another new Baghira owner with questions

[samandkimberly]

Last week I added another bike to my stable - a 2003 Baghira. Not sure which sub model it is; the bike is black, it has fully adjustable suspension and 17"wheels. Doesn't appear that it's ever been down. It has 2,000 miles on it, an M4 muffler and, for those of you who keep track of the market, I paid $1,900 for it.

That would seem to be a great deal, but it appears to have been tortured by home mechanics for most of it's life for no apparent reason:

- the instrument wiring harness has been removed, cut up, and all the bulbs/sockets lost and replaced with Radio shack lights that don't fit/don't work. I have to assume someone put a different speedo on this, then did a real bad job replacing it when they passed the bike on. It also leads me to believe the mileage is not 2,000, as indicated. But the bike has almost no mechanical wear, and the engine has that good tight feeling a near new engine has; it's certainly low mileage. I've built up a couple of circuit boards with high intensity LEDs that bolt on the back of the speedo and fitted that into the remains of the harness, so problem solved. For reference, the OEM wiring on the bike does not exactly match the diagrams on the web, in particular there are left/right indicators on my bike and only a single indicator light on the web schematics.

- in the process of changing the handlebars the previous owner lost most of the original socket head screws and replaced them with crap hex bolts, and put everything together wrong. Its all sorted out now, but there are scratches, etc where the hack bolts were installed.

- clutch perch and lever has been replaced by come crap aftermarket shorty thing that has too little leverage. Anyone recommend a particular aftermarket clutch perch/lever combo?

- clutch cable has been routed against the exhaust pipe and has melted. Anyone have any tips on how to route the clutch cable so this doesn't happen in the future?

- exhaust pipe has melted into the airbox. I'm not so worried about the airbox hole, but it appears that the only things holding the exhaust are the head studs and the muffler hanger. Is this really the case on Baghiras in general, or am I missing a bracket somewhere?

- The air cleaner has had a hole burned through it from the inside. I'm guessing it hasn't always been easy to start.

- all those %##%^&*seat bolts are missing. I'm on a mission to find an industrial source for these - I'm nearly certain I've identified them as Dzus/Southco D3 fasteners, but no part number yet. If anyone has done this already, let me know; if I find it I'll be sure to post here.

- I know this gets asked regularly, but does anyone have an owners manual for this?

Anyone have a line on dirt wheels for this bike? when the current tires wear out I *may* just lace a pair of 18/21" wheels on these rims, but I'd be interested in a trade, or buying a spare set. I'm sorely tempted to put these spokers on the Skorpion.

It looks great next to my black Skorpion. wonder which I'll end up riding more often this spring?


Sam

[samandkimberly]

Update - the Dzus/panex part number for the Baghira seat fastener itself is d3-316-125-191. Now to find some, as well as the other bits.

S

[GordonH]

Clutch cable: Just looked at mine and the clutch cable is routed down the frame between the two exhaust pipes. There are a couple of routing brackets after the vertical drop to help keep it from touching the exhaust pipes on the right side as it snakes over to the actuator. The PO may have used other than stock cable and clutch lever causing your present dilemma.
Exhaust brackets: there is a small heat shield on the right side just above the clutch actuator. Just to the rear of that there is a dual clamp holding the pipes together, but is not attached to anything else. The stock exhaust is mounted in two places and other than the header clamps, that is the only mounts I can see.

My airbox has some insulating material between it and the exhaust pipe.

Somewhere on this forum someone wrote that the dzus bolts are available IKEA.


Where are you located?

Gordon

[samandkimberly]

Thanks Gordon. I think that the clutch cable is OE, but that not the best attention was paid when it was being routed.

I realize I have a different problem with the side fasteners too: the holes in the seat don't appear to lineup with the holes in the tank. They're about 4-5mm short; they could be made to fit with a lot of elbow grease, but I can see why they got lost now. I might have to makeup some sort of adapter there and if I do that I might as well go over to a different bolt too.

Sam (near Boston, MA)

[DAVID THOMPSON]

one big problem i had with my traveller was fixing all the mods by unknown number of past owners
at least they did not trash the wiring harness
it had only made 490 miles a year average when i got it
must have spent all there spare time thinking up stuff to change
DAVE

[harold]

My Baggi came with no seat bolts, but it doesn't bother me. It stays in place real well, and comes off to mess with stuff by just lifting it. I do take it off when trailering, to keep it from possibly blowing off going down the road.
You might be able to fix the hole in the air box with some "peel and stick" foil tape used in roofing. You can buy a new air filter, as it fits KTM I think. You can find a thread here with the part number. I have a new filter and airbox, but am trying to sell the whole intake complete with carbs, as I have removed it all and put a Mikuni on.

[samandkimberly]

I'm almost certainly over analyzing the seat bolt issue; at the end of the day drilling out the bottom one for a regular bolt and using Velcro for the other two is probably the smart choice. As far as the hole in the intake, well, there's already a big hole in the top to let air in, so no worries. The LED instrument lights are working great, and I've ordered a KTM lc640 air filter, so I'm nearly all set.

Harold - I've enjoyed reading about your single carb changeover, and that's what I'll probably do later on; as you know that's an easy to get carb in the US. But that can wait. Should have it registered this week!

[GordonH]

I'm almost certainly over analyzing the seat bolt issue; at the end of the day drilling out the bottom one for a regular bolt and using Velcro for the other two is probably the smart choice. As far as the hole in the intake, well, there's already a big hole in the top to let air in, so no worries. The LED instrument lights are working great, and I've ordered a KTM lc640 air filter, so I'm nearly all set.

Harold - I've enjoyed reading about your single carb changeover, and that's what I'll probably do later on; as you know that's an easy to get carb in the US. But that can wait. Should have it registered this week!

I've already drilled out the bottom one and tried retapping for another bolt. Drilled for the tap, started tapping and the insert used on the seat started to spin. End of story for that.I'm thinking of epoxying an appropriate length of all thread and using a wingnut or some other non-tool removal system.

C'mon Baltimore. Get them Patriots.

Gordon

[wookster]

hi samandkimberley, i had the same problem with the saddle fixings in the tank and the rear mount, cured both by drilling them out big enough to take a 10mmx M6 nut and araldited them all in.also made the hole in the saddle bigger to line the bolts up easier then used some nice big aluminium cap washers to tidy the hole thing up. problem solved. regarding the airfilter box, i cut most of it away leaving just a ring around the top where the mountings are and the rear of the box to act as a mud guard for the K and Ns i fitted. coupled with a straight thru exhaust it breaths much better and sounds great on the overrun.sucks in small birds etc.i also added an extra tooth on the front sprocket and two on the back. it will now pull 120 no problem.