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/1515142
VOLUME ISSUE JANUARY , P105 duro. It had a 248cc two-stroke air-cooled engine with those iconic Maico radial cylinder fins. It had a 36mm Bing carburetor and a four-speed transmission. Best of all, it had that beautiful Maico "coffin" aluminum gas tank. The list price for the Maico Enduro was $1536. That's nearly $9000 by today's standards. What stood out between the Enduro and the motocross Maicos was its "up-pipe" ex - haust system compared to the motocrossers' "down-pipes" that everyone was so used to at the time. Downpipes and off-roading did not mix unless you wanted to buy a new exhaust pipe after every enduro. We were impressed with the Maico Enduro. We said, "The only thing you'll notice on a trail ride is that you're not working as hard as the others and that when everyone else is sitting around pouring various liquids into their faces, you'll still be in the saddle wanting to go back for one more ride. It's true." "On the Maico," our tester wrote, "about 40 miles out after you've passed at least 150 riders stopped exhausted, disgusted or stuck, you'll begin to understand why Maico simply calls their bike Enduro rather than a more glamorous name. Maico makes a straight statement—Enduro. No brag—fact. "If this is starting to sound like a biased test of a Super Enduro bike, it's only because we haven't gotten to the gripe section." That gripe, as it turned out, was, of course, a mechanical breakdown during an enduro competition that our tester was riding in. The bike ground to a halt at speed at mile 91.5, less than 10 miles from the finish line. "Bummer," he said. It turned out that a ring had snagged on the exhaust port. Bummer, indeed. Still, our test rider was impressed with the Maico Enduro. He wrote: "Up until that last fatal road section, the motor had run perfect - ly, lugging down to put the power on the ground in the deep mud and then wind - ing an honest 70 mph on paved sections. It'll take more than one failure to con - vince this tester that the Maico is anything less than a serious competition mount." He was impressed with the bike's high-mounted exhaust pipe but not the "pickle-shaped" muffler tip that would break off unless the owner designed his own bracket or just bought an accessory muffler. Nor was he impressed with the Maico's lights, which are "not what you'd expect to find on an over $1500 machine manufactured in 1974. They worked neither well nor often." As with most Maicos at the time and, well, pretty much al - ways, fit and finish was an issue, which he noted in his conclusion. "Overall appraisal of the Maico: Extremely forgiving handling—plenty of power in the right place and an uncanny ability to put it on the ground. [My] main gripe consists of a lack of attention to detail by the factory, that is, leaking gas cap, poor lights, and unwise muffler design. The seat is very com - fortable, as is the layout of the footpegs, etc., making long rides a pleasure rather than an ordeal. Good airbox and foam filter. All in all, a solid design that is as functional as a meat cleaver. With better detailing, it would rank among the best of the seri - ous 'A' rider enduro mounts." So the name Maico might have been more associated with moto- cross, but the German manufac- turer that designed the infamous coffin gas tank could also build a formidable off-roader in the 250cc Maico Enduro. CN Subscribe to nearly 50 years of Cycle News Archive issues: www.CycleNews.com/Archives Not only did you have to kickstart your Maico Enduro, but you had to kickstart it from the left side.