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Maieo AB SRider
The "No&euses" mllehine
By Dan McCauley .
If you're the kind of racer tha t sits around after
the las t grueling mo.to jacking your jaw about
how "I would have won if my bike's suspension
worked better" or the old "I needed more
power" lin e - the new Maico
490 Spider isn't for you, as it
leaves no room for excuses.
We were fortunate enough to
24
get our hands on an Open-class Spider
fora 'testing session . The "Maico Meister," Barry Higgins, spent several hours
briefing us on every detail of the motorcycle. Then the Cycle News testing
team, along with Maico support rider
John Fero , headed out toour test track
to get an impression of what an Open
class MXer is all about
The brilliant overall red color scheme
and flashy red works-type safe ty seat
make the Sp ider a true eye-catcher.
Gold anodized rims and parts en han cethe beauty of the German-made
berm buster.
Maico states in one of its brochures
that 1983 marks the "biggest changes
and improvements ever in any model
year for Maico." The fact is, it does
appear the engineers at Maico have
totally redesigned the Spider from the
ground up.
One of the biggest changes for '83 is
the new Spider type 361 chassis which
both the 490 and 250 use. The new
production frame is claimed to be
identical to that on the Maico works
bikes. The single down-tube frame
splits into a full cradle which supports
the compact 49O(aaually48&c) powerp lant. By making it a single downtube fra me, the expansion chamber
tucks in close, out of the rider 's way.
T he overa ll weight of the frame has
been red uced by using larger diameter,
thinner-walled .chromemoly tubi ng. '
Some of the unnecessary frame gussets
which were used on previous models
have been totally done away with.
Numerous changes have been made
to the powerplant. Major changes
include primary gear drive (which
replaces the chain system), new, more
compact engine cases, a redesigned
as
clutch and a lighter crank. 1983 als~i!
marks the first year in which the 49
