Baghira Gearing- what was stock and what are you running??

[dirt_diggler]

Hi All,

I bought a 2003 Baghira a week ago. Its in excellent shape. There are two obvious mods on this bike- 1) aftermarket M4 muffler (awesome), and (2) the rear sprocket has been changed. It's currently a 38T. The front is a 16 (not sure if this has been changed. Anyway, I don't really like the gearing. It has way too much top end, I've never needed to use 5th gear- I could have BEEN in fifth gear at 80 on the freeway, but it was squarely in the middle of the power band in 4th. I did a long (200 mile) ride on Thursday on some twisty canyon and mountain roads here in Colorado and was in 2nd and 3rd gear almost the entire day- speeds of 45-70. Also, I'm on the clutch until 16-18 mph or so. The bike came with another rear sprocket (its a 43). I'm going to put that baby on tomorrow or Monday (probably, depending on what others say- I don't want to waste a new chain.) So, can anyone tell me what the stock gearing was on this bike and what they are running. If so, can you tell me what your relative speed range is for each gear. Mine is below. This range does not include a real top or bottom end of the range, but the range at which the gearing feels good with decent torque. All in MPH

1st- 0-28
2nd 29-53
3rd 54-70
4th 71-85
5th 86- ?

Ideally, I'd really like the bike to top out around 90-95 MPH. I have no need or desire to go any faster and I want the bike to be more city can canyon road friendly and I'd really like to be able to use the entire gear box on my rides.

Thanks!

[dirt_diggler]

FYI- looking at gear rations here http://www.wemoto.com/info/Sprocket_Gear_Ratios/ it appears my current setup is a 2.38 ratio. Looking through postings I think that stock was 15/43 which is a 2.87 gear ratio and some on this board have said they've had success with 15/47 (gear ratio 3.13)- giving them a top speed of 90-95 MPH. This 15/47 is closer to stock than mine and my gearing is the exact opposite direction from what I'd like. I'm used to a more dirt bike like gearing for sure. This does have me wondering what the top speed on my bike is though....

Oh, might be important - my bike is a supermoto version with 17 inch wheels.

Your input is greatly appreciated.

[dirt_diggler]

responding to my own thread one more time...

WTF was the previous owner thinking?! Looking through all of the postings 16/38 gearing just seems insane! What is the point of having no gear overlap and only being able to really use the bottom three gears on roads that are exactly what this bike is made for? I tell you one thing, I'm pretty excited to get some better gearing on this bike. Its already fun to ride- even if the gearing is all screwed up. With proper gearing this thing is going to be a howl.

[Bill Jurgenson]

that gearing is way too tall! There is no way the XTZ engine could possibly pull that in 5th.
The stock sproket is always 15t with this Yamaha engine, regardless of model and make of bike.
Both Yamaha and MZ street bikes with 17" wheels have 39t chainwheels. This 15/39/17" is about the tallest the
engine can manage. Many find it too tall as well as do I. My normal street gearing is 15/43; off road I would probably want it shorter.
That said, many choose to use a 16t sproket (engineering issues aside) combined with a much large chainwheel such as a 46t because it is more efficient and the chain clearance across the top of the swingarm is better.
Downside: chain drives should if possible always use gears with uneven numbers of teeth such as the OEM 15/39.
Yamaha's choice to always use 15 on the engine is based on sound engineering. Under no circumstances should you use 14. Besides being an even number, it's small Ø puts too large a load on the output shaft bearing and
also transmits slightly less actual power to the wheel.
For more basic considerations, use the search function to go thru the archives on gearing, etc.
Such tall gearing break both engine and gearbox in short order.

[dirt_diggler]

Thanks for the info- especially that on a 14t because looking at the gearing chart I was thinking about ordering one to match the 43 that's about to be installed. I guess I'll order a 15t for the front and a 45 for the rear if I'm not happy with the 43 and knowing the kind of stuff I like to ride, that's a decent possibility. Thanks again.

[dirt_diggler]

Ok, today I realized, again, just how screwed up this gearing is. First, let me say that the rev limiter on my bike is working just fine. Now, my story.

Today I was heading down to town (I live up in the hills). There is a "long" straight away with about 300 feet of hashed lines for passing on it. I'm doing about 40-45 mph in 2nd gear. Which, with this gearing, is right in the lower end of the power band. There is an 80's model Datsun pickup in front of me, so I choose to pass. I lay on the throttle and he's adding throttle to his little truck too on this mild downhill straight away. Well, as I pull back into my lane in front of him I look down to see how fast I'm going. 75 MPH. That's right 75 MPH (I know my speedo is a tiny bit off, so probably 71), but regardless, I'm in 2nd gear, not running RPM high enough to stiffle my acceleration. This is not right. My new gears just got her today. I'll be getting a new chain in the morning and fixing this immediately. But, can someone please tell me what they think the guy before me, well actually the guy before him, thought he was doing when he did this to this poor bike? Its just insane.

[basser23]

Maybe he was hoping for a record at Bonneville...thats incredible...my Skorp is geared 15/43 and it is perfect for my purposes..
Chip

[DAVID THOMPSON]

my 97 traveller is 15x 43 and does good
but carb is still not up to par so things atr not what i am looking for..
dave

note june 22 2011
after much carb cleaner and fuel treatment mine now runs nice with the 15X 43 gearing

[dirt_diggler]

Dave, I have the same issue with my old XT550- I just can't get the carb to run well, no matter what. I've decided it's going to always be my "utility truck." Grocery runs, teaching people how to ride (read drop) motorcycles, etc.

