New addition to the family - MZ Baghira Street Moto

[cat]

2003/2004

Sorry about the bad photos; I took them with my phone and my hands shake too much.

I got it last week, rode it for 110km. Now it's...a bit apart, getting sorted out. ...

I've been sorting out what ss fasteners I need to buy - I should get most today. Many corroded ones on the bike. And too many star screws; those and most of the hex bolts to get replaced with Allens.

The wiring: It's a bit crappy - not Japanese. Much of it's too tight, like I've read here today. Too tight to work on. As much as I can, I'll sleeve with heatshrink. I managed to get the sidestand switch wire out, now I just have to jumper it at the connector.

Body panels all off to get cleaned and acrylic coated.

It's all quite dirty and greasy under the tank.

The air filter - it's dirty and doesn't have much oil. Twin Air - why do people moan about the stock air filter? - Twin Air is one of the main 2 off-road bike filters. The steel/chrome frame is..ridiculous, though - heavy.

THE WEIGHT: Yes, they sure built it like a tank. With no regard for weight at all. No wonder it's heavy! Now that I've been looking at things, with the tank and panels off... wow. Even the fasteners are generally heavier than they need to be. There's not much that can be done to lighten it.

The hoses and wires and stuff, all the carb/intake stuff is quite a tangle.

The headlight was not bolted to the side mounts - it was just sort of..wedged in.

I got a new Shin Yo sealed battery and the KTM radiator guards with the bike. The battery's "semi-sealed" [?]; there's a plastic module containing the acid that has to be inserted. 7AH...hmmm So I think I'll put it in asap and just store the stock battery.

It's been standing around a couple of years, so I'm going to change the coolant and the engine oil now - I think I'll use Castrol Futron until the 1,000km service and then put in the Motul. And the brake fluid - I'd better do that asap.

[phlat65]

well ot looks pretty clean from the pics.... congrats man!!

still has the stock tires on it, it can't be that bad off

[keithcross]

Nice clean bike. Just like mine was a couple of years ago. You just have to do something with the Exhaust and the rear mugaurd extension.
The bars on the rear mudgaurd can be discared if you dont take a pillion to often and the passenger pegs can be taken off to. With a diffent exhaust this saves a little weight.

Keith
ps wish mine was still as tidy as your Baggi

[cat]

> well it looks pretty clean from the pics....

Nice clean bike. Just like mine was a couple of years ago.

from the photos, yes. it's dirty. when i took the tank off i could see. and when i got my hands in around the back of the engine, around the carbs. they guy who assembled it had dirty hands - greasy hands. <g>
but that's no problem. wait - in a few weeks i'll have more photos - close-ups - and you'll see what "perfectionist" is.

i'll tell what's going on now - apart from having to be at work ... ss fasteners, and stars and most hex bolts replaced with Allens. i've got most of them now (it turned out that my big box of ss fasteners didn't have most of what i needed. in many cases, you need to replace the OEM buttonheads with buttonheads + fender washers the right size, because the OEM ones have like integrated washers.)

they used a real mixture of fasteners. including self-tapping screws into the threaded clips for the CDI unit. (those threaded clips also contribute to the excessive weight, btw - they're heavier than a nuts welded to the frame tabs.) but there will not be any self-tapping screws on my bike, so i have to get 2 of those threaded clip things, or thread those to take M6 or M5, if that's possible.

they used crappy rubber, like the old BMWs. some of the mounting grommets are half-rotten. the rubber things like the headlight bulb and so on need to be cleaned and silicone sprayed. silicone spray is good. do it from new and it'll all last, and look good.

yesterday i found out where to get some nice ss barrel-end hose clamps, better and less expensive than good Wurth ss hose clamps.
i measured them this morning. 20 for the coolant hoses and the 4 carb clamps. (the original ones are mostly those Oetiker clamps, that have started to corrode, and the carb clamps are painted (and @$#%@$#@ difficult to get to.)

oil change and coolant change. and - unfortunately - the brake fuid. it's all been standing around a couple of years.

and some tidying of the wiring.

You just have to do something with the Exhaust and the rear mudgaurd extension.

the exhaust's a work of art - in a way - but it's 20kg. that's the major weight saving. the rest... if you want to reduce weight, you have to do it the racing way - every little thing counts, it all adds up, and it can be expensive.

the mudguard extension thing is ugly, it spoils the way the bike looks. it's goota go. but that means organising something for the taillight. apparently the Baja Designs taillights are dim, they obviously use cheap LEDs. so i'm going to look for some sportbike light that'll fit nicely. it doesn't have to be LED. the bulb can be replaced with an LED bulb. need good lights. i was thinking i'd start by trying the stock taillight under the mudguard [/fender].
more than that - the taillight - i hope the Phillips Vision Plus headlight makes a difference - i need that. and while it's off, the back of the headlight/fairing thing is getting sprayed satin black, to reduce that glare.

meanwhile, i discovered last night that i have a puncture. after 100km. (i need a rear wheel stand, now. i'll have to look for a milk crate somewhere tonight, just to get it off the tyre. or try the mx bike lift stand.) so i have to buy a tube and some valves today. and a puncture repair kit. maybe the tube was rotten from standing for a couple years...? damn. i've got enough to do without that.

