Maicos how popular

[TM BILL]

Disclaimer i neither like nor dislike Maicos ( exept the 79 440s very cool  )

How popular were Maicos in Australasia back in the day ? Its very apparant that in VMX now they have an almost cult like following.

In the UK in the 70s and early 80s every other Clubman rode a Maico , due to their superior handling they made even an average Joe a better rider.

As a rule that changed in the Experts (your A grade ) where most blokes rode bikes from the east.

Naturally there were exeptions Noycey won his first couple of British open titles on a Maico and Geoff Mayes broke Noyceys Brit champs winning streak (Noyce was injured ) on a Maico.

So were there many Maicos in this part of the world in the day ? or are most of them recent VMX imports.

[Maico31]

There were bugger all racing in Qld in the late 70's early 80's, maybe 2 or 3 at a race meeting and most of the other riders hung shit on those guys for riding a Maico. I didn't realise how good they were to ride until a few years ago, i think the extra mechanical work required to set them up and keep them running scared a lot of us away. That's what amazes me... where did they all come from?? A lot of the 81's are converted enduro bikes but where did all the others come from?

[firko]

In 1970 in Sydney Blair Harley started bringing Maicos in in reasonable numbers. Prior to 1970 Maicos only came in in ones and twos by private importers. Blair was a great salesman and in 1971 he had Brian Martin and Per Klitland riding his bikes and winning everything worth winning. Blair sold a shitload of square barrel 250 and 400 and a few 350 square barrels based on the successes Klitland and Martin were having. That caused Blair to bring more and more Maicos in and by 1975 Maicos were the hot ticket in NSW motocross. I was out of Australia between 1975 and 1981 so I'm not aware of the successes or failures of the marque during that time. I do know that the Japanese product was vastly improved during that time and that put a bit of a dent in Maico sales.
Ross King took over the Maico imports around 1980 and knowing that the enduro scene was going through a boom period he concentrated on importing GS enduro models with only a few MX models of every model being imported. Although Maico weren't winning anything on the MX courses by then, they were winning everything on the enduro scene. Even the holy grail '81 Mega 2 490 sales in NSW were mostly GS enduro models. Ross only imported a small number of genuine '81 490 motocrossers. Many of those GS models have been retro converted to MX livery since the evo class came on board.
My friend Ulrich in Germany used to work for the factory and has all of the export paperwork for every bike that left the factory since the sixties. I asked him if he could collate a list of the bikes that came to Australia but he won't do it because of the huge amount of research and paper shuffling involved. He has done a list of 350 Maicos for me and that took him a year!
Blair Harleys own paperwork was accidentally thrown in the garbage a few years ago so we must live in hope that Ulrich will one day find the time to sort out his paperwork and make a definitive list of exactly what came into the country.

As a Maico owner since 1970 I can say that there were a lot of Maicos racing in the pre 1975 period but those numbers dropped off as the Japanese product got better. I know from racing them in the day that if we went interstate, the bikes were considered exotic and always drew a crowd yet in NSW they were just another race bike, albeit an expensive one.

[Wombat]

Good question Bill; with a nice bold red Disclaimer up front to calm the Natives...

I'd agree with Maico 31 on the Qld scene of the late 70's; the Maicos were few and far between up here.
I can't remember comparative costs but I have a feeling they were quite expensive (or maybe that was the perception - can anyone recall?).
Maicos, Huskys and KTM's were considered to be 'exotic' around that time, at least they were in the crowd I hung with.
I reckon it was as much for their looks as their race qualities.
This is not to exclude Bultaco or Monties, but the 'wrong side' gear lever thing was considered plain weird...
Every race was a sea of Jap bikes with an occasional Euro machine.
The recent VMX meets I've attended are full of Maicos and that's one of the first things I noticed - where the hell did these all come from?!

A mate of my Dad's was a Wharfie or a Truckie I think.
Back in the day he was known to 'find' lots of stuff having fallen from the backs of trucks, and this included motorcycles.
When I heard this I asked if he might find a Maico for me one day...
It never happened (and my morals have changed) but my choice of hot property was definitely Maico .

[All Things 414]

Hey! Montesa had the kick-starter on the right hand side since Adam was a boy. Brake on the right and gear lever on the left since the early seventies. (They've also had on-the-fly clutch and brake adjustment since then as well!)

[Wombat]

Is that right 414? I do humbly apologise for not paying enough attention; I guess I'm still learning stuff at 47...

My misguided opinion might have to do with my one and only ride on a Spaniard - a Bultaco.
I forget which model, but the bikes Owner stood at the berm as I steamed full freight into it and the motor was screaming.
Instead of dabbing the back brake I stabbed it down another gear - and then it really screamed right in front of its Owner.

