killa Won't Shut Up
Joined: 18 Oct 2004 Karma :
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Posted: 21:52 - 12 Apr 2018 Post subject: Killa's biking history *Part 11* |
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Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7
Part 8
Part 9
Part 10
It was an older gentleman who purchased the GS650. He just fancied something easy to ride and tinker with and as I had been tinkering all bloody year, I think it was going to be perfect for him.
I was sad to see it go, I had lost my job for the second time in as many years due to redundancy but I held onto the bike and worked on it during my time off.
She started on the button and ran really sweet, even the brakes felt good! Those basic old Suzuki machines have such character, if you work with them, they’ll reward you.
I didn’t fancy buying something on a really low budget, so when I got working again, I fancied something newer, more fun and less to worry about.
My friend had a Suzuki DR400 for awhile and when I rode that for a short trip, I loved it but as it was only a 400cc, it felt underpowered to me. My idea was simple. Something with long fork travel to combat the god awful road conditions, powerful, yet economical. My commute was only twenty five miles along country roads, so something with grunt and cornering ability would be ideal. All signs pointed to a supermoto.
Decent unmolested DR400’s have held their money, as I was running a classic car to, I still wanted something for less than £2000. With the eBay filters set, nothing much came up, except some tired old KDX’s and some homemade “supermoto” old school enduro’s. I wanted something purpose built ideally. Eventually I stumbled on a bike that caught my eye.
https://i1381.photobucket.com/albums/ah206/killa_b83/2091609e-4e5e-44ba-a717-5d61b1182dcd_zpsxnxsk3au.jpg
The Baghira looked shit hot in my opinion but being MZ, I was a little reluctant to part cash immediately. Upon more research I realised two things. Most parts on this thing were decent quality and most riders weren’t interested for the same reasons as my initial musings. Good news for me as the prices were very reasonable and I’m sure I could maintain it if the parts were available. I picked up a 2001 “Baggy” for less than two grand with some nice touches like the Scorpion exhaust, an optimate charging point and heated grips.
https://i1381.photobucket.com/albums/ah206/killa_b83/34ce914a-fe56-49ac-8082-619f781376c5_zpsqitjigxy.jpg
What you find with jumping from sports bikes to off road style bikes is just how much easier they are to ride. As soon as I came away from the guys place with the Baghira, I was flowing nicely through traffic, blipping the throttle finding it a doddle to control at low speed. The first part of the journey was country roads for about fifteen minutes. In that time I found the engine smooth, full of torque, which as I’ve learned from sports bikes, definitely suits my style of riding.
My playtime was short lived however when I met the motorway. What was enjoyable about a tall supermoto with perfect balance and engine qualities, is quickly killed off by an hour and a half on the motorway, in torrential rain
That being said, the bike performed brilliantly on the trip back and when I got home, I turned around and fell in love again with the looks.
The next day I had to investigate what the noise was from the chain area. The bike was generally very clean and tidy, no signs of abuse but something wasn’t right.
https://i1381.photobucket.com/albums/ah206/killa_b83/9c1f19c9-ad77-4923-8977-cac80d59a852_zpsjchoral9.jpg
Sure enough the chain needed adjusting but more worryingly, the chain had a massive tight spot. So much so that the whole chain wobbled everywhere for some reason. Upon further investigating, the problem was looking dire. Due to poor maintenance, the chain had ruined both sprockets and to make matters worse, the front sprocket nut was about hand tight. This had also caused some damaged to the threads on the output drive shaft. This could mean a complete engine rebuild, that’s the only way to remove the shaft.
MAINTAIN YOUR BLOODY CHAIN!
https://i1381.photobucket.com/albums/ah206/killa_b83/bdd966c8-e06f-42d0-bfd5-bfc718dcb9a5_zpstbvog3pt.jpg
I was gutted, but the workshop were really good to me and were honest with the job. The new nut and washer thankfully did up to the torque setting. Happy with the assembly, the technician marked the shaft anyway, just so I could check it every so often, in case it did slip. Now fully serviced, she was good to go.
I really enjoyed every minute of riding the baggy, it’s tall, agile, powerful and looks the nuts. My commute was a real plus point in my day to, the handling was enough to keep a consistent speed around most corners and the tall position gave you an advantage when in the often random roads of the British countryside. However, upon taking on some longer journeys, I found the seat was causing me severe discomfort. My coccyx was the issue and never before, on any seat that I’ve sat on, has it been an issue. The Baghira was known to have a narrow, hard seat and for whatever reason it was aggravating my tail bone.
Research began on the MZ forums, some people had spent large amounts of money getting a more comfortable ride. Custom upholstered seats, additional pads and gel inserts. After much deliberation, I finally went through with the possible solution. The medical industry use a high density gel for seats, to combat pressure problems. The only issue was, it’s not cheap and I would have to carry out the work myself.
https://i1381.photobucket.com/albums/ah206/killa_b83/b5ac3e19-e208-41a7-aa5d-bdf131325c78_zpsy5oipfee.jpg
After a month of discomfort and research I attacked the seat.
I did pretty well considering I’d never done anything like it before. In short, it was an improvement, for someone without the issues I had, it would be a greatly improved seat
Sadly it wasn’t to be and the pain outweighed the awesome fun of riding the bike. I honestly can say the MZ Baghira is one of the best bikes I’ve ever ridden. I’d happy have another but could only ride it if it had a wide old school seat like the old scramblers had, like the TS or DT etc. Instead of arsing about having a custom seat made, I sold the bike on to a chap for the same money I paid for it.
I did however do a little filming with it for a Kickstarter project coming this year.
https://i1381.photobucket.com/albums/ah206/killa_b83/94e2ca01-9b7d-481e-94c8-4e4029fb17b6_zpsgvw6ycmr.jpg
https://i1381.photobucket.com/albums/ah206/killa_b83/848ebc7b-ba62-4963-ba66-7b9cd583511b_zpsqd5w1sqa.jpg
https://i1381.photobucket.com/albums/ah206/killa_b83/fd380a53-702e-4d18-b050-6d1fe2fd509b_zpsc7xaz8tp.jpg
Coming up next in part 12 of my biking history. I step back into four stroke twins and find that patience really pays off.
PART 12 HERE ____________________ Cleverly disguised as a responsible adult.
Bike:- Yamaha TRX850 | Killas Biking History | Killas Gaming History | Killas autmotive history
Last edited by killa on 15:19 - 20 May 2019; edited 1 time in total |
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B5234FT Brolly Dolly
Joined: 28 Sep 2009 Karma :
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killa Won't Shut Up
Joined: 18 Oct 2004 Karma :
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craigs23 Mr Muscle
Joined: 08 Jun 2005 Karma :
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Posted: 10:01 - 30 Apr 2018 Post subject: |
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Always a good read seeing your biking history Killa
Welcome back too. |
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