M
aico. Hear the word, and
you're instantly harkened
to the day when the
German manufacturer ruled the
motocross scene in the early to
mid-70s. Okay, maybe not ruled,
but it was the brand you wanted
to be on if you were serious
about winning motocross. Or
you just wanted to be aboard the
most exotic motorcycle at your
local MX track. Ulrich Maisch,
the company's founder, knew
how to build a good motocross
bike, and German racers like Ake
Jonsson, Adolf Weil and Willy
Bauer proved that to us Yankees
when they often dominated the
popular Trans-AMA MX Series
despite going up against many
of the world's best racers, in
-
cluding Suzuki-mounted Roger
DeCoster, who many times
had his hands full battling the
Maicos, especially Jonsson, for
wins. At one point, Jonsson won
nine consecutive motos en route
to the Trans-AMA Championship
in 1972.
But only a few in the U.S.
knew that Maico also built
some excellent off-road bikes
at the height of the company's
success. The brand was never
really known as an "off-road"
powerhouse in America but
still produced some excellent-
performing single-trackers.
Perhaps Maico's reputation for
being mechanically troublesome
scared potential off-road buy-
ers away, and how could you
not blame them? After all, who
wants to break down deep into
the woods, far away from your
Datsun pickup truck?
In 1975, Cycle News tested
one of Maico's 250cc off-road
-
ers, simply called the Maico En-
CNIIARCHIVES
P104
BY KIT PALMER
AS FUNCTIONAL AS
A MEAT CLEAVER
A rare sight indeed in the early to mid-70s was a Maico with
an up-pipe. The Maico Enduro was a looker.
