MZ 660 Baghira
- Thread starter mickba
- Start date
Since nobody else seems to answer your question I will do a try before your post drops our of the main page
MZ Baghera as well the more sporty MZ Scorpion had both the one cylinder Yamaha 660 one cylinder engine. I have in one of my former lives, sold quite a few Scorpions so I know that they are very good bikes.
If you can find them in Thailand? The answer is NO.
MZ German was situated in the small town ZSCHOPAU in the Saxony State of Germany just a few km from the Czech border. The town’s biggest attraction used to be the legendary MZ Factory which halted its production at the end of this year leaving the last 40 workers without work.
MZ history goes back to 1906 when a Danish businessman named Rasmussen bought an empty former clothing company in Zschopau.
In 1917 he invented the Dampfkraftwagen, a steam engine car. From that he got the letters DKW which became the name of the company.
They started motorcycle manufacturing in 1920 by putting an engine into a bicycle frame.
In the 1920’s and 1930’s DKW took over Audi, Horsch, Wanderer the two latter being big motorcycle brands by that time, and the company was renamed Auto Union.
In 1929 60.000 motorcycles were produced making it the worlds biggest motorcycle manufacturer.
Before the war they created the RT-1, a one cylinder two-stroke under the trademark of IFA. After the war the design of the RT-1 became patent free as a part of war reparations and it was copied in England (BSA Bantam), in US (HD Hummer) in CCCP (Mochba and Voshkod), in Poland (WSK) and not the last but most important in Japan by a piano company who started motorcycle production from scratch. The Company was named YAMAHA in honor of the piano company’s founder. They copied the RT-1 almost 110%. The rest is a success story….
In 1948 the company had to be renamed to IFA because of disputes with that part of the company that was left in West Germany. In 1956 it started to use the MZ brand..
In 1970 MZ reaches the one million target in production and a little later the MZ125/150 model becomes the most sold German motorbike. In 1983 the two million target is met.
1990/1991 MZ is privatized but goes bankruptcy in 1992.
MZ was very famous for its very advanced two-stroke motorcycles. When they went bankruptcy they sold the two stroke production line to Turkey to a company called Kanuni. As far as I know they are still making the famous MZ two strokers. The rest of the company was renamed MuZ and sold to some German investors, who later in 1996 sold it to Hong Leong Group Malaysia.
When the state subsidies ended last year Hong Leong closed the factory and the MZ story came to an end,,,,
Or maybe not.
Hong Leong is a huge conglomerate consisting of more than 500 companies, They have a very big bank Hong Leong Bank and they are the official Yamaha importer for Malaysia. They have already in 2002 established a MZ company in Malaysia and I think they started some kind of production there before they closed the German outlet.
So maybe we can see some Malaysian made MZ:s in the future but no info is available yet.
But you can call them but remember to post what they replied.
MZ Malaysia Contacts
Address : Lot 14 / 70, Jalan Utas,
40000 Shah Alam, Selangor,
Malaysia.
Phone : 603-5519 1822
Fax : 603-5519 1811
HIKO
MZ Baghera as well the more sporty MZ Scorpion had both the one cylinder Yamaha 660 one cylinder engine. I have in one of my former lives, sold quite a few Scorpions so I know that they are very good bikes.
If you can find them in Thailand? The answer is NO.
MZ German was situated in the small town ZSCHOPAU in the Saxony State of Germany just a few km from the Czech border. The town’s biggest attraction used to be the legendary MZ Factory which halted its production at the end of this year leaving the last 40 workers without work.
MZ history goes back to 1906 when a Danish businessman named Rasmussen bought an empty former clothing company in Zschopau.
In 1917 he invented the Dampfkraftwagen, a steam engine car. From that he got the letters DKW which became the name of the company.
They started motorcycle manufacturing in 1920 by putting an engine into a bicycle frame.
In the 1920’s and 1930’s DKW took over Audi, Horsch, Wanderer the two latter being big motorcycle brands by that time, and the company was renamed Auto Union.
In 1929 60.000 motorcycles were produced making it the worlds biggest motorcycle manufacturer.
