Luckily '81 490 Maicos are competitive up to '85.
and way beyond 85 – Viper members who were at the Castlemaine meeting maybe 3 years ago will remember the Maico with a not so young rider coming 3rd in the all powers modern race, was brilliant for the spectators seeing that twin shock bike "on the edge"
(hope my memory is correct on that)
I agree, I still have footage of Ballard at CD4 at Barrabool, awesome combination. Great entertainment.
It's a testament to the bike that they have to compete with disc braked, linkaged, liquid cooled bikes in more modern chassis and still finish at the pointy end.