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Overland Expo WEST

May 2025

Overland Expo® is the premier overlanding event series in the world—no other event offers the scope of classes taught by the world’s leading experts alongside a professional-level trade show that brings together all the camping and vehicle and motorcycle equipment and services you need to Get Outfitted. Get Trained. Get Inspired. Get Going.

Let's Go

Three, and Two, Wheeled Adventures in the Ural Gear Up

Each year an Ultimate Overland Motorcycle is built for Overland Expo under the direction of Eva Rupert to promote the sport and benefit the Overland Expo Foundation when the motorcycle is auctioned off at the end of the year.

This year, in a twist on the motorcycle theme, a Ural Gear Up sidecar rig was chosen for the project. The Gear Up is one of several models currently available from Ural and has the added benefit of two-wheel-drive, which significantly improves grip in marginal traction environments. An expert was needed, so Mark Tetreau was engaged to help. Mark’s Kalaber Creations, in Prescott, Arizona, is known for selling Urals and offering expert tutorials on how to maintain them, and Jim Burian, Mark’s right-hand man, fabricates many of the accessories himself. Luggage racks, sidecar doors, winch mounts, belly armor and a spare tire relocation mount are among these and show up on the 2024 build for Overland Expo. My wife Susan and I had the pleasure of field testing the Gear Up over 850 miles of twisty pavement, groomed backroads, and rugged trails through the San Juan Mountains of Colorado. Our experience with the Ural opened a whole new world of opportunity for unique adventure travel.

2024 Ural Gear Up Standard Overland Expo Foundation Build for Charity

This 2024 Ural Gear Up Standard was modified by Overland Expo for its 2024 Ultimate Overland Motorcycle Build. The rig is powered by a fuel-injected 749cc opposed twin mated to a four-speed transmission with a reverse gear and features a factory-equipped sidecar with an engageable drive wheel. Additional equipment includes a leading link fork, Sachs shocks, and Brembo disc brakes as well as a Superwinch, Kalaber Creations racks, Mosko Moto luggage, Denali Electronics lighting, RAM Tough-Mirrors, and a Quick-Grip phone mount. This modified Gear Up was developed in partnership with Kalaber Creations and is now offered at no reserve in Virginia with service records, a Scorpion carbon-fiber helmet, an ICECO refrigerator/freezer, an Uncharted Supply Co. first aid kit, a Forrest Tool Company tool kit, a pair of Civivi knives, a Zoleo satellite communicator, and a clean Indiana title. All proceeds from the sale, including the BaT buyer’s fee, will go to the Overland Expo Foundation, a 501(c)(3) organization that funds groups and individuals who help protect and advance the overland community.

Happy Ural Owners

“Thanks to my Kalaber Creations Winch Mount…”

“This is over and above the call of duty.”

— Curtis Blue

I'm riding my second Ural. I bought my current setup from Mark at Kalaber.

I wish I'd discovered these guys before I bought that first one. These folks bleed Ural. This is not a sideline at Kalaber. Jim, the technician, knows more about these machines than the distributor does, finding fixes to glitches the factory doesn't even know about. I have almost every aftermarket add-on Kalaber makes. They are expertly designed by Kalaber to fulfill the needs of serious off-pavement riders. The fit and finish and function of the parts as well as the installations are flawless. I only take my bike to Kalaber for scheduled service. There is a huge difference in my confidence level. Every inconvenience taking my Ural to Kalaber in Prescott is amply compensated by a properly running machine. My hope is that I have to quit riding before these fellows retire.