Vance Blosser

Long story short there was an incident where some folks found fun in the way the folks at the factory appeared in photographs. Generally, in Russia the custom was not to smile when having your photograph taken. They were called on it and got upset and founded another site an a lot of folks switched as the rules regarding that type of behavior were looser there. Additionally this site had some downtime which also didn't help.

For sure that is where they work best!

Also the bearings failed frequently.

Ha. Ha Ha Ha. Oh hell no. Thanks though!😆

I believe she is referring to the days when the 35 amp Russian alternator was used on the Urals. A good design but poorly executed they failed a lot. I used to carry a spare in the trunk and had to use it on many occasions. There were a few good ones that folks never had trouble with, but if there was any issue in the bike's wiring they were gone quickly. On my 2000 Tourist I found that there was a break in the wiring harness from the factory, it had been trapped between the frame and gas tank. As you rode the connection would make and break and this would kill the alternator pretty quickly.

Congratulations! The subconscious often helps me solve problems.

Quite a mystery you have there. I assume you checked to see if the clutch screws were tight, but that should also affect all gears and not just 3rd. And no, I've not heard of any slippage in the driveshaft or final drive that only affects third.

I have schematics for 1999 Urals which is probably closer to a 2002 as this was the last year Russian switchgear was used on the handlebars. The main issue with these schematics is they are broken down by function. However the board won't let me post even one as they are larger than 7.74 KB (which is nothing). If you want leave me your email address in the message area at the top of the screen and I will email them to you.

Rings can take a while to seat properly, the pressure and temperature of combustion pushes them into position and they wear a bit to match the cylinder. I'd say run it for a while and see what happens. If it doesn't come up over time then you have a problem.

Add some oil through the spark plug hole and read the compression again. If it goes up the rings aren't sealing. If it stays the same then lap the valves.

And good job on the bubble test!

Are you sure it's the head gasket and not leaking through a valve?

I think this is a new record for slow response times...

What Russ said!

Good luck! The clutch is always fun!