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/125976
Impression: NIAICO - 00 A torquey,fine-handling tlA" class mount that needs a little more attention given to detailing By Charles Mo rey Simple, rugged, functional all these words describe the Maico Enduro, but no one of them really puts the finger on why you'd want t o o w n o ne . T o h o n e stl y s u m mar ize The U rge To Own A h I k h . Malco-, yo u a ve t o . 0.0 • past t e physi c al characteristics o f th e tractor-like machine . Ign o re t he fact th at it appears to have been co ns truc te d from excess boxcar parts under t he supervision of a blacksmith wh ile th e stylists were on co ffee break. Ride it. Bu t b ew ar e. Do ing b ig ci rcles an d figure -Ss o u t b ehind the de aler 's shop w o n' t im pr es s you ; and even an afternoo n in the woods will leave the ride r with a less t han d azzling ima ge o f t he mach in e' s pote n tial. T he on ly thing yo u'll notice on a t rail ride is t hat you're no t wo rki ng as hard as the othe rs , a nd tha t wh en every o ne else is sitting arou nd pouring various liquids into t heir fac es, yo u'll st ill be in the saddle wa nting to go ba ck fo r o ne more rid e. It's true. Now, here's wha t yo u' d have to d o before being hopel essly entrap ped b y the mystique that Herr Mai sch build s into his m o to rcycles. . You have to enter the homely crea t ure in an enduro. But not j u st an y old run-of-the-mill enduro . It has to be at least 100 miles long; the temperature has to be below a maximum o f 50 degrees; rain or sleet is required; and there have to b e a lot of nasty nas ty nasty hills and mudfields. It's the type of r u n where you look at your fro stbitten muck-covered face in the van mirror afterwards and say, "Why, stupid?". And you notice behind you in the mirror's reflection that all your friends are n od d ing in agreement . O n the Maico , about forty miles out after you've passed at least 150 rider s stopped- exhausted, disgusted or stuck; you'U begin to understand why Maico 20 simply ca lls th eir bike "Enduro" rat~e r th an a m o~e glamorous nam e. MalCO makes a straight st at ernent End uro . No brag _ fact. If this is st arting to so und like a b iased test o f Super End uro bike, it 's o nly becau se we haven ' t go tten to th e grip e section. Besides carry ing o ur tester 's b ody through all so rts of d ifficult terrain and savi ng his useless hid e n o fewe r t ha n three times, the b ike event ually let him down. It happene d on a paved sect ion , of all pl a ces, at 60 mp h . Cro uched o ver, hand in fro nt o f his face to keep th e sti nging raindrops out o f his ey es, the tester sud denly heard the engine noise cha nge to a lo ud rapping . He pulled in th e clutch and coasted to a sto p looking at t he mileage as th e bike slowed . 9 1.5 -less th an te n miles to go . Bum mer . At least he had p len t y of tim e to t hink o f a way to teU t he Mai co peop le he 'd busted thei r b ike duri ng the lo ng tri p b a ck to t he start/finish area. T he problem , it was discovered later, was t hat th e ring had snagged on t he exhaust port. How ean so me o ne be " hopelessly entrapped" in Maico my stiqu e , as we said b efo re , witho ut even finish ing t he end uro t hat impressed him ? Becau se w ithout the m a chin e' s extra fin e handling and co mfort , th e rid er never would ha ve been able t o log 91 .5 mi les through that o ne part icularly difficult event. Bikes break wh en ab use d as this one was . And we wer e dealing with o ne rid e on on e bike. In tw o previous trail riding sessions it had fun cti on ed well eve n though it wa s th en in need of a tune up. Maybe th at las t pre-enduro je t t ing change was a shad e lean . Or perhaps one speck of all th at red Georgia clay found it s way through the float bowl and in to the main jet, leaning > it out just eno ugh to cause the prob lem. Up un t il th at last fa tal road se cti on t he motor had run per fectl y, lugging down to put the power on th e ground in t he d eep mud and then winding an hones t 70 mph on p aved sections . It 'll take more than one failure to convin ce this tester that th e Maico is any t h ing less than a serious competition mo unt. Let's start at th e bottom and take a closer look a t it piece by pie ce . The t ires, l\1et ~.,ler knobbies, are just th e th ing for serious woods riding. They're mounted on steel rims. Most people would prefer the DJ .D. st yle alloy items. The hubs, cast a lloy in front and sheet meta l o n the rear, ar e conical MX parts and house brakes that are perhaps not im pressive, but certain ly adequat e. The fr ont wh eel is crad led b y a p air of the renow ned Maico fo rks, and Girling shocks ' wit h 60/90 springs handle the rear suspe nsio n demands. ' Konis were mounted just before the enduro as! a m a iler of personal preference. The fram e , iden tical to last y ea r' s MXer, shares the same reputation given the fro nt fo rks . Mai co hand ling is unq uest io nabl y fine. T he mo tor is also iden t ical to last year's MX unit, except for an exchange of a wide ratio 4-speed gear cl uster fo r the close ratio cog s. The pipe is mounted high and does not interfe re with riding, but has a pickle shaped muffler t ip that will break off unless the owner either reworks the