Iron and Air magazine is giving away a used Ural Gear-Up as part of its promotional campaign this year. Yes, you read that right, it's a used bike…sort of. The folks from Iron and Air plan on taking the customized Gear Up on a six-week tour of the American West, and putting 10,000 miles on it before the drawing on October 15, 2015. Therefore, I guess it isn't really all that Iron and Air; just broken in is all. Look at it this way; if anything is going to shake off, it will happen on their watch, and what a great provenance to tell your friends. The winner gets a three-year warranty on the bike, so there ya' go.

The grand-prize winner will get the classic Ural->ke3079 Gear-up, complete with sidecar and all the bells and whistles as well as LED duel sidecar lights, diamond pin-tuck upholstery, jerry-can rack and more. It doesn't stop there, either – the sidecar comes stuffed with camping goodies from Nemo, Good-to-Go, Goal Zero and Hennessy Hammock, plus a GoPro camera with which to document your off-road->ke450 shenanigannery, and post it up on YouTube. (Remember: video, or it didn't happen!)

The Gear-Up is a curious machine, in that it is one of the few sidecars in the world that comes with the option of engaging the sidecar wheel for true, dual rear-wheel drive, which works really well. If you watch some Ural videos, you rarely see the bike on pavement. Folks are usually off-road and maybe even out on some frozen tundra somewhere, tearing up the countryside with impunity. You don't play in those conditions on just any machine.

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The folks at Iron and Air have been at this a few years now. The 2012 and 2013 prizes were both cafe' racers->ke3530, one by Honda->ke291, and the other a Triumph->ke1864, so a sidecar model is a new one for the giveaway. Ural doesn't get much play on this side of the pond, and events like this give the company some much-needed exposure. If you want a shot at the prize, don't delay. The drawing will be held on October 15, 2015.

Caveat: If you win, you need either to pick up your prizes in New Hampshire or pay to have them shipped to you from NH. You may take a little hit for taxes and titling, but it's a small price to pay for a “free” and “used” machine full of outdoor goodies.

2015 Ural Gear Up

Read our full review of the 2015 Gear Up here.