[keithcross]

All sounds good. As for a stand, get a moto cross stand, they are far better than the padock type as you can get both wheels out at teh same time and they are very stable.

Keith

[cat]

All sounds good. As for a stand, get a moto cross stand, they are far better than the padock type as you can get both wheels out at teh same time and they are very stable.

Keith

I've got a solid lift stand but I haven't checked yet to see if it's low enough to fit under the bike. It's probably not wide enough, but I can cut a piece of plywood or something to go on top of it.

[whysub01]

I've got a solid lift stand but I haven't checked yet to see if it's low enough to fit under the bike. It's probably not wide enough, but I can cut a piece of plywood or something to go on top of it.

.

I had to do this on my lift stand, as the bottom frame rails are wider apart than they were on my XR650R.

I have left he rear mudguard on mine-although it looks ugly, when I took it off and rode on wet roads, my back was soaked with the spray it chucked up. As 70% of my riding is (unfortunately) on the motorway (freeway) it was the sensible thing to do.

The end can is a favourite for kit car builders in the UK. Not only does it to get their cars through the MOT on noise levels (it really deadens the noise on a K series engine Caterham) but it will pass the emmission tests. But it does make them look pig ugly, but as it's only there for the MOT who cares?

[cat]

All sounds good. As for a stand, get a moto cross stand, they are far better than the padock type as you can get both wheels out at teh same time and they are very stable.
Keith

I've got a solid lift stand but I haven't checked yet to see if it's low enough to fit under the bike. It's probably not wide enough, but I can cut a piece of plywood or something to go on top of it.

No ways. And the photo is with the Baghira leaning over on the sidestand. Call it a couple cm. too high /low.

[Randew2U]

can you cut a few pieces of 3/4 or 1/2 inch plywood to put under the front or rear wheel and the kickstand before jacking? you can rid up onto them?

[cat]

I have left he rear mudguard on mine-although it looks ugly, when I took it off and rode on wet roads, my back was soaked with the spray it chucked up. As 70% of my riding is (unfortunately) on the motorway (freeway) it was the sensible thing to do.

Yeah I can see that you'd get tired of that,..the looks would take second place. Unless you used a bin liner as an overcoat or something.

The end can is a favourite for kit car builders in the UK. Not only does it to get their cars through the MOT on noise levels (it really deadens the noise on a K series engine Caterham) but it will pass the emmission tests. But it does make them look pig ugly, but as it's only there for the MOT who cares?

You mean there's a market for them?! Only problem is it would cost 1000s to ship it.

Talking about rain, it's been raining and raining here. Last long weekend and now this one. But today, back to work and it's a beautiful day.

[cat]

can you cut a few pieces of 3/4 or 1/2 inch plywood to put under the front or rear wheel and the kickstand before jacking? you can rid up onto them?

hmmm..maybe..I..can..figure something out.
I really would like to avoid buying an expensive wheel stand now - I need money for handlebars and mounts, for exhaust, etc.

The puncture..is a slow one. I pumped it up on Sunday morning with a little 12V compressor and it was still ok last night. So that's rideable, but it needs to be fixed in case it blows out or something. But at least I can carry on with what I was doing without worrying about it standing on the flat tyre.

[cat]

I spilt some coolant, so I had to rinse it off.

This bike is hard to work on. The bolts holding things on are obstrcuted by other things. I wish they made transparent sleeving or tape for wiring.

[whysub01]

But today, back to work and it's a beautiful day.

I had to go back today. -3C, hard packed snow and ice for 3 miles, then grit clagged roads for the next 57 miles. Bike black by the time it got here.

And i've to ride home too!

[cat]

But today, back to work and it's a beautiful day.

I had to go back today. -3C, hard packed snow and ice for 3 miles, then grit clagged roads for the next 57 miles. Bike black by the time it got here.

And i've to ride home too!

urrghh! 60 miles! You must be going from Essex to the other side of London or something. ......I take my hat off to you; 5 miles of that would be more than enough for me - I'd take the car.

[whysub01]

urrghh! 60 miles! You must be going from Essex to the other side of London or something. ......I take my hat off to you; 5 miles of that would be more than enough for me - I'd take the car.

Between Colchester and Witham to Tower Hill.

Managed to blag a works van for the journey home-but that's another story!