This bloke was pretty anal about his Bully and I can still picture the contempt on his face as I handed it back!
He was my mates Dad and I was only 17.
That moment of intimidation scared me off Spaniards for life.

[All Things 414]

That's ok Wombat. A common mis-perception . The Monties were the closest in set-up to any of the Jap bikes of all the Europeans. Honda still had the kicker on the left on the 79 CR's ....

[husky61]

Hey Bill

Maico's were quite popular in the 70's & 80's in NSW in enduro's and trailriding.

Example: Out of eight buddies i rode with 3 had maico's + mine =%50 , ranging from 250cc to 490cc.

Nice rides even if they somewhat more expensive than there Jap competitors.

Picture attached of my 79 440.

Shoey



[attachment deleted by admin]

[paul]

i was talking to keith stacker to other day and he told me that in the early 80s there was a big problem with the dock workers here in melb ,during the period off the urainium export sagas of dock strikes  etc .he said that he had a container or crate of 81 490gs  maicos or what ever they arrived in in those days  came in on a ship that had handled  a shipment off uranium or uranium product.the dockers black listed the ship and they would not handle  any thing from that ship he said they sat there for a long time  and could not get them off the docks ,im not sure of the time frame but they sat there for so long that eventually it was oranized that they were reloaded onto another vessel and sent to sydney were they were sold cheap and there wasnt any  problems on the docks  he said he never saw them 

[All Things 414]

The only ones I ever saw were 440's and they were pretty cool. Never saw a Magnem and then this turned up at Monza one race day, did practice and went straight back on the ute. Never saw it again.....

[firko]

There were a couple of outstanding Maico riders in Victoria in the seventies. Jack Pengally was one that immediately comes to mind and Keith Stacker had been a fine Maico rider in the late sixties and early seventies and I'm sure there were more. 414 is talking about the later red bike era where very few Maicos hit the motocross tracks in any state. I'm from an earlier generation, the pre 75 era, and Maicos were all over the place. I was with Per Klitland at that Christmas Hills meeting Oldschool talks about and there were more Maicos than he remembers. Pengally was riding for Stackers, and there were some pretty quick C graders on Maicos. He's right though when he says that if you turned up to a meeting with a Maico you were immediately classified as either rich, a slick rider or both. The number of Magnum onwards motocrossers, especially mega 2 490s around today is probably down to many enduro bikes being converted to MX configuration and the high number of imports coming in. There really wasn't many genuine Magnum or Mega MX bikes on the scene back in the day. I was living in California from 75-81 and it was the opposite there. Plenty of motocross Maicos but bugger all GS Enduros.

[Rosco86]

Initially raced a KTM 125 in Sub Juniors (14-16Yrs) in Vic in 72. Switched to the great grey elsinore onslaught. When it came time for C grade I tried an elsinore 250 that Athol Paterson had given to  New Zealander to ride at the 73 Christmas Hills Grand National (Cant remeber his name but the bike was labelled with an "A". After that Rex Wolfenden (excellent B grader), felt good but weighted very low. Keith Stackers main mechanic gave me his 73 to have a ride on when I was in the shop one day querying what the bikes were like. Wondering how nmany bikes shops do that nowadays?  Don't know why but it just felt so comfortable I  had to have one. Rode 250s and 440s till 75. Actually put one in a hagon frame (big disaster). Price killed me off in the end run. Buying one a year at about $1500-1800 and then selling off at $700-800 to get the newer beauter model. Worked hard to get my maicos, didnt notice the rich syndrome but as there was only a few of us racing maicos it felt a bit like a brotherhood. Remember "Jack" Pengelly talking to me as a 16 yearold and thinking it was great that I knew a top A Grader. Always a gentleman and years on had a yarn  over a few drinks when I met up with him when he was running "Spot On " motorcxycles, top of Elizabeth St. Unsure if he is still there? When I heard about VMX in 88 I thought I'd get one. Johnny Selva had a couple for sale. Bought it on the Saturday and raced Maffra-Sale the Sunday. Hadnt throw a leg over in a decade but it was way too much fun. Not much BS back then. Rock up , pay the day licence and entry and have fun.

[DJRacing]

When it came time for C grade I tried an elsinore 250 that Athol Paterson had given to  New Zealander to ride at the 73 Christmas Hills Grand National (Cant remeber his name but the bike was labelled with an "A". 

Was it Murray Anderson?

[mxmaniac]

My dad bleeds maico blood...  I think he is head of the Kult following... with good reason, when they are sorted out, you cant find a better evo bike.. Either his 79 440 81 490 or 76 400..  all are great!  I dont know how to load a photo or i would!  my brother is A grade mx and i think he is faster on the 490 than the new 450's !

[paul]

WATCH THAT WOUND THAT MAICO BLOOD IS Rare as the bikes them selves