MZ Baghira (2001-2007)

03:40 mokarari

The MZ Baghira is a great bike for taking you to work or throwing you around mountainsides at weekends, the Baghira’s a torquey little beast with brilliant, light handling. Cornering’s hilarious. In town, that towering seat comes in handy. Quirky looks and a good price should make it real competition against its rivals

 

Engine

The ubiquitous Yamaha XT660 engine strikes again in the MZ Baghira: the liquid cooled, four stroke single powers other steeds such as the MT-03 and Aprilia’s Pegaso Strada. Gutsy down low, it propels the bike around town and corners like there’s no tomorrow. It can cruise at 80mph and peaks at around 100mph but the rider’s likely to have passed out by then. Carbed, not injected.

Quality and Reliability

Excellent, which surprises those who don’t equate MZ with quality… Things have changed. The Baghira boasts plastic parts made by Acerbis, an engine by Yamaha and WP suspension and is, overall, very well put together. Finish is very good, and seems to last well, and that engine’s proved itself more than capable over the years.

Ride and Handling

Forget dual purpose, the MZ Baghira is a street bike, perfect for negotiating rush hours and school run traffic. Loads of grunt, good brakes, tall seat: it’s ideal. Take it out on the twisties, tweak the suspension to suit (it’s quite soft as standard) and the handling’s magical. Slightly vibey though, steer clear of motorways and it’s pretty lardy for this type of bike… 

Value

For a commuter/weekend fling, the MZ Baghira’s pretty good value. What’s more, parts are affordable, fuel economy’s great, insurance is a pittance and reliability means garage bills should be minimal. Yamaha’s own XT660X is an option at more money for less power while KTM’s lovely 640 Duke may be cooler and hold its value well but it costs significantly more.

Equipment

The MZ Baghira's seat is very tall, the bars are wide and you ride close to the tank, supermoto-style. There are basic clocks, pillion provision (optimistic) including grabrails, a fairly small tank and a funky, chunky (and heavy) pipe. The single headlight’s not great. A lower seat/shorter wheelbased option is available too: 850mm/1465mm (down from 900mm/1530mm).

Model History

2001: MZ Baghira launched, a more road-going option to the original, Enduro machine (and very similar in spec to the marque’s Mastiff model). No changes since.

Other Versions

MZ Baghira Enduro: Launched in 1998, the more off-road version has a taller seat, semi-knobbly tyres and weighs about 10kg less. Current.
MZ Baghira Black Panther: Launched in 2001, it’s the same as the Street Moto but painted all black. Current.
MZ Baghira Forest: A camouflage version of the Enduro. No longer available.