| Author | Message | ||
     Uly_man |
MZ Baghira. 2001 with 14k miles. 17 inch wheels as the road/duel version.  I have, for some time, been looking around for something cheap to run around town on and save the Uly because it takes near 10 miles to heat up right. The problem is that anything that costs around $1500 needs work/parts and is near 20 years old with 30k plus miles on it. You need to pay more like $3000 for anything half way decent. And then you may have to travel a 100 miles or more to get it. I have also become a bit paranoid about theft of the Uly. No one is going to steal this and I am going to use it as a second ground anchor because it will be chained to the Uly. The Baghira is a known sold made bike with quality parts, handles well, grunty engine and I always wanted one. This one looks better in the picture than it is because the finish on the plastics is going off a little. All the mechanics seem good on first inspection. It came with 2 keys, OEM manual, all history/service paperwork, remote alarm and proven mileage. Pilot Power rubber (with half life left), good chain/sprockets, engine bash plate, Scot oiler and fork gattiers. Wheels are good, no disc wear and braided hoses. Engine starts and runs fine with no smoking. No fork pitting or rust. The only thing that look bad is the headlight silvering has gone off. It needs cleaning, servicing, suspension set up and all that so I will break down the bike and go through all that it needs. It cost $1500, was local and cost no more to insure as it is with the Uly. Given that it will still be worth that in five years, I am only putting service/wear costs, on one or other bike, the only extra costs are the annual tax and testing of the bike. It only works out at an extra cost of $3 per week. If that is not cheap biking I do not know what is. And it is something for me to play with as well. (Message edited by uly_man on December 04, 2013) (Message edited by uly_man on December 04, 2013) | ||
| Arry |
Looks like you got a good deal. I'd, also, like to have a big single dual sport, so that I'm not always beating up the Uly, but haven''t done it yet. The MZ looks like a nice choice. | ||
| Buewulf |
Nice grab, there Ulyman. I am very interested in perhaps picking up a DS thumper as a second bike, myself. Perhaps even an old SV650. | ||
| Advoutlander |
I'd get an old africa twin or tenere. Those streets look very familar. | ||
| Etennuly |
I'm not familiar with the MZ. Where is it made and how many cc is it? Can it cruise at 80 mph? No one is going to steal this Why not? It looks cool, if I found it with a key in it I'd take it for a spin. (of course I'd bring it back though  ) | ||
| Hughlysses |
Marc- that's a cool bike. I remember looking at a new one ~10 years ago and thinking they were great looking bikes. Where do you find parts since MZ folded? That bike has a Yamaha engine, (correct?) so that must be extremely helpful. Vern- MZ (known as MuZ at the last) was a former East German company that lasted up to about 2008. They actually produced a 1000cc parallel twin near the end that was supposed to be a really good bike. According to this wikipedia article, they are under new ownership and are now making electric scooters: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MZ_Motorrad-_und_Zwei radwerk | ||
| Uly_man |
"I'd get an old africa twin or tenere". I had a Super Tenere 750 for a while. It is a good bike but is to old now. Mine was a 1988 and at 70k it was worn out and costing to much to run and repair. It has no suspension adjustment which is a problem as the front is very soft and the rear is very hard. I fixed the front with oil and spacers and fitted a used Hagon shock all of which worked well. The forks are thin and flex easy. I made a fork brace which helped a lot. I "tee boned" a car with it and broke my arm but the bike was ok more or less. "Where do you find parts since MZ folded?" A place in the UK still sells all the parts. You can retro fit most things on it as well. Yes it is the Yamaha engine. This thing has a MASSIVE floating front disc, which comes off the Yamaha R1, and a huge caliper to go with it. I have never seen anything this big on a 660 cc single bike before and it works VERY well as does the rear brake. Most "thumpers" of this size engine have about 40 BHP but this one has 50 BHP. It revs easy enough and has good torque all through the rev range. It "goes" very well and overtaking is not a problem in the right gear. The gearbox is smooth enough and the bike have very few vibes. It needs a few "bits and bobs" like the odd correct bolt and such. The only main part needed is a new headlight, $100 but nothing else will fit, as the silvering has gone bad. I did some TLC and setting up on it today and, of course, I had to go for a ride. Man it was fun. This bike goes good, handles well and has good "road manners". Even at a cost of 50% more it is still good value for money. The only thing I do not like is the hard seat but that is known on this bike and can be fixed. But here is a good one? Having worked on the Uly all these years I have got used to not having dirty hands. Chains are a pain and the oil and dirt just gets in all places on the bike. It is a good bike and worth looking at if you want a thumper. Do not expect to tour on it though. That would be real Iron Butt stuff. | ||
| Ramman4x4 |
That's a good looking thumper. Are the crash bars around the headlight tied into the frame anywhere or are they mostly for looks? | ||
