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
r bumps, t he sho cks would pump th em · selves do wn to th e po int that by th e rl time I h it th e th ird bump in th e series , 1i th e b ack end of the Mai m felt like it '~was kick ing itself two feet in th e a ir. I ojust didn't see how he could ri de the s bik e with th e d a m p ing set th a t stiff. .ql. Lu ckil y, the Maim is a n inhe re ntly good handling bike and tracks beauti l£fu lly through any situation without n losing its composure. Maicos have mi lways been front end handlers , and 1 th e new model is no exception. Most of .li the work is done with , and seems cen '("'tered on th e front end. T he back end .l of th e b ike just tags along for the rid e . J On most bumps you just let the front en d slash its wa y through , not really 1 working to bring th e front en d up u n less th e whoops get really d eep. This is exactly oppos ite to the han dl ing char acteristics of a Husky, wh ich I like to refer to as a rear-end handler. Most of the b ike's work is do ne wit h the rea r wheel wh ile the rider just sits 1 ba ck on th e sad d le to keep t he front en d ligh t for th e rough stu ff. It's th ese · totally opposite handling cha racter'~ isti cs of the Ma ico and Husky which 0<'m ak e th em suit pa rt icular riding n styles, and makes it nearly im possib le · for a rid er of one to ma ke an irn ""m ed ia tely successful switch to the o other. Wherea s a bike like the RN · "'420.78 works Suzuki is almost corn ple tel y neu tral in cha racter. ~r For a young rider coming up b th rough th e ra nks of Japanese bik es J£a nd considering th e switch to a Maico lor Husky, it is im po rt ant that he t ry to r ide both b ikes first. He will feel much mbett er on on e bik e or th e ot her, a nd lcfrom th at poin t on, after purcha sing 1 the bike he likes best , his riding style will d evelop with th e bik e on which he feels most co m fort ab le. Some of the factory modifica tions on Darrell's bik e for th e T rans· AMA Series included magnesium side cases on th e engi ne and a m agnesium upper triple clamp for the forks. A stock exhaust pipe is used , but with a Porter aluminum muffler wh ich is half a pound lighter than stock and doesn't blowout its internal pa cking . Gold anodized Akront aluminum rims like on Darrell's bike will be on th e new production Mai cos . The bike has a 55 · inch wheelbase and weighs 224 pounds . Weight is still very competiti ve for an Open class b ike , though just look ing at the bike , you would im agine it to be a little lighter. Ma ico will be the only compe tit ive motocross bike in 1979 wh ich will not have a full -floating rear b rake as stock . T he brakes at eac h end of the machine perform adequat el y, b ut th ey cou ld also be better. The engine in Darrell 's bike is a production 5·speed 450cc unit with a fact ory ported cyli nder a nd a 40mm Bing carburetor to replace the stoc k 36mm Bing. Com pon ent s in the cl utc h have been lightene d, but th is isn't provi ng to be very reliable. T h is mod ified 450cc bike is a defi nite torquer , more so than any two-stroke I h ave ever ridden . It 's working range seems to be between ' 2,00 0 and 5,0 00 rpm. It will rev h ighe r with much commot ion a nd vib ration . but without going a ny faster. T he bike needs to be sh ifted qui ckly, so it ca n pull from low rp m's. Even wit h th e (Con tinu ed t o page 46) •••• ••• • ••• • • • •• t __ "' . 27