Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

and make it a bit more tractable. The switch will also allow enduro lighting to be hooked up if desired. ~ Another reaso n for the blinding accelera tion can be attributed toa new , lighter cran k which allows the engine to ' rev quicker. The rod ha s been improved by making the big end 20 percent larger for additional strength. 1 Som ething w hi ch hasn 't been ch anged from ' last year is the forged Mahle piston: A sin gle Dykes ring is uti lized. The 490 has some of th e biggest Ports you 'll ever see. It shouldn't be necessary for even pro MXer's to alter the porting. Higgins said, "Anyone who wants o ne of th ese things ported is'a fool. " ~ A wide-raiio 4-speed gearbox, whi ch em p loys straight-cut gears, sup p lies mo re top speed than most MX tracks would require. Even with stock 15/56 gearin g, the 490 wou ld be ideal for hare scram bles or ISDE Qualifier-type use where high speeds are quite common and very necessar y. Desert racers will want to go with the 490 Sand Sp ider and its five-speed gearbox. T he Maico engine doesn't require any speci al tools or pullers tosplit the cases, making it easy to work on. A cente r case gasket is required. Primary kick starting allows the Spider to be started while in gear. The big bore could be brought to life quite easily. Never more th an four , kicks were required, even when cold. Once warmed up, a single kick usu ally brough t the engine back to life. The compression release helps a lot. A massive 40mm Bing carburetor , whi ch ha s both a cho ke and a tickler, comes on the 490. Out of th e crat e, the jetting was very close. We replaced the 200 main jet with a smaller 195and cut one mm off th e back of th e slide. These minor changes helped th e Spider run crisper. The big " Moo gets incredi ble gas m ileage. We found there would be no problem com p leting a lon g 45 minute moto on a tankful I. The Bing float bowl can be taken off without th e use of tools, where on a Mikuni, four Phillips head screws must first be removed. If you sus pect there may be trash or water in the bowl ; it can be easily checked or drained. The '83 airbox has the same dim ensions as last year , except it is now a . " -:. . 'I ' a' single molded-p lastic unit. After the seat is removed, the lar ge Twin-Air filter is accessible. The airbox could stand to have a la rger opening a t th e top for easier filter servicing. A drain hole is loca ted at the bottom of the airbox. T he hole should be protected ' with a valve so wa ter can ge t out, yet preven ting mud and wat er fro m en iering u p through the drain . " I T he hot set- up would be to dri ll a series of abo ut 10 half-in ch hol es aro und th e top of th e air box. T h is would allow better air flow. , As with last year's model , the German factory ha s gone with a beefy 42mm fork , mounted in a set of forged a l u m in u m triple 'cl a m p s for 12.2 inches of travel. Updated for '83 are the damper rods. ' fork springs and rebound springs. Last year 's damping rods had two compression holes and a single rebound hole. The rods , have been improved with a third compression hole above the two previous holes , and the rebound hole has been lowered. A new, longer, p rogressively wound fork spring and a single rebound spring are now utilized. Each of these minor refinements help achieve more response. The fork tubes and sliders are unchanged. An unnamed 10 weight oil comes stock in the fork. We tried some Bel, Ray SE245 suspension fluid, which is about 7.5 weight, filling 16 em from the top of the tubes , with the fork bottomed out and springs removed. Higgins pumps eight to 10 psi of air into each leg. We agreed with Fero that fourps i suited us best. This is strictly rider preference. As Il turned out. the fork action was really good for the first eight or so inches of travel. but then got progressively stiffer to the point where the last four in ch es of travel were hardly ever used . Dropping th e oil level slightly should help the overall feel. Fero noted, "This is the first bike I have ridden that I didn 't hav e to mess with the fork for three weeks to get it working right. " ,' , Dual Control is Maico's version of a single shock rear suspension. An Ohlins shock, in conjunction with a forged aluminum linkage. supplies over a foot of travel to the rear end. Consider,ed 'by many to be the ultimate, the Ohlins shock features a machined , a lu m in u m reservoir. :a high-quality Swedish steelspring and an aircraft,'q u ality heim join.' Importantly, th e , shock is completely rebuildable. Rebound "damping is externa ll y adjustable. Turning the large adjustment knob (located at th e bottom of the shock shaft) all the way in , and th en back out five Cl icks provided us wi th the desired a m o u nt of rebound. Compression damping isn 't ex ternallyadjustable. 