maico 490 over rated

[holeshot buddy]

 81 490 maicos holey grail to some people
are they overrated
they didnt seem to do much back then when new
now days they are billet this and that bling everything
and most guys riding them, a large percentage are very good riders
so this makes them look good anyway
there is no doubt the motors are fast
but how would a 490 standard go against a yz465 standard
with same riders on both bikes and not a drag race
but around a proper motocross track
what are your thoughts 
just thought i would stir the pot

[E74]

Well, The Yamies won world championships, AMA championships and Aussie championships by the score, The Germans however were lucky to finnish a race


Good excuse for coming nowhere I'd say...

[090]

This 490 thing really must get up your nose, no shot, maybe because you are sick of looking at the rear guard of one( on the first lap  at least, before it has disappeared from sight), haven't we been through this one already? You really need to ride one to realize the error of your ways.

Your turn John!!!

[firko]

This has been flogged to death. Does it really matter?

[holeshot buddy]

alright i will shut up
didnt actually say they were bad
did i
just a comparison
and it has been a while

[Hoony]

you like to fuel the fire Hey Russ 

[Maicojames]

I will say this: In late 1989 at a local track( about 5mi from where I live  now) there was a local racer who did suspension work Still winning open expert on his 81 490 Maico. Kevin Stillwell I think he was. Anyway, bike was stock except for suspension-even the stock Bing carby, in fact it was ratty. 
  Still, he not only won, but holeshot against the local young hotshoe on his 89 KX500( which I know for sure is Waaayy faster than the 490). It was obvious that Kevin was hooking up all of the power-all around the track. To be fair, he had raced that bike almost nonstop since 81-so he was familiar with it. Months later, Kevin was racing a 90KX500( must have waited for the 90 model with USD forks)-and was not able to duplicate his sucess as on the Maico. 

Now, do I think an 81 490 is better than a 90 KX500? No way, even though Kevin was clearly about 40 at the time it was abvious that the 490 just really "fit" him-and he was very comfortable on it. So, is the 81 490 Maico the best bike of all time?
I think not, the best bike of all time may not yet be built-or even designed. Further, if one had to be chosen from say 68 to present-the 74 CR125 Elsie would be the more obvious candidate-literally dominating the 125 classes( and even 100 classes when sleeved down) overnight..and it was cheap and easily available.
Perhaps it is reasonable to say that the 81 490 was one of the best open class(500 cc class) bikes ever-or even arguably the best.

Compare with the YZ465? The YZ is much cheaper, reed valve-easier to start, easier power for the novice-and at the time much more available. Yes, of course Maico did not win these championships. One wonders if Maico had such a great bike ten years earlier, perhaps they could have...but history is history..coulda should woulda.  I think the Maicos are popular now since they seem more exotic than a YZ or RM. Many want a bike now that they couldn't have then-as a result it is my experience that currently, Maico parts are much more expensive, but also much more available.  Personally, I would take the RV 83 490 Maico and race in the later class. Seems like everybody has an 81 490 now. But for the AHRMA GP 500 class ( pre-linkage etc) the YZ465 is a great bike, though I would go with the RM400, Hunkavarnish CR 430, KTM 420, or Monty 414 myself.
Now my fingers are as tired as my meager mind

[bigk]

I had an '81 490 and it was a great bike. Fast, easy enough to ride but a little hard to live with. Hard to start, heavy clutch which needed constant attention and ate kick starters for lunch. The Husky's I've had and have now, are every bit as good (better really) and much easier to live with. They just don't have the legend status or cult like following.
Cheers,
K

[HL400]

in the 80's I raced against a bloke call mad dog Miller, he rode a 490 and he was fast but could not stop or turn the bike so he always over shot turns and went wide on all the rutts. So for every 5 lap race he rode 5.5  Ha Ha 

[090]

I was talking to a brother in arms and basically we are racers first, collectors second. If they weren't any good or there was a better bike, we would be racing them. That is how i buy my race bikes, best of era. As far as im concerned , its the shit. Reliable as any other out there, stops well due to better pads and better leverage on the lever and clutch as well as i have a clutch lever with a better pull as well. I might not be completely accurate but the nay sayers all seem to have never ridden one maybe? And bigk, you're in denial

[Maico31]

Well said Brad, couldn't agree more. I ride one because they're the gear in the evo class, not for any other reason and i've ridden everything else.

[firko]

It all comes back to riding one. I've never ridden a bike with such perfect balance. I'm a fat old slowpoke getting very close to 60 but when I ride a 490 Maico I feel invincible. The '81 490 brings out the best in any rider.

The reason Maico didn't fare so well in various motocross championships is all about money and priorities. BY 1981 the big four Japanese factories were pumping millions of dollars into their race teams and that included signing the best riders they could get. Small factories like Maico just plain couldn't compete financially with the Japanese and therefore couldn't afford riders of a high enough calibre to win the championship. A good example is that Graeme Noyce was winning GPs on Maicos and was the up an coming 500 class gun in 1979/80. Honda spotted that and bought out his contract. He won the next World 500 title on a Honda RC450 which was remarkably similar in geometry to his previous Maico Magnum.

However, an area where the big four hadn't infiltrated with their big dollars was the international enduro scene. Maico signed the best enduro riders in the world including our own Jeff Ballard and blitzed the open class enduro , not only in Europe but in the USA and Australia. Have a look at the ISDE results for '81 and see what the fast guys were riding. Maicos dominated like no other make. There wasn't a lot of 465 IT Yamahas, PE Suzukis or XR Hondas showing up in the results.

* I have to add that I agree with James. The '83 SC500 Maico is an infinitely better bike than the '81 490 but it's the '81 that has the mystique. I sold my '83 500 to a mate who also races a CR500 Honda and he was shocked to find that the bog stock air cooled Maico was as quick as his ported and trick piped 92 model CR500.

[bigk]

Nup, never been to Egypt Brad, let alone had a swim in the big river.
Cheers,
K

[090]

 

[evo550]

Interesting the point firko made about why Maico never won a World tilte, was whiling away some hours over the w/end watching the '82 Luxembourg 500 gp on vid I happened to notice the amount of production/privateer Maicos filling the minor places behind the Jap factory/works bikes. Seemed to be the choice of privateers.
The best evo motor is a xt550....flog a 490 maico any day of the week.