Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/125847
lehtuDg! , Maico 400 & 450: Which one fits you? Made in the Black rorest . formotocross Photos by Art Friedman, John Ulrich and John Huetter Why would one of the smallest competition motorcycle factories in the world make two bi kes that would compete against each other In sales and on the race track? Why does Maicowerke GMBH, a small manufacturing concern in Pfaffingen, Germany, build two 34 engines for 500cc class m o tocross? These questions had always pe rp lexe d us so we set out to find some answers in the best way we know how : by taking a serious look at both the 400 an d 450 Maicos together, trying to determine h ow they worked as individual ma chines and, then comparing their performance head-on. No other manufacturer makes two motocross bikes for the 500 class, discounting the special wo rks bikes that a handful of factory riders might be on in any given season. But neither t he 400 nor 450 Maicos are factory specials. Vou can go down to your Maico dealer and order eith er one. But which one? Adolf, Willi, and Gerrit favored the 386c c engi ne during their successful TransAMA to ur , and during the Grand Prix seaso n , for most all races. Noone has ever acc use d a 4 00 Maico of be ing do w n o n power, any wh ere in the rev range , so wh y the 450? The reas o ns are fair ly sub tle an d yo u start co ming up wit h so me sensible ans we rs o nly af ter riding both, then thi nking about the use s to whi ch th e b ike s are pu t. Th e answer is not simply more peak horsep ower. Both ma ch ines sh are the same frame, the same suspension, the same wheels, tir es, and running gea r. Bo th have the same 36mm Bing co ncen tric carb ure to r. Even the porting in the cy lin ders is remarkably similar and, on to p of that, very co nventional with a bridged intake, tw o bri dge d transfers, and a su rp risingly small bridged exahust po rt. T he other po rt s aren 't all th at monstrous, eit her. T he o n ly d iffer ences be tween the two m achines are d iff er en t size jets in th e Bing, 5 m m greater bore in th e 4 5 0 and, natu rally, a bigger p iston. T h at is not much of a distinction on the surf ace. The simil aritie s arc mo re st riking, so first lo ok a t wh at they have in comm o n. T he 50 0 cla ss Maicos offer the best stock suspe nsio n of any motocros s ma ch ine in th e class. T he per formance of Maico fro n t forks is already near-legendary, It really is tha t good. In a sense, th ey look old -fashioned. The axle off-set ahead of the slider to provide greater travel and still main tain a desirable fr ont en d geo met ry , the extern al springs co vere d by black rubber gaiters , all co mb ine in to a fro n t end th at looks like no other. It also wo rks like no othe r. It works better. Girling sh ocks come on th e rea r wit h 60ยท90 progressive wind sp rings. T hey wo rked better, and longer, on o ur test machines than any Girlings ridd en in a lon g tim e . The rear end suspension co uld be imp ro ved eas ily fo r mot o c r oss b y replacing the .'.