Pinlock insert & a "dead loss" bike shop

Ha ha ha......I am sure I have seen a photo of Glad in a black pointed hat......👍👍🤣🤣🤣

Not sure they would be able to help, when I dropped my engine into Graeme last year he said he was retiring - caravan ready to go...

Ulysses when i was a member a few years ago, had a scheme of awarding promising apprentice motorcycle mechanics, it seemed like a good idea.
Not sure if that scheme is still going.
I worked in powersport retail for a few years and the biggest problem was customers.
Its a tough gig in powersport retail. Supply lines are severely disrupted in many industries at this moment
Local motorcycle shop has a sign in the accessories department, "We are not a fitting service for the internet".

I anticipate having to do pretty much anything myself and fortunate to have the tools and space to do so.
Spent a few years in the MC trade back in the '80s and met a few Mechanics whom I would trust with my bikes and a few I would certainly not.
Likewise dealers, an old mate from the trade who is still with us but no longer capable of working told me a story once of a young bloke who bought a big Kawasaki to him for a second opinion.
Major dealer in Melbourne had diagnosed a crank knock at idle as requiring a new crank at $1500.00 [15 yrs back]
Bloke was most impressed when Bill called him three days later to collect the bike and bring $85.00, loose starter clutch fixing screws, three countersunk Unbrakos, some blue Loctite and an alternator cover gasket.
I have a theory re great Mechanics / Tuners, blokes like Kel Carruthers. Jack Findlay and Warren Willing were obviously exceptional riders and had to be able to fix their own machinery.
Then came the likes of Kenny Roberts, plainly a brilliant rider but his first bike was [if memory serves] a Yam YZ80, a rocket that allowed him to focus on riding and not trying to fix an old worn out POS.
He would have found his later career difficult without Carruthers.

Kids by necessity learning to fix old bikes seems like a thing of the past, hence a dearth of truly skilled mechanics.

I have also seen spare parts nightmares which will almost certainly not occur with the Ural.

Back in the early 80's we had a seat for a big Suzuki quad [RM360 engine ?] arrive at the dealer I worked for, nobody had a clue what it was for until we went 9 months back into our paper order records, a bloke was trailering his quad South on the Hume and lost the seat, the quad got parked for all that time because Suzuki did not give a rat's arse.

Around that time a kid dropped his GSX250FWS [that is the real model designation !] and busted the radiator, this POS was a 4 cyl 250cc four stroke FFS, replacement radiator was $650.00 when you could buy a infinitely superior Yam RZ 250 new for $1000.00.

Less parts is better and Ural USA is most definitely not corporate Japan.