Skip to main content

This coffee shop in a motorcycle sidecar could be the ultimate side hustle

How’s this for a winning combination: your own outdoor business that includes a motorcycle and guarantees an unending supply of fresh coffee. Dallas, Texas-based Oak Cliff Coffee Roasters has a unique way to deliver freshly ground coffee. The company shows up at local events on a converted Ural sidecar motorcycle coffee shop, as cited in Ural’s blog.

Both companies are committed to a single purpose. Founded in 2009, Oak Cliff Coffee Roasters’ commitment is reflected in coffee sourcing, the roasting equipment the company uses, and its roasting practices. Most of the business is wholesale to cafés in Texas. Oak Cliff helps coffee shops acquire and use the best café equipment to use with its roast-dated coffee beans.

Recommended Videos

On the retail side of the business, Oak Cliff has a fresh-roasted coffee home delivery subscription program.

Oak Cliff Coffee Roasters Subscriptions

In late 2014, Oak Cliff Coffee bought a Ural sidecar motorcycle specifically to construct a mobile espresso shop.

Please enable Javascript to view this content

Ural Motorcycles’ commitment to a single business purpose began in 1942 with the company’s first sidecar motorcycle. Ownership has changed in the last 75 years, but Ural has sold more than 3 million motorcycles in that time.

Ural originally produced sidecar motorcycles for military use, but now focuses on what the company defines as “adventure-ready sidecar motorcycles,” with dealerships in many countries including the U.S.

Ural’s sidecar motorcycles are typically used for touring, camping, and road trips. The unique appeal of sidecars isn’t lost on the bikemaker. Most Ural models have pretty straight forward names such as the Sahara, aptly painted the color of desert sand, and the Sportsman Adventurer Camp Wandawega Edition.

The plainest, least expensive, and least equipped Ural sidecar motorcycle model is the M70, with a $16,500 starting price.

In 2015, Ural produced a special edition, called the Dark Force, with the sales call, “Come to the dark side … we’ve got sidecars!” The Dark Force even came with a light saber.

Oak Cliff Coffee’s plan was to convert the bike to what it calls the MotoKofe, Espresso on 3 Wheels. The espresso unit weighs 450 pounds but the Ural’s frame is reportedly sturdy enough to support weight as it moves around the area at speeds up to 50 mph.

The Oak Cliff Coffee Roasters Ural sidecar motorcycle coffee shop even has its own website with more photos and a location schedule so if you’re in Dallas you can check it out.

Bruce Brown
Bruce Brown Contributing Editor   As a Contributing Editor to the Auto teams at Digital Trends and TheManual.com, Bruce…
Audi levels up its EV game with the A6 e-tron but still makes unforced errors
2025 Audi A6 e-tron front quarter view.

Audi developed a good reputation among car enthusiasts and engineering nerds with its all-wheel drive systems and the motorsports success they wrought, but it was premium sedans like the A6 that took the brand mainstream. Now, the Audi A6 is getting an all-electric makeover.

Scheduled to reach the United States next year, the 2025 Audi A6 e-tron uses a familiar name to draw attention to Audi’s latest and greatest EV hardware. It shares the Premium Platform Electric (PPE) with the Audi Q6 e-tron SUV, with greater efficiency and charging capability than Audi’s first-generation EVs. But like the gasoline A6, the e-tron will still compete against sedans from BMW and Mercedes-Benz, in this case the i5 and EQE, respectively.

Read more
Kia’s futuristic, affordable EV4 sedan will launch in 2025
kias futuristic affordable ev4 sedan will launch in 2025 653867 v2 1

Kia certainly sparked interest when it unveiled the concept model of the EV4 in 2023. The sedan’s futuristic design and electric range capacity, combined with the promise of affordability, showed that Kia was ready to make bold moves to diversify its EV lineup.

But two big questions came up: When would the EV4 actually launch, and would the smaller sedan/hatchback ever launch stateside, given American's preference for larger vehicles.

Read more
Hyundai believes CarPlay, Android Auto should remain as options
The 6.9-inch Sony digital media receiver installed in the dashboard of a vehicle.

Hyundai must feel good about the U.S. market right now: It just posted "record-breaking" November sales, led by its electric and hybrid vehicles.

It wouldn’t be too far of a stretch for the South Korean automaker to believe it must be doing something right about answering the demands of the market. And at least one recurring feature at Hyundai has been a willingness to keep offering a flexible range of options for drivers.

Read more