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MuZ Baghira (2003) - Oli Rhys has big fun with a single thumper
It all started with overtaking a small group of cars on a dual carriageway. It was a Saturday evening in early February. I was cold, I was 50 miles from home, and I didn't want to be here. The Kawasaki GPZ1100S was ticking away at 90 as I went past the cars. The road was clear again, and the clock smoothly showed I was covering 2 miles every minute. I would be home in less than half an hour. I looked in my mirror and suddenly felt the need to slow down. The blue light confirmed it was a wise choice, and I slowed to a stop. Cutting a long, interesting story into 1500 words or less, they let me off, but my collection of points had doubled.
I needed a new bike, the GPZ was much too comfortable, easy to ride, and far too fast to ride in this country at a fraction of its ability. Question was, what could be as much fun as a sport tourer, but didn't go over the magic ton? I called into my friendly independent dealer, and, following much discussion and ego massaging, bought an 18 month old MZ for £2990!
The last MZ I rode was my mate's MZ251 - 20 years ago. A brand as joked about as Skoda. Some things change. The MZ Baghira Street Moto is an enduro bike with a 17 inch front wheel, running Pirelli MT60 'racing wets'. It has a Yamaha XTZ 660 single cylinder engine, which is tuned to around 50 bhp. It should do around 100 mph and return about 50 mpg. It has fully adjustable White Power suspension, and has a seat height of 900mm. This is one bike the girlfriend won't be able to ride. I would estimate you'll need to be at least 5'10" to feel comfortable on this bike. The quality of the bike shows up everywhere. What little plastic there is, is the heavy type that lasts. The switches are very positive, and everything still works! The only downsides are the clocks read in KPM and the fuel tank holds 11 litres, about 2 gallons in old money.
So, with the technical observations out of the way, is it any better than the GPZ?
Mainstream magazines like to have simple classifications for all their bikes. The super moto is a very lightweight enduro based bike, which will out handle a big sports bike down a country lane. So, was it true? I set off down a country lane.
I like the A541, it’s not too technical, lots of sweepy bits, its only bad points are the trees and walls which don't move when you hit them. Starting gingerly, thanks to the miserable weather, I started to get the feel for the bike. It was certainly lighter than the GPZ. I could move from left to right by just thinking about it. I was higher off the ground, and I could see over the MPV in front. But with no fairing, I could feel the coldness that only a February afternoon can produce. The engine was not what I was used to, the rev range was totally different, and I was over revving the engine with every gear change. When I went for the brakes, the whole front end disappeared. The brakes worked, but unfortunately, so did the suspension. This would be a bike to learn to ride. The outcome of my first ride was that I was wet. Wet, filthy and cold. At least I know knew what fairings were for! I also hadn't gone over 90 mph. This was looking better.
One of the great things with the internet is the ability to find like minded people and chat to them. MZ's might not be popular with EMAP, but they are elsewhere in the world. These people also like to fiddle with their bikes. The general feeling being that, to really get to enjoy your MZ, you need to swap the exhaust for one that isn't as heavy as fridge, or as restrictive as a brick wall! Having spent a few weeks on EBay, I got my suitable replacement. Fiddling with your own bike is so much easier when you don't have acres of plastic to remove first. Within 10 minutes, I had a noisy, hell raiser of a bike. Having contemplated living the life of a rebel for a few moments, I decided to call down to the bike shop and get a DB Killer. Having fitted it, I went for another spin.
My playground is North Wales. The best roads in the world is a description best suited to a less gatso patrolled area, however our corners are great. Having learnt not to rev to infinity anymore, I had discovered low end torque. This new exhaust had embellished this to the point that I was not using the gearbox anymore. I just popped it into top and rode.
The sitting position is very upright, almost like riding a small horse. Like an enduro, you sit on the tank and ride with your hips. I had also discovered how to deal with the brakes and suspension – don’t use the brakes and then the suspension will just do the up and down thing it does so well. Finding my way into a village that time and the local tourist board had forgotten, I found a nice small road. In England, this would be a B or a C class road, but not here. This was the A494. Remembering that brakes were for wimps, I got my speed up and, getting to the first corner, I lent the bike down. I was leaning more than I had ever lent a bike. Coming from the school of smooth, I always thought it was rude to use all the tyres. I went round the corner with not a whimper from the bike. It was just chugging away like a happy tractor. This was a revelation! The next corner turns up, quicker that I expected, due to my no brakes policy. Again, there was no stopping the leaning this bike could do. As I carried on with this new endeavour, I slowly came to the realisation that I had done a very wise thing!
The smile on my face didn’t diminish until later the next day. I finally had a bike that could read my mind and allow me to perform to the ability of my ego. Having done the tasks of the day, I went out to play on my new toy at the local industrial estate. I wanted to know how the bike would feel doing silly things slowly. I soon discovered that I needed new handlebars. I could stand on the pegs, enduro style but this was in the style of a day glo hunchback. I then started playing with the brakes and the suspension. Adjusting a little of the bounce out of the front forks, I found hard braking was much more comfortable. I accelerated hard and found I could also wheelie! The feeling of total excitement due to finally achieving a lifetime goal, and the shear terror of not knowing what to do, once past that “once in a lifetime photo opportunity”, is difficult to describe. What I did know was I wanted to do it again. I spent the next hour revving the bike, getting the front wheel in the air, panicking, and dropping the wheel on the floor. The GPZ was a distant memory of how old bikes used to be.
Having ridden the bike to work a few times, I can safely say it’s not a motorway bike in the traditional sense. Yes, 40 miles at 85 mph is not too painful, but, when you are used to never being overtaken, its quite strange being in the middle lane and not having instant oomph to overtake the diesel hatchback in front. Where this bike excels is everywhere else. It’s cheap to run, and, with the brand named bits, reliable. It’s so easy to ride, and it reminds you why bikes are better than cars. It’s not the speed, or the ability to look cool, its just more fun! I know that it’s easy to ramble on about a new bike while it’s still new, but I don’t have any plans to change this bike for a long time. I recently discovered that Yamaha use this engine in their ATV, Raptor. It has Titanium valves and revs to 9000 rpm. There is also a motor racing series called Supermoto where SZR660 are raced against other singles. Big Thumper motoring is the next big thing – not that it ever went away.
With most modern bikes having their characters removed to gain an extra few HP’s and to appeal to the most number of potential customers, the MZ is a refreshing change. If you ever need to be reminded of how much fun biking can be, have a look at a Baghira.
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