Baghira replacement

[125SMash]

As some of you may have heard, the Baghira line was dropped because Yamaha was planning to introduce its own 660 Supermotard to europe.
Well apparently this is it
http://www.yamaha-motor.co.jp/eng/motorshow/html/museum/mc/05/index.html
id say it doenst look half bad.
Down side?
while eliminating the competition from its own affiliate, the MZ in europe, Yamaha does not apparently plan to sell this new 660 in the USA, leaving us completely 660 supermotar-less.

By the way, as far as i know, the baghira line was the 1st production super motard officially destributed in the USA.
Atleasti know i havent seen any other brands on the streets.
Can anyone confirm this?

[Dezmo]

Smash: news/pics of the XTX have been making the rounds on the supermotard forums for some time now...to me it looks even bigger/heavier than the baghira...which is nice for the street I'm sure, but the light weight and flickability of a motard is what attracted me to them in the 1st place. I still wouldnt mind getting my paws on a XTX motor to slot into the Baggy tho
And as to the 1st production motard in the US....sorry thats the KTM duke...theyve around here since 94 or 95, the baghira didnt show up till 98 or so

[125SMash]

it defnitely looks bulkier, that was the main reason i coulndt say i like the new design.
if you viewed the clip that yamaha includes in that link, you can see that that clip was at beats, geared towards dual purposers, hardly supermotards. and thats what this 'supermotard' end up being, a mere dual purpose.
i cant imagine it doing well at a SM track at all.

as for ktm duke, interesting, i actually think i may have seen one of those in nyc.
well whoever was first, MZ entered the sm market of US pretty early and had a decent start. too bad they are discarding such an opportunity.

[125SMash]

its been a while, either in some MZ related chat room or forum.
the baghies are not in the 2003 line up so effectively they have been dropped, atleast temporarily.

if they reappear in 2004 thats great i just hope not with the yams SM characteristics

[Goldie]

I don't believe that Yamaha will sell the new engine to MZ. Perhaps in 10 years or so
MZ ist concentrating on the 125 and 1000 ccm. The Baghi will not be updated.

[keithcross]

Hi

My name is Keith Cross and I live in Hampshire England, about 35 miles south west of London. I currently ride a Yellow (dam thats a bright color) Baghira street moto that has covered 35000+kms. I also own a 1990 GL1500 Goldwing and a 1981 GL1100 goldwing kitted out with enduro fenders, headlight and tyres.
I yook interest in the bit about the bggi going out of production and e-mailed MZ direct (the address is given below) about this and got this reply.
Hello Keith,

"Thanks for your e-mail.

But there is really no need to worry. What Bill is writing is by no means true.

The fact is that we are still manufacturing the whole range, from electric scooters, the 125cc range, the 660cc range and since end of last year also the 1000cc bikes.
Addtionally we are selling scooters and ATV's. Haven't seen the "Motorcyclist" magazine and have no idea where they have their information from.

So everything is alright and there are no problems for you to get spare parts.

Have fun riding your Baghira.
Best regards

Mandy Schaarschmidt
International Sales Dept.

MZ Motorrad- und Zweiradwerk GmbH
Alte Marienberger Straße 30-35
D-09405 Zschopau-Hohndorf
GERMANY

phone: ++49 (0) 37 25 / 49-102
fax: ++49 (0) 37 25 / 49-118
e-mail: m.schaarschmidt@muz.de
internet: www.muz.de "

Talk again soon

Keith

[keithcross]

Forgot to mention, initial tests on the Yamaha 660 SM are not particularly good. Heavy and a bit slow.

Keith

[Brian]

[keithcross]

whoops, what will people think of me
Keith

[phlat65]

hey keith, how about a pic of the goldwing "enduro"?????

[keithcross]

I am afraid my computer skill do not strech to being able to post pictures. There is however a picture of the bike in the album of the following web site.

www.solentsupermotos.co.uk

Keith

[Brian]

[mham001]

Disapointing about the new motor. It doesn't weigh much if any less and has no more power. Not sure why they did it.

[cat-tard]

[Brian]

I saw two riding together late last week.......... brand new......I drove up past them and looked in my mirror cause I saw the pipes... I was in heavy traffic, turned around and they were gone..........these bikes looked like the 600 and somtin Beemers... they are big and heavy looking....they now have 4 valve heads and produce less power and torque than our beloved Baggy (read that on a Internet test site)......