In other news- I replaced the entire drive train today. Holy freaking moly is it a better bike now. Stock gearing is excellent and it makes you think, well, that the engineers that MZ had working for them had an idea about what they were doing. Which is much more than I can say for the guy who put the 16x38 on this bike. I used fourth gear- that was cool. I didn't continue using the clutch until I was doing 18 MPH. I had the power and torque to pass at 45 MPH without fearing for my life or worrying about blowing the engine up. i also have a new drive train. Today was a good day for me and the bike.

[Beefheartz]

My Black bag is stock 15 front and 45 rear,She hits rev limiter at 60mph in 3rd gear,tops out at 111mph in 5th.I have a digital speedo fed by garmin satellite,the standard speedo reads incorrectly and says I`m doing 55 mph when the sat nav says actual 60mph.

[Beefheartz]

ok my rear is now 43 teeth,won`t be pulling too many wheelies with 43,but a lot better for the bigger roads.
found out some tech on part numbers

front sprocket is JT 557 520 15
rear is JT 857 520 43 they do 45 43 42 40 39 teeth

only jt sprockets do 43 teeth as alternative same as yam xv 125/250 xt tenere xt600e 89 to 98
stock make 45 42 40 but no 43
renthal rear is 200u 520 45 .they do 45 42 40 39 38 but no 43
renthal front is 342 520 15


irridium plug and new air filter has improved acceleration too!I have also taken off what I can to lighten the bike,changed lamps and clocks,no rear grab,no engine bars,small front fender ufo.

[Tigerboy]

Over 38,000 km on the original chain and sprockets, the time has come to replace them.

I'm happy with how my Baghira runs, so I want to go with what's already there. My bike came with a 15/43 setup. As for the chain, I have no idea and that's where I need help.

This is what I've found so far.

MZ Baghira is not to be found on Bike Bandit, so thanks for letting me know the Yamaha XV250 is the equivalent. I found the JT Sprockets 15/43 that should fit.

Next is the chain. First, I need to count the links, but it sounds like for the motard setup, it's probably 110. But I don't know how to proceed from there. Shouold I go with X ring (more expensive) or O ring? According to Bike Bandit, the XV250 would take a 520 chain (to go with the JT sprockets) I will want a chain with a master link so that I don't have to remove the swingarm to install it.

[chisleu]

Over 38,000 km on the original chain and sprockets, the time has come to replace them.

I'm happy with how my Baghira runs, so I want to go with what's already there. My bike came with a 15/43 setup. As for the chain, I have no idea and that's where I need help.

This is what I've found so far.

MZ Baghira is not to be found on Bike Bandit, so thanks for letting me know the Yamaha XV250 is the equivalent. I found the JT Sprockets 15/43 that should fit.

Next is the chain. First, I need to count the links, but it sounds like for the motard setup, it's probably 110. But I don't know how to proceed from there. Shouold I go with X ring (more expensive) or O ring? According to Bike Bandit, the XV250 would take a 520 chain (to go with the JT sprockets) I will want a chain with a master link so that I don't have to remove the swingarm to install it.

I just hope this 120 works on mine! My sprockets are inc from germany (ordered a 15/50) so I'll let you know how this does when it arrives.

[Tigerboy]

I just hope this 120 works on mine! My sprockets are inc from germany (ordered a 15/50) so I'll let you know how this does when it arrives.

You must ride in aggressive off-road terrain or you're a wannabe stunter if you're running 15/50. But I am curious how it works out.

I counted the chain links. I counted 55 but I guess each link counts as two, so therefore 110. I went with the Moose Racing 520 O-Ring chain. Anything more than that is a waste of money IMHO. This isn't a sportbike that will do 165 mph.

Now to replace chain/sprockets I hope there aren't any other parts I overlooked.

I also wore my rear tire down to the cords, so I ordered Pirelli Scorpion Trail, replacing a Scorpion Sync. The Scorpion Sync lasted about 8,000 miles so it was a good tire.

[chisleu]

I just hope this 120 works on mine! My sprockets are inc from germany (ordered a 15/50) so I'll let you know how this does when it arrives.

You must ride in aggressive off-road terrain or you're a wannabe stunter if you're running 15/50. But I am curious how it works out.

I counted the chain links. I counted 55 but I guess each link counts as two, so therefore 110. I went with the Moose Racing 520 O-Ring chain. Anything more than that is a waste of money IMHO. This isn't a sportbike that will do 165 mph.

Now to replace chain/sprockets I hope there aren't any other parts I overlooked.

I also wore my rear tire down to the cords, so I ordered Pirelli Scorpion Trail, replacing a Scorpion Sync. The Scorpion Sync lasted about 8,000 miles so it was a good tire.

I'm no wanna-be anything and certainly not a "stunter". I just want to be able to pop more easy wheelies in 1st with my quiet (restrictive) muffler. I also don't like the 15/45 gearing that was on the bike, and with my 6'5" 320lb body (in gear) it's not enough torque to satisfy me through 3rd and 4th. This should help with 3rd and make 4th a more bearable acceleration gear for 55-70mph.

I didn't count the links. This renthal o ring (~$75) chain is 120 link, but I can cut them off if there is too many. It isn't riveted (at least it isn't yet, but I don't think it is at all. I'm not breaking the seal and getting covered in that grease until I have to.)

Someone recommended being prepared to replace the pin on the output shaft of the tranny. I'm guessing it's a tractor pin like safety device to keep the nut from backing out during engine braking.