MZ Mastiff 660e

[BanditJeff]

Any thoughts from anyone on these bikes ?

Saw this one that finished on e bay today, but wasn't sure if it was a good price or not...
https://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=300389569829&_trkparms=tab%3DWatching

For a while now i've been wanting an enduro/supermoto as a second bike. Was gonna get a DRZ 400 but when i test rode one i found it too gutless on the road so thought i'd look at higher cc stuff with a bit more power.

[stinkwheel]

It's an XTZ660 motor manufactured under licence.

The Baghira was the same price as the mastiff but was taller and had compression and rebound adjustable forks. Came with either 17" or 21" front wheel. Other differences were a square headlight and a high level mudguard.

The spec of the componants was very good anthough the bike as a whole is pretty heavy compared to many "proper" enduro bikes. A good package though. I had one and liked it.
____________________
“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[BanditJeff]

[stinkwheel]

Oil every 3k miles as I remember. It takes the XTZ oil filters.

A bit of a fanny to change the oil because it's dry sump and oil in frame but it's a well proven engine design.

When I had mine, I was the only person in Europe to have blown an engine within the warranty period (casting failure on the conrod). It was so unusual for an engine to fail, they had it shipped back to Germany so they could strip it down to find out what went wrong, then repaired it with new parts.
____________________
“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[G]

XTZ engine still doesn't make much power, but with even more weight.

You mention 'enduro', which concerns me - I wouldn't consider it a supermoto, with the only real advantages it has over something like an SV650 is the lack of power, which can often be more power - but then you could just mildly restrict an SV650 for the same effect .

[BanditJeff]

[BanditJeff]

[G]

Fair enough, if you want to pay more for less .
If it's the styling rather than aspects of the ride, then a TDM850/900 might be worth considering as they're a fair bit less 'gutless'.

[BanditJeff]

Until i've ridden one of these MZ's i've no idea if i'll want one.... i may find it as gutless on the road as the DRZ.
Just wanted some opinions from someone who'd owned one.... and i like the idea of a trallie style bike to hoon around on in the winter so i dont get my shiney new Bandit shitted up with road crud and salt.

[stinkwheel]

Tops out at about 110mph. Up to that it'll ride rings around an SV650. In fact, you get away with murder handling wise.

Should be noted I'm a dyed in the wool Suzuki hater though.

For a winter hack you could do FAR worse then an MZ. What isn't powder coated is stainless or plastic. Including a stainless exhaust as standard. Probably the best bike I've ever owned in terms of tolerance for neglect.

No idea on price but I'd hold out for a baghira if I were you. The suspension is far superior and they ought to be a similar price.

Here's my baggy (got stolen in the end). I fitteed a low level exhaust and some kick-arse spot lights. Otherwise standard.
https://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f216/stinkwheel/Glentrool_2005_15.jpg
____________________
“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[G]

[BanditJeff]

[garth]

I've a red baghira with about 10k miles on which you can have for less than that. Pm me for more info.
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You ain't a has been if you never was

[stinkwheel]

[funmonkee]

I've had a baggy (see my profile). They are great fun bikes. Brilliant in town - it's tall and light; not bad on fuel; can take a little city 'offroading' (*)

Only downside for me was the top speed. It can reach 100ish, but from 75 onwards it feels like it'll explode. Obviously it a single so that's natural Oh and other than the engine and front discs (Vmax front discs fit), it's a bugger for spares.

I bought a Speed Triple and it killed the MZ for me. The S3 is grunty, has a good top speed, is smooth and has a good riding position...

Saying that, given some spare buck$ and a bigger garage I'd buy another Baggy. They look fantastic and as Stinkwheel says VERY forgiving on corners.

HTH

(*) Kerbs, steps etc

https://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q73/funmonkee/baghira/IMG_0159.jpg
____________________
**** Don't ride faster than your angel can fly Get this Free Space
The democratically elected Mod of the Scottish Section - The Peoples Choice[b]

[G]

[stinkwheel]

On a twisty back road or a rough road, the increased effort and concentration the SV requires to do the same job would ultimately make the MZ the faster bike in practical terms.

I think what funmonkee is referring to regarding steps and kerbs is riding up and down steps and gassing it off kerbs. Speed bumps and humpback bridges also become something to look forward to on a rideout. As do mini roundabouts (and the occasional proper roundabout if nobody is looking).

If we're talking about upgrading. I bet you could do the 720cc conversion to the MZ for around the same price as a GSXR rear shock and a fork revalve. Combine that with ditching the crashbars and various bits of subframe that add loads of weight and it all of a sudden becomes a lot faster.

MotoCal used to have a 720 Mastiff demonstrator, it was totally banzai and quick enough to be worth entering in some of the local supermoto racing.
____________________
“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[G]

[stinkwheel]

[funmonkee]

I've ridden a sportbike (gsxr750) off and on steps, kerbs, speed bumps, small garage walls etc..but found the fork seals did last long; whereas the MZ just seems to naturally cope with that stuff (one garage attendant said ' cheeky! try doing that with a road bike') ...maybe due to it's WP suspension- it just was good/easy for that stuff. As for weight; I've never ridden an SV. The MZ was very light to me, but when you realise my garage at that time included a Vmax and Hayabusa amoungst others, then it was a very light bike in my experience

I rate the MZ for city riding as it's forgiving and fun. Avoid snow I fell off it. I didn't like the top speed - but it's unrealistic to expect ore from the XT engine, I think a twin is the way to go for me. I have my eye open for a superduke
____________________
**** Don't ride faster than your angel can fly Get this Free Space
The democratically elected Mod of the Scottish Section - The Peoples Choice[b]

[G]

I've thought about this in the past - trail bikes tend to have softer suspension (though less for decent supermoto setups that have to deal with very heavy braking from speed with high grip).
So if you could handle occasionally bottoming out, you could just make your road bike a bit softer for the same smoothness over bumps.

Note the superduke only has slightly longer travel suspension (about 1", for which you're talking of course maybe 1/3" up and 2/3" down) than a slightly more 'road' bike like an Aprilia Tuono.

I haven't popped fork seals excessively from playing on sports bikes - I'm not sure there's really going to be more pressure than doing a 100mph-50mph stoppy or something, which I've done many times on road bikes in the past.

[stinkwheel]

Well. Can't say as I ever bottomed the baggy out, not even in Ireland where the roads are shit.

Around a foot of travel at each end (from fully unloaded to fully compressed). I wouldn't say the suspension was soft so much as there was a lot of it. You got the impression it was extending into dips rather than compressing over bumps, if that makes any sense.

You could brake REALLY hard so you were leaning forwards over the bars yet not be doing a stoppie on account of the rear suspension still unloading. Made a god-awful clattering noise when it eventually did. Was a favourite trick to do at traffic lights. The driver sees a motorcyclists head appear in his field of view then disappear backwards again as the front suspension unloaded.

I wouldn't dream of doing shit like that on my VFR, I'd fall off.
____________________
“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[stinkwheel]

[funmonkee]

Forgot to add, the weight of my baggy was waay lighter than a standard machine. Purely down to the exhaust system. The original are as heavy as a car exhaust

I really liked the MZ1000SF lots of goodies
____________________
**** Don't ride faster than your angel can fly Get this Free Space
The democratically elected Mod of the Scottish Section - The Peoples Choice[b]