'H igg ins recommends th at most advanced level , MXers may want to tight en up the shock sp ring a comp lete turn or two, after it is broken in . Offroad riders may want to take Fero 's advice and soften thespring pre-load two turns. T aking both of the ir thoughts into account, the Cycle N ews testers agreed the shock provides the best results over a variety of conditions the way it comes from th e factory. Maico engineers have designed th e shock linkage so it places less of a load on the sh ock. As with a lm ost all linkage-type rear suspensions, Zerk fittings a re located on th e Dual Control linkage for lubing between teardowns. The new ch romemoly swi ngarm is not iceabl y slimmer and weighs less than last year's bulkier model. In addi tion , this year' s swingarm is claimed to , have gained streng th by th e use of bridge sectioning gussets which al so provide a great deal of la teral stren gth, which th e prev ious arm lacked . T he swi nga rm is mounted with needle bear- ings sealed wi th a -rings. Li ke the Swedes and the Austrians, the Germans have also chosen to use Nor disk rims. The bright gold anodized rims com e pr e-drilled for rim pins, but rim locks are stock. Both th e fro nt and rear, spokes ha ve bee n changed to a heavier gauge "swedge" spoke for '83. Maico riders chould no lon ger need to switch to . aftermarket spoke ki ts in thei r quest for addi tional strength. Basicall y, the same aluminum front hub th at dat es back to thf '81 mode l is put to use. T he only magnesium piece on the entire Sp ider is th e front backing plate. The fron t brake does a pretty good job of slowi ng the brute down. However, the testers felt a double leadin g shoe would p rovide better stoppi ng power. A disc brak e in '84 would be the ultimate. The non-floating rear brake has a new return spring located on the bra ke arm. The tin rear backing plate looks pretty skimpy, bu t it does its job. The brake shoes now have improved metallic linings for longer life, while providing better stopping. A wingnut adjusts the brake rod. Some Maico riders switch to a Terrycable and discard the rod as it is vulnerable and apt to be bent. _ Unfortunately. the brake pedal has not been changed and is still slick and flat on top. The rider's foo t is ap t to slip off the pedal under braking in less than bone-dry conditions or when the action gets heavy. There is no folding tip on the brake pedal, but the shifter , has one. ' Metzeler tires provide th e bite to the ground and are a wise choice by Maico. A 3.00 x 21 keeps the front end pointing in the right direction while an ea rt h -ch u rn in g 4.50x I8 is used on th e rear. ' The520x 118Reginachainrequires careful adjustm ent. There are no align- ' ment marks stamped on the swi ngarm so it's importan t that both sides are adjusted in equal a mount s to ins ure proper wheel alignment. New for '83 is a one-piece molded -pla s tic ch a in guide. The plastic gu ide is very durable; and less prone to damage than previous units. A roller is a lso used to ' keep the chain running sm oothl y. This large roller, which looks like. a skateboard wheel , will wea r out. This ' is wh en Maico riders may want to consider an aftermarket ro ller. Magura controls ado rn th e rubbbermounted handlebars. The full length ' dog-leg levers are virtually indestructible. The only fault we cou ld find is that the clutch lever sticks out so far from the front o f th e gr ip it is hard to , get a comfortable number of fingers on it. Thanks to the rather long clutch, actua ting arm , th e clutch pull doesn 't require a trem endous amount of strength. A new 312 Duo straight-pull th rottle has the versatility of being able to be set for either a long or 'short pull. We ' chose to set the throttle on the'longer pul l. The th rottle doesn 't hav e a cable adjuster. One isn't needed becau se the throttle cable adjusts at the carburetor. ' Other features which com pl ete the Spider package include a ligh tweigh t alum in um silencer which is rebuildable and looks gr eat. Acerb is m akes all th e durable sh iny, red plastic body components. 1mprovements which could beadded-' for '84 might include a removable rear sub-frame section to ease access to the shock. The addition of a niudguard, located between the airbox and the swingarm would help keep mud from caking on th e shoc k and linkage. As mention ed earlier, a disc brak e up front cou ldn' t hurt. Wh at 's th e bottom lin e? The Maico 490 Spider is a n Open-class MX winner. No doubt a bou t it. H owever, to be a winner th e rider must use the full potentia l o f th e bike. We fou nd that cou ld be easier said th an done. ' • .. .. ' , ' , I ', • • • oJ ' • •• • • j; "

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