Urals Parade Through Sochi Olympic Ceremony

With the start of the Sochi winter olympics upon us, reports have gone rampant about the terrible conditions some athletes and media have experienced so far. Lost in all the hoopla is the participation of 20 red Urals in the Olympics opening ceremony. A spectacular procession of the legendary sidecar motorcycles across the ice of the Fisht stadium symbolized one of the achievements in Russia’s post-WWII reconstruction history and gave Ural a moment of recognition in front of an international audience.

“I feel very proud, really” say Ilya Khait, Ural’s President & CEO,“ when you see your bikes in the event like this – you realize you’re a part of the history and the heritage of a huge country. And it gives you more reasons to keep going.”

On landing this enormous promo opportunity Ilya Khait comments:  “From the business standpoint – to be seen by 3 billion people all over the World and get paid for it (organizers bought every single one of the 20 Urals) – that’s one hell of a product placement!”

Ural has been a privately owned company since 1992 with production in Irbit, Russia and international distribution in US, Europe, Canada, Australia, Japan and now, China. The company recently launched the biggest update on its 2014 model lineup, featuring EFI, disc brakes on all three wheels, hydraulic steering damper and dozens of other upgrades.

Ural also kicks off a 2014 Demo Tour across the US with the first stop in Salem, OR (on Feb 8), San Diego, CA (on Feb 15), Sacramento, CA (on Feb 22) and Santa Clara, CA (on Feb 23), Scottsdale, AZ (on Mar 8). The full schedule is still growing, updates can be found on http://www.imz-ural.com/2014-ural-demo-tour/

By Troy Siahaan