We are not affected by bank sanctions. Our supply lines, as well as shipments of finished goods, are not interrupted."
Merzhoeva said the company's focus now is to continue shipping motorcycles and parts. "Once we see the situation stabilizing at least on some level, we will assess and plan next steps," she said. "Long-term decisions will be made then. We keep all options on the table."
I also raised the doomsday scenario. If the crisis and sanctions drag out, could this put Ural out of business? "We are committed to do absolutely everything we can to preserve the brand," she said.
If anything, my final question was even more ominous. I noted that the company posted an anti-war message on its social media and on the home page of its U.S. website.
— Ural Motorcycles (@uralmotorcycles) February 25, 2022
Considering that thousands of people in Russia have been arrested for protesting the invasion, I suggested that the company's overt stance against Russian leader Vladimir Putin's actions was courageous. I asked if company management was concerned about reprisals.
On that, Merzhoeva declined to comment. I can't say I blame her.
Race cancellations and racers speak out
The FIM has cancelled several racing events in Russia and Ukraine, most notably the Russian round of the World Motocross Championship scheduled for May 1, just as Formula One and other sports have also cancelled events in Russia.
While MotoGP riders are somewhat notorious for ignoring the world outside their sport, at least two have responded on their social media to the invasion of Ukraine. Miguel Oliveira posted on Instagram, noting that wars are not about nations, but about egos.
Marc Márquez retweeted a post by UNICEF, saying "The children of Ukraine desperately need peace now."
🙏 #Ucraina pic.twitter.com/xHhj21VR7R
— Marc Márquez (@marcmarquez93) February 24, 2022
Among the strongest statements were Instagram posts by MV Agusta CEO Timur Sardarov, who is Russian himself.
While everyone in motorcycling would probably prefer to be looking forward in carefree fashion to the opening round of MotoGP this weekend or the Daytona Supercross, the reality is that there's no such thing as insulation from the wider world. Most true for Ural, but true for all of us to some degree.
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