| Uly_man |
"Are the crash bars around the headlight tied into the frame". Yes they are. It also has a set of Renthal bars with brace, remote Accumen CAT-3 alarm with the manual and a wiring diagram, Wilber rear shock and a near new Yuasa battery. It even came with two ignition keys. Now that is very rare on a old bike as is a paperwork trail/history. All the "on show" fixings are mushroom head Allen head stainless steel. All the others are good (not rusting) steel. The frame parts are either powder coated or have a heavy coat of paint. Almost no rust and the wiring is solid. The wheel spokes have a little rust on some of them and a little paint flaking off the top of the forks. None of which is serious just cosmetic. The only electronics on the bike are the VR and CDI systems. Dry sump engine with oil in the frame. Two water rads with one fan. Stainless steel headers and exhaust can. Easy access to all engine parts IE Starter, oil filter, air filter, water pump, carb, etc. A simple, well built/designed, easy to work on bike with good mpg that goes and handles well. It is also dirt cheap, for what it is, even if you paid 50% more than I did. And I would without question any day. It is the best "value for money" bike I have ever had. | ||
| Uly_man |
Man what a great bike? After some servicing IE Oiling levers, cables, adjustments, etc and setting up the suspension, gear/brake foot levers, tyre pressures, etc things have got a LOT better. Front dive fixed with a little extra heavy oil. The brakes are stupid powerful for road work. You can lock either end with little effort. The Renthal bars are a little wide for my riding style for road work as well. I may cut them down as the long leverage makes them over sensitive for my ride style. I did the same on my Ulys. 1st and 2nd gears seem a little high, for the road, but I need to check the front sprocket ratio for this. The engine makes bags of torque and you can overtake with ease without the need to drop a gear. It will zoom to an indicated 80 mph and cruise there fine. 100 seems fine as well. I had no problems with wind blast or side winds. The handling is predictable, good feedback, fine in the wet and stable with no "strange" handling problems. Bad (if any) points. It is a tall bike so you need to be as well. It is not a touring bike. May not be good for pillions. The weight is, over a Uly, a little higher up. The seat is a little hard and the wrong shape, for me anyway, but that is a easy fix. For the price, what it is and can do I do not think it can be beaten. Put it this way. If I can ride in the rain and cold and still enjoy the ride it must be close to a Uly. | ||
| Uly_man |
The front forks needed an extra 10 ml of std weight oil as well. I can now use all the power of the front brake with good control and not be thrown to the front of the bike on touching the brakes. This has helped with the seat problem and is ok (ish) with leather pants. The bike is nimble and has quick but stable handling. We had a dry day today and I found that you can "dig in" hard with counter steering and the bike loves it. As do I. It now will deal with ALL road conditions without issue. In fact the bike has a very "Uly" feel to its handling. In other words dam good? For the same runs as my 10 Uly, cold starts and in city traffic, this bike is doing 40 mpg. The Uly is 45 mpg for the same run. The MZ is doing two to three times the revs for the same conditions so that sounds about right. The great thing is the torque it makes for the engine size/type. This bike, of course, is not a Uly. Saying that though I think you can NOT get more "bike for money" than this. | ||
| Fltwistygirl |
Congrats on the new steed, Ulyman! We were not familiar with the MZ's 'til you posted this. Seems like a perfect ride for short hops about town. How many miles do you expect from a set of tires? | ||
| Uly_man |
"How many miles do you expect from a set of tires?" On a set of Road Pilot 2s much the same as the Uly I would think. That would be about 8k miles to the wear bars for me. At the moment it has a set of Pilot Power tires but the rear has squared off a little. I think the last owner went on a Euro trip which will do this on most rubber over 2k miles of highway riding. I will fit Road Pilot 2s next time as Pilot Powers are "over kill" for this bike. "Seems like a perfect ride for short hops about town". This is what I bought it for. Something cheap to use as a winter hack. The trouble is that most of the time a bike in this price range, in the UK, is near worn out and good for little else than running it into the ground. Part of that is due to the low quality build of those types of bike. Not the case with this one though. It has top quality Italian brakes and forks. A WP rear shock. A near bullet proof and well proven Yamaha XT660 engine. A solid and well painted frame and other parts are powder coated. Every thing is adjustable including the suspension. As it is a simple/basic bike you can repair/replace/retro fit anything on it. The XT 660 engine has been used on many bikes and parts will not be a problem for many a year. You can still buy OEM parts as well. I bought this bike as a "cheap hack" but it is more "worthy" than that as unlike most it is a quality built bike that is also BIG fun to ride in town or on the open road. It is a great bike and if you are looking for a "thumper" I would say this is the one to buy. If you can find one that is? |
