I found something to go with the Ural this week at a surplus store in MinneSnowta.
The Ushanka is actually Slovakian and the star is a doodad the store sells with the hat, so post-Soviet era. It's unbelievably warm and it was on clearance. I paid eight bucks for it.
I was wearing it yesterday morning in the sub-zero weather when I went outside to help a truck driver detach his froze up trailer. The trucker looks at me and says in a thick Russian accent, "Are you from Mother Russia, too?" I told him no and that I got the hat to go with my Russian bike and I liked how warm it was.
"You have Ural?" He pronounced it 'OO-Rahl', which sounds better than 'Yer-all'.
"Not very fast." Nope.
"You have reverse?" Uh-huh
"Sometimes good bike, some times sheet bike."
"You have driven sidecar wheel?" Yup. At which point I got a
.
We BS'ed about Urals, Harleys, and Hondas as I loaded his trailer with another hi rail crane. I think this is the 212th one I've loaded in the last 20 years.
The 213th was loaded later in the day.
I wish I'd remembered to take a pic when he showed me his Russian Army Officers Ushanka hat. Mine paled in comparison.