Crazy prices, THIS HAS GOT TO STOP!!!!

[Maico31]

Maicomc490t do you actually own a 490 Maico? If you do go and measure the distance between the cylinder studs in the cases on a 490 then measure a 250 and you will see that the 490 is 92mm apart and the 250 is 86mm apart which means that the 490 cylinder DOES NOT fit straight on to a 250. Anyway i'm happy about the high prices cos that means all my bikes are going up in value for a change.

[maicomc490t]

G'day Paul - Nope, not for show!!!

All three will be definitely for sale and as good as the one on ebay guaranteed!!! After that there are plenty more to follow so if you miss out there will be enough to go round and paint the tracks red with Megas !!!

As for the Honda with Ross and Vicki couldn't agree with you guys more - Over the years I have restored some beutiful Ducati's and have NEVER factored into the deal the little extras, the labour and the hassles chasing stupid little parts.

At the same time I don't blame others for despairing and being horrified at the cost (in their eyes) and going off to race in the Vets at the local club on moderns. There are plenty of cheap rides out there but you have to find em - hence my post about modifying a 250 or 490 Maico into a near enough full blown MX version. All I ask is if you sell one TELL the person buying it what it started out as cos it really shits me when good people get ripped off in any fashion (I know cos an A--hole did that to me with a 490 in the US with $4KAU gone to one North Carolina scumbag but thats a story for another time - eh T. Paul Schmieding of 28 Lee Circuit Concord NC ya bastard!!!)

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Hi Maico31 - as to the 490 barrel not fitting the 250 cases???

I do have more than one '81 490 and 250 as well - ask Firko.

I have just been into the workshop to make sure I wasn't dreaming and yep I'm right and took two pics to prove it but the damned site wouldn't cop the file download send me you email address and I will happily post them to you). First I put a standard 490 barrel onto 250 engine #MT350**** and as I knew it would it fitted perfectly. To make sure it wasn't a fluke I also put a 490 reed barrel on GT250**** engine ('81 GS250 bottom end - the subject matter of my post re conversion from GS to MC and of course it fitted as I said it would, because for 1981 the factory changed the hole pitching. The 81 250 engines like their predecessors just ran a narrower crank and crankcase stuffers within the 400 / 490 crankcases - the only real difference is the engine numbers stamped on them. Previous Magnum engines used common stud pitching for 250, 400 and 450 and used crank stuffers and a narrower crank on the 250's as per the '81 and 82 range but the pre '81 stud pitching is narrower longitudinally and transversly which is where you are coming from)

If anyone wants comprehensive measurements I am happy to provide same but just fitting the parts as above is proof enough.

1981 490 cylinders do fit 250 bottom ends and vice versa - completely interchangable.

Cheers, Dave

[paul]

well thats just great  now there comeing outta the wood work    ANY WAY HERE MY EMAIL  show me the bike /numbers correct  and i will email you a pic of the cash   [email protected]  TALK TURKEY

[paul]

WELL FIRKO  YOUR UP

[Maico31]

Hey Dave those measurements i quoted i got from measuring my 490 and 250 engines. When i built my 490 i bought a complete engine from the US because i had already been told that a 490 cylinder doesn't fit the 250 cases but the 400 and 440 cylinders will fit the 250 cases. Might go measure my '80 model 440 cases and see what i come up with there. Cheers

[firko]

Gulp! I was trying to avoid this one. For the record, Dave (Maico490t) does indeed have three '81 490 Maicos and at least one 81 250 (I sold it to him) and a shitload of 490 cases, frames, barrels and stuff. He's a nice bloke and I'm sure he and his son will end up racing them once his son has eased off the modern racing a tad.

I didn't want to get involved as I know both Maico 31 and Dave and thought that Maico 31 was correct. I was certain in my own mind that there is no way a 250 cylinder will go on to 490 cases. I would have bet my sweet bippie on it.
However, now Dave says that he's tried it in his workshop and that they fit it's thrown a wobbly into the mix. If Daves right (and I can't see why he'd bullshit about this), I've been telling everybody that they don'tfit for years. I know for sure that in the pre 75 engines that the stud spacing between the 250 and 400/440 is diferent and therefore not interchangable so I naturally assumed that the same would be true for the even bigger 490 barrel.

Dave, send me those photos and I'll post them for you.

[maicomc490t]

Hi All,

In the interest of maintaining the integrity of the original thread I am going to shift the 250 / 490 interchangability issue to the main MAICO forum so it is relevant to those who like the German breed.

I'll also get the pics off to Firko for him to post there.

Cheers, Dave

[paul]

just out of interest sake  what would the approx price of these bike be  and im definatley interested  so any info would be appreasiated sorry my spellllings atrouious 

[fatboycrash]

Rightio,
I gots to know. Because I'm guessing at 12k plus I'll never ride one, what makes a Maico 490 so good that people go apeshit bananas over them and pay crazy money? Seriously, no cynicism or anything. Why?

The only analogy I can think of is that as long as I can remember I've wanted a bevel 900ss duke. Why? Dunno. Something about it being a race bike with lights maybe. Something about it being the first big roadbike I rode. (Thanks Davie) But they are slow, heavy, uncomfortable, unreliable and presently stupidly overpriced. 15k plus. Forget it. My LeMans 3 is twice the bike but you can't give 'em away. Is it just that we've become such consumer sheep? I see it everyday, as I work out of the CBD. People who find there worth in wearing 300 buck shoes and 200 buck shirts, made in China by some poor exploited bloke. Me, I seriously would like to find that chinese bloke and apologise to him. Because I worry that the majority of the great unwashed couldn't give a silent fart about him.
I don't understand. Maybe I should stop cleaning bits with solvent...

[Nathan S]

FBC, that's a damn good post. As consumers we're sheep, in so many different ways. If the 2nd best option is 95% as good as the best, we'll only pay 60% as much as we'd pay for the best...

As to the Maico 490, I've never ridden one (though I am forever in Shoey's debt for a blat on his 440), but as I understand it: It's a bike that handles very well for its age and has The Motor Of All Time. You can pick holes in other aspects of it (brakes!), but the motor excuses them. Maybe some of the really new 450s have a better engine, but it was at least equal to an early '00s KTM big bore 4-stroke (there's an article on the Klub Kevlar site). But the ol' Maico does it reliably with three moving parts compared to the newer KTM's 500 moving bits...

[Freakshow]

Not one BuT twO GREAT qUOTES )

I don't understand. Maybe I should stop cleaning bits with solvent...

    

FBC, that's a damn good post. As consumers we're sheep, in so many different ways. If the 2nd best option is 95% as good as the best, we'll only pay 60% as much as we'd pay for the best...

aLTHOUGH IM STILL WORKING THROUGH YOURS  naT     

[090]

My rave about them started about  2 years ago. A family friend intro'd me into vmx with a basket case.He told me it was the shit. I wondered why i bought this old piece o' shit. It handles unreal, it trucks out of a corner like a 4stroke and it hole shots all by itself...i just hang off the back like a rag doll . This is what i look like after every ride  .

[paul]

i suppose you only live once so i bought that 490 maico today never had one so now i have 

[Hoony]

Well done Paul, live the dream !

now get that thing down to a Viper Meeting !

[yzhilly]

Paul Just watch Hoony ,If he is hanging around like ya new best mate it,s cause he wants to ride IT.