Malcolm Milne, Doris Peleikis and their Parson Jack Russell Terrier Poppy own the motorbike not because of its speed - it cruises nicely at about 95kmh and has a top speed of 110kmh - but because of its ability to handle rough roads.
They have owned two of them, travelled back country roads and on this trip left Christchurch on December 24 and hope to be back on January 6.
They arrived at the Kurow Holiday Park on Christmas Eve, stayed Christmas Day and left on Boxing Day for Central Otago over Danseys Pass, a road made for the Ural.
Mr Milne has made a trailer and attachment for the Ural, which takes their gear, and Poppy travels in the sidecar, sticking her nose around the windscreen into the slipstream.
The Ural motorcycles and sidecars were built by the Russians under licence from BMW from after World War 1. Since then, 3.1 million have been made.
They were used by the Russian Army, including in World War 2, but the simplicity of the design - Mr Milne said you could take the engine to bits with the tool kit - has won them fans outside Russia, Australia being the biggest export market.
It is that simplicity, along with ruggedness and reliability, that attracted them to the Ural.
The engine harks back to the original BMW 750cc, flat two-cylinder engine producing 33.5kW and a four-speed cut gear manual transmission (with reverse gear). In a nod to modern requirements, the Ural now has drilled Brembo disc brakes, but keeps the handbrake. Mr Milne said to meet safety and emission requirements, the factory planned to fit fuel injection and anti-lock braking.
The Ural is made from steel, including the mudguards, and weighs 450kg - twice the weight of a typical Japanese 750cc motorbike.
Mr Milne said while power was not prodigious, the Ural was built for torque to cope with rough conditions.
They bought their first Ural about three years ago, and their present model a year ago when they took over as sole New Zealand agents. Urals cost about $23,500 here.
While sales have not been large, the Ural attracts a lot of attention wherever they go, particularly with its orange paintwork which was only used on 300 models to commemorate Russian ice-breaker ships.
''You have to take into account the UDF [Ural delay factor] when you pull in to fill it up - at least half an hour to talk with people who want to know about it,'' Mr Milne said.