Before the war they created the RT-1, a one cylinder two-stroke under the trademark of IFA. After the war the design of the RT-1 became patent free as a part of war reparations and it was copied in England (BSA Bantam), in US (HD Hummer) in CCCP (Mochba and Voshkod), in Poland (WSK) and not the last but most important in Japan by a piano company who started motorcycle production from scratch. The Company was named YAMAHA in honor of the piano company’s founder. They copied the RT-1 almost 110%. The rest is a success story….
In 1948 the company had to be renamed to IFA because of disputes with that part of the company that was left in West Germany. In 1956 it started to use the MZ brand..
In 1970 MZ reaches the one million target in production and a little later the MZ125/150 model becomes the most sold German motorbike. In 1983 the two million target is met.
1990/1991 MZ is privatized but goes bankruptcy in 1992.
MZ was very famous for its very advanced two-stroke motorcycles. When they went bankruptcy they sold the two stroke production line to Turkey to a company called Kanuni. As far as I know they are still making the famous MZ two strokers. The rest of the company was renamed MuZ and sold to some German investors, who later in 1996 sold it to Hong Leong Group Malaysia.
When the state subsidies ended last year Hong Leong closed the factory and the MZ story came to an end,,,,
Or maybe not.
Hong Leong is a huge conglomerate consisting of more than 500 companies, They have a very big bank Hong Leong Bank and they are the official Yamaha importer for Malaysia. They have already in 2002 established a MZ company in Malaysia and I think they started some kind of production there before they closed the German outlet.
So maybe we can see some Malaysian made MZ:s in the future but no info is available yet.
But you can call them but remember to post what they replied.
MZ Malaysia Contacts
Address : Lot 14 / 70, Jalan Utas,
40000 Shah Alam, Selangor,
Malaysia.
Phone : 603-5519 1822
Fax : 603-5519 1811
HIKO
Hiko, firstly thank you very much for taking the time to provide so much information.
I was aware that MZ closed last year and of the Malaysian connection, though not the company concerned.
The reason I posted the Q here, was that someone made a post on the Thaivisa site inferring that there was interest in setting up production in Thailand. I also found some information (or misinformation?) that MZ parts are already being produced in Thailand (as are Triumph parts?).
Anyway, all such rumours seem to have fizzled out as far as I can tell, so my Q regarding Thailand seems to have been answered.
My particular interest was in the Baghira 660, which is of course, to all intents and purposes, the Yamaha Tenere XTZ660. Or perhaps the Baghira is better?
I had 3 XTZ750s/Super Teneres in UK and liked the bike a lot, but for general use in Thailand I think they would be a bit heavy. I was a member of the BTBC (Big Trail Bike Club) in UK and there were 2 guys who rode the XTZ660s. Of course they lost ground to the bigger bikes on the open roads, but when it tightened up a bit they took some keeping up with. I think, all round, they would be ideal for Thailand, being light, very agile, reasonably quick and fairly durable and easy to maintain.
My quest now, it seems, is to see if I can find (and afford) one of these.
Thanks again and any info' or opinions re owning an XTZ660 in Thailand would be appreciated.
Mick
http://www.diseno-art.com/encyclopedia/ ... ghira.html
I was aware that MZ closed last year and of the Malaysian connection, though not the company concerned.
The reason I posted the Q here, was that someone made a post on the Thaivisa site inferring that there was interest in setting up production in Thailand. I also found some information (or misinformation?) that MZ parts are already being produced in Thailand (as are Triumph parts?).
Anyway, all such rumours seem to have fizzled out as far as I can tell, so my Q regarding Thailand seems to have been answered.
My particular interest was in the Baghira 660, which is of course, to all intents and purposes, the Yamaha Tenere XTZ660. Or perhaps the Baghira is better?
I had 3 XTZ750s/Super Teneres in UK and liked the bike a lot, but for general use in Thailand I think they would be a bit heavy. I was a member of the BTBC (Big Trail Bike Club) in UK and there were 2 guys who rode the XTZ660s. Of course they lost ground to the bigger bikes on the open roads, but when it tightened up a bit they took some keeping up with. I think, all round, they would be ideal for Thailand, being light, very agile, reasonably quick and fairly durable and easy to maintain.
My quest now, it seems, is to see if I can find (and afford) one of these.
Thanks again and any info' or opinions re owning an XTZ660 in Thailand would be appreciated.
Mick
http://www.diseno-art.com/encyclopedia/ ... ghira.html