Maico history

The German brand Maico can not be ignored from the motocross history. The brand worked hard in the 70s to earn a place alongside competitors from Japan and Europe. Maico forced authority in the motocross world by releasing the Mega 2 from 1981.
It were the brands from Japan that were in service during the period in the motocross. Yet the European competitors were innovative and tried to keep up with the engineers from the land of the rising sun. Especially Maico turned out to be a trendsetter, they were the first to start with higher suspension routes on a dirt bike. At the end of the seventies, Maico had extremely powerful engines on offer but at that time they did not have the right pilots on their machines and they were not really reliable. In 1980 Maico was ready for a new impetus due to the ongoing negativity around their cross machines.

Bitten by the criticism, the Maisch brothers came up with the MC490 Mega 2 in 1981. The engine was a model of usable power, had excellent front and rear suspension on board, sent as a knife in the butter. The 488cc measuring thick two-stroke was so smooth in its power delivery that the Japanese engineers had to collectively rely on the antidepressants. It did not matter much or harakiri's were committed and the sale of sake suddenly went up. Under the influence of their well-known copying behavior, the Maico's were dissected in various Japanese factories. Even in the mid-1980s, the 1981 model was unbeatable, despite the fact that the brand had since disappeared from the battle scene.

The thick two-stroke from 1981 is still regarded as the best two-stroke engine ever. The engine is a real beast with 47.2 hp on board. Competitors who were able to stay a bit closer to that year were the Yamaha YZ465 and the beastly KTM495. The Maico of 1981 is a true legend and a welcome guest at vintage competitions. Globally there are still a lot of Maico's around and that may not change soon.

(Original article: mxvintage.be)