Maico 501 3 speed (truth or fiction)

[MauriceR]

I have heard this before and Super Hunky actually said it in a story at some time but I have never seen one or met anyone that has ever seen one.

Has anyone ever seen a 3 speed 501 ?

Quote from Super Hunky s article

"A bit of history is in order. When the first 501 Maicos hit these shores, they were equipped with three-speed trannies , because they had so much horsepower. Huh?

That`s right. They had so much grunt, snap and power that for motocross, a three-speed was all that was needed. Wait a minute! They had a measly 37 horse­power or so, right?"


Link to the full article that it is in

http://articles.superhunky.com/4/321

[Mick D]

Thoroughly enjoyable read

Sort of makes me want to relinquish the self imposed ban,,,,and by another bike

[bazza]

Go on Mick you can do it

[Mick D]

Maybe one day Bazza but the truth is I already have enough bikes and projects

 

[firko]

Hunky's yarn backs up stories told to me by Blair Harley and a bloke I once met in the USA (Rob,Rod???). I met the Yank while sitting in the bleachers at an Ascot flat track where he and his wife were sitting next to us. We started talking about our own racing experiences and he told me that he was building a 501 Maico powered short tracker. After the races he invited us back to his house in Hermosa Beach for coffee and to see his bike stash. He had quite a lot of good stuff including a 32 Ford roadster hot rod, Triumph flat trackers and desert racer 'sleds' and a couple of Maico motocrossers. The pride of joy however, was his under construction 501 short tracker which was featured a standard frame fitted with Ceriani forks which bought the steering rake into the needed 26 degrees, 19" wheels and re positioned right side footpeg. The engine however was what I remember most. It was up on the bench and I recall him telling me that it put out 60+hp on CR Axtell's engine dyno. What I recall most was the monster 44mm Lectron flat slide carb sitting on a longish inlet manifold. He'd got those HP figures with a stock pipe but at the time he was getting someone to build him a new 'mid range' pipe.

For whatever reason, I never saw the bloke ever again and I often wonder how his tracker performed. On paper the bike should have been a ripper but it never showed up in any results to my knowledge. It's always been a question mark to me that while Maicos made such great short circuit bikes here in Australia, they were almost non existent on American dirt tracks. 

[firko]

By the way......I've never heard of a 3 speed 501

[flyingdg]

I had a 73 400 maico three speed at one time! it had 1st, 3rd and 4th. So yes maico had a three speed and if I rode it much longer I think it would have turned into a two speed. DG

[John Orchard]

I would think if they were using 3 speeds in other bikes there'd sure to be a few 3 speed Maico's?

After riding an AW440 for my first time a couple of weeks ago, I'd agree that the power spread would be wide enough BUT the vibration in the higher revs would rule-out any benefits of a 3 speed 501.

[Mick D]

I would think if they were using 3 speeds in other bikes there'd sure to be a few 3 speed Maico's?

After riding an AW440 for my first time a couple of weeks ago, I'd agree that the power spread would be wide enough BUT the vibration in the higher revs would rule-out any benefits of a 3 speed 501.

I have never owned or ridden a 501. The earlier full cheek crank 440's are notorious for their vibration woes, easily fixed though, even without going to crank balancing specialist.

The 501 crank has LARGE cheeks with a much much smaller stroke than all the other open class Maicos.
Just those two prerequisites alone make for a much more harmonious outcome.

By the way......I've never heard of a 3 speed 501

Neither have I.
I wonder if its just a case of "It only needs three gears" because most of them are actually wide ratio trannies with the power delivery having a very wide spread.
I know from racing and vinduroing the 84 XR500re, that it only needs three gears, just like the Beezza's.
In fact in the Spare XR's diet the first things gone are 4th and 5th gears and components and I am going down one tooth or two on the rear depending on the track.

[firko]

I would think if they were using 3 speeds in other bikes there'd sure to be a few 3 speed Maico's?

Maico used the same parts for as many models as possible to simplify tooling and to keep costs at a minimum so if they did make a 3 speed 501 it went against factory policy. All 4 speed model Maicos from 250 to 501 used the same transmission..  As much as I hate to contradict Hunky, I'm 99.9% sure the 3 speed 501 never happened. Perhaps it was, as Micky D wrote that with so much grunt, first gear became irrelevant and all Hunk remembers is using second, third and top.

MAICO 501
 PURPOSE: Racing
 PRICE (Suggested Retail): $1,598
 DISPLACEMENT: 501cc
 ENGINE TYPE: Piston-port two-cycle
 LUBRICATION: Pre-mix
 IGNITION: Flywheel magneto
TRANSMISSION: 4-speed, left side shift, avail, wide ratio also
 CLAIMED HORSEPOWER: 54 @ N/A rpm
 CLAIMED WEIGHT: 238 pounds
 WHEELBASE: 55.5 inches
 GROUND CLEARANCE: N/A
 FRAME: Double downtube, full cradle
 FRONT SUSPENSION: Telescopic forks/Maico
 REAR SUSPENSION: Swingarm w/Giriing shocks
 FRONT TIRE: 3.00x21 knobby
 REAR TIRE: 4.00x18 knobby
 WHEELS: Steel
 FUEL CAPACITY: 2.5 gallons
 INSTRUMENTATION: None
 COUNTRY OF MANUFACTURE: Germany
 

[Tim754]

I remember watching the short lived (it was banned...) Maico 501 speedway solo at Brooklyn . Now that would have been a single speed.....

[Mick D]

I remember watching the short lived (it was banned...) Maico 501 speedway solo at Brooklyn . Now that would have been a single speed.....

Do recall why it was banned Tim?

[firko]

Do recall why it was banned Tim? 

No engine breaking I'd presume. There was a 380 Greeves speedway bike racing at the Sydney Showground for a while (Bruce Croxon?) but it too was outlawed after complaints from other riders.

[Tim754]

Noise,Two stroke , brutal virtually uncontrollable power and well as you know speedway would be the most regulated/ set rules form of motorcycle racing.

and it shit all over the two valve four strokers!!!!!!

[MauriceR]

This is a rumor that keeps popping up in North America and I can pretty safely say Hunky is dreaming but thought I would get some opinions from down under

Here are pics of motor serial #501001 installed in frame #005 and it is definitely a 4 speed and by all accounts should be the first production 501 motor ever built by Maico