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/126344
Trans-AmI Bike Test Darre I 79 26 hu tl'S aiED 450 By Jim Gianat sis Photos by Chuc k Tannlund and Gianatsis P erha ps more than any other one bike in the Open class. the Mai co has remained die favorite cho ice among privateer pro riders over the years . And for good reason . No ot her bike. with the possible exception of Husqvarna, has been ava ilable which offers the non factory rider anything so close to works bike handling and performance. This week 's test bike from th e Trans·AMA Series is Darrell Shultz's Ma ico 450 . which is basically the new 1979 produ ction bike with a few fac tory modificat ion s: And with this evaluation comes the realization once again that for the coming year. t he choice of racing mounts for the serious pro rider will once again be limi ted to Ma ico , Husky , and perhaps the new RM420cc Suzuki we looked at last week if it comes equipped, when a.vailable, with halfway decent suspen· sion. Darrell's 1979 model 450cc Maico retains the exceptional chassis housing the evolutionary downsized engine in troduced a year ago. The main changes for 1979 are in the suspension with travel increases. At the front of th e bike , Maico's own air /spring forks now offer 11.2 inches of travel. These forks work exceptionall y well on any track surfac , e the damp ing rates seem spot ·on. and of cou rse, the spring rate progression is adjustable with oil volume and air p ressu re . The rea r suspe nsion's travel is increased to II in ches , and in production form th e Ma ieo will have l S-inch Corte Cosse... deCarbon reservoir shocks. La st yea r' s shocks were 14.2inch long models to give present Maic o owners an idea of how much longer a sho ck they can fit to their bikes to up' date them . Changes hav e be en made to the rear of Darrell's 450 with the use of an a luminum Thorwaldson swingaim whi ch reduces ugl y unsprung weight by 2 pounds com pa red to the stock steel swingarm . Also . Darrell is running Works Performance shocks . These aluminum bodied units have at ta ched reservo irs working on th e . deCarbon p rinciple. but with a rubber bladder to sepa ra te the gas/ oil rather than the mor e common floating piston seal. The Works Performance shocks offer numerous adjustments with different stages of spring rates , special shims which govern when one stage of spring rate will cross over to the next sp ri ng rate, modifying the spring rate by cha ngi ng air pressure. and in ternal piston damping changes. Certainly id ea l for the pro rider who knows how to tune his rear suspension and has a selection of springs to test. Other than a broken spring in on e Trans·AMA race, Darrell has had no other reliability problems with the Works Performance units. The weekend of our test, tho ugh, Darrell had the damping on his Works Performance shocks increased. And while they may have suited hi m well at th is new setting, the y seemed slightly over -dampened on co mpression and completely over -dampened on rebound . Charging across a set ' of