Freight is what it costs to get your motorcycle from Germany, Japan, or Russia in the case of Ural and it falls between $400 and $500.
Assembly and Pre Delivery Inspection (PDI) costs vary with the motorcycle. Some come from the manufacturer pretty well assembled - like the BMW S1000RR. All we have to do is bolt on the belly fairing, add gas, and give it a run for a mile or two then check the bike's internal computer. Takes 30 minutes, so there is no need to charge the customer for that as the sales department eats the cost as a courtesy.
A Ural however is anything but simple to assemble. In fact it took the technical guys in the store about 6 hours to get our latest Red October uncrated, assembled, aligned and run checked. That is a $600 cost for this bike because it had additional parts to install, more likely $500 for a Patrol. We will charge you $250. Here's why:
The bike comes from Russia in a serious wooden crate. It is extremely heavy and it does a superb job of protecting its contents. There are a million long screws holding it together however and it takes an hour to disassemble the crate and offload the contents.
The side car is lowered on its bit of crate and eventually disconnected from it.
The wheel is added bit first you have to make sure all the required bits are present.
Then add the round part with the tire on it
Get the plastic off, and roll the side car away for later.
Free the tug from the crate - takes ingenuity as the bike is secured as if it was going to be air dropped from a Russian military cargo plane. Hoist the bike so the front wheel can be put on.
The get about mounting the front brake, securing the handlebars and other loose stuff. Notice there are no carbs mounted, or exhaust pipes mounted. They are in a box of parts along with turn signals for the sidecar, a luggage rack, headlight, and so on.
Exhaust system needs to be installed
Then add the two carbs, adjust, and sync
Check the valve adjustment
Modify the wiring harness to accept the trick lights used on the Red October - one size does not fit all, evidently.
Mate the sidecar to the bike, the adjust lean angle, toe in, and a bunch of other things to ensure the rig tracks correctly. Add gasoline, start engine, balance carbs, make sure all the electrical stuff functions, then go ride it. Check the brakes, check this, check that, adjust his and that.
6 hours later, and after a bath, assembly and prep is done; and that's why we charge you a nominal $250 setup fee.