Making my ugly bike a sexy bike. Need help! (Baggy)
Posted: Thu Jun 18, 2015 5:39 pmSo I picked up my 01 Black Panther Baghira a couple months ago in a trade. It's an awesome bike, I've had more fun on this thing than any of my other bikes. But it's goddamn ugly, and not just Baghira ugly. I need to change that, and I've got a few ideas in mind that I was hoping to get some input on. I'm using this guy as an inspiration and will likely use it as reference in this post: http://i.imgur.com/vVmR5VI.jpg Thanks!
This is what it looked like a couple days ago before I tore it apart.
Here's what it looks like today with a new front fender and the stark realization that it's gonna take some doing to make this a sexy bike.
So here's what I've got:
-47t rear sprocket and sexy gold chain
-Any standard owner maintenance you can think of has been done in the past month. Rejetted for altitude
-Carbon exhaust, rear sintered pads, tons of electronic extras (trail tech, foglights, etc), fork and swingarm sliders
And some other stuff I'm forgetting. It's got potential...
Here are the big ideas:
Forks:
SKF Forks Seals, heavier oil, poly fork boots.
In that photo I linked at the top of the thread, notice the Marzocchi fork leg decal wrap. I'm on a quest to find that decal, if anybody knows of it or anything similar I'd love to hear about it. Painting the leg and slapping a sticker on during the rebuild is always a possibility too but a lot more work than an easy decal wrap.
Fairings/Paint:
On the same photo I linked, check out how he cut the front fairing and removed that bracing bar. Definitely going to do that as a simple weight reduction. Speaking of weight reduction, I'll likely cut the subframe as far back as I can without interfering with the taillight and relocate the plate to deep behind the rear wheel
The tail and rear fairings are a grey zone for me. In that photo he's got it nailed but there's no way in hell I'll be able to replicate that with my tools, materials, and experience. Does anyone have any good examples of tidying up the tail end on MZ 660's?
I'll likely copy that guy's paint scheme with matching the swingarm, oil filter cover, and front fairing's colors. Probably the shock spring too. I don't know if I'm gonna go white or red.
Headlight:
I am so lost when it comes to the headlight. In these two photos, the headlight seems more compact and streamlined which is what I would prefer. Maybe it's a later model? http://imgur.com/a/tB9QG
In the second photo if anyone know's anything about that skidplate or the radiator guards I'd appreciate the info.
Misc:
Where the hell is the idle adjustment screw? I'm idling at like 990rpm, it sucks. I really don't want to tear apart the worst carb in the existence of man, again.
Those MSR mudguards do not mesh well with the new fender. Ditching those for acerbis or nothing at all, we'll see.
There used to be a guard on the pipes (seen in the picture below), I want to find something to fill that empty space. Suggestions?
There's an air intake on the right carb. Check out this bling, it probably isn't worth the money: http://img560.imageshack.us/img560/548/airfilter.jpg
And I think that's it. This will probably be my build thread (if this is the right place to post it?) and it's a good way to get my thoughts on paper. Any help is appreciated and I'll try and return to comment on this thread when I can. Thanks again!
This is what it looked like a couple days ago before I tore it apart.
Here's what it looks like today with a new front fender and the stark realization that it's gonna take some doing to make this a sexy bike.
So here's what I've got:
-47t rear sprocket and sexy gold chain
-Any standard owner maintenance you can think of has been done in the past month. Rejetted for altitude
-Carbon exhaust, rear sintered pads, tons of electronic extras (trail tech, foglights, etc), fork and swingarm sliders
And some other stuff I'm forgetting. It's got potential...
Here are the big ideas:
Forks:
SKF Forks Seals, heavier oil, poly fork boots.
In that photo I linked at the top of the thread, notice the Marzocchi fork leg decal wrap. I'm on a quest to find that decal, if anybody knows of it or anything similar I'd love to hear about it. Painting the leg and slapping a sticker on during the rebuild is always a possibility too but a lot more work than an easy decal wrap.
Fairings/Paint:
On the same photo I linked, check out how he cut the front fairing and removed that bracing bar. Definitely going to do that as a simple weight reduction. Speaking of weight reduction, I'll likely cut the subframe as far back as I can without interfering with the taillight and relocate the plate to deep behind the rear wheel
The tail and rear fairings are a grey zone for me. In that photo he's got it nailed but there's no way in hell I'll be able to replicate that with my tools, materials, and experience. Does anyone have any good examples of tidying up the tail end on MZ 660's?
I'll likely copy that guy's paint scheme with matching the swingarm, oil filter cover, and front fairing's colors. Probably the shock spring too. I don't know if I'm gonna go white or red.
Headlight:
I am so lost when it comes to the headlight. In these two photos, the headlight seems more compact and streamlined which is what I would prefer. Maybe it's a later model? http://imgur.com/a/tB9QG
In the second photo if anyone know's anything about that skidplate or the radiator guards I'd appreciate the info.
Misc:
Where the hell is the idle adjustment screw? I'm idling at like 990rpm, it sucks. I really don't want to tear apart the worst carb in the existence of man, again.
Those MSR mudguards do not mesh well with the new fender. Ditching those for acerbis or nothing at all, we'll see.
There used to be a guard on the pipes (seen in the picture below), I want to find something to fill that empty space. Suggestions?
There's an air intake on the right carb. Check out this bling, it probably isn't worth the money: http://img560.imageshack.us/img560/548/airfilter.jpg
And I think that's it. This will probably be my build thread (if this is the right place to post it?) and it's a good way to get my thoughts on paper. Any help is appreciated and I'll try and return to comment on this thread when I can. Thanks again!
. I'm actually focusing mostly on bodywork because I want to be able to flip this bike on a whim (might leave the country for work on short notice). 
