First off, my apologies for the photos. The seller added all vertical photos that weren’t able to be enlarged so I had to make these composite images to fit our horizontal format here, and they look weird and are a bit choppy and pixelated. Otherwise, this 1978 Maico MC 125 looks great. They have it listed here on eBay in Smithfield, Kentucky, the current bid price is a whopping $5,600, and the reserve isn’t met yet!
This company, Maico Motorcycles, or Maicowerk A.G., out of Germany, was known for making possibly the best motocross bikes in the industry beginning in 1926. They started off making small engines, 98-cc and 123-cc two-strokes, but soon began making motorcycles. Business took off after WWII and in 1953, they came out with their first four-speed transmission. In the 1960s, the company was making several sizes of motorcycles and would supply off-road bikes to the German army.
Making off-road, scrambler-type of motorcycles and full-on motocross bikes for the general public followed and the rest was history. They were known as one of the best motocross motorcycle makers, maybe of all time, and they don’t come up for sale all that often today. We’ve only seen one maico motorcycle here on Barn Finds, written up by Jeff way back in 2016. As an off-road or motocross bike, the MC series didn’t have lights, but there was a GS with lights, although maybe not this exact model at this exact period of time.
The seller doesn’t give too much info about this particular example, but they do say that it has been stored in a private collection for years, and there is no title, which isn’t that unusual for vintage motorcycles or even cars and trucks.
The engine is a 123-cc two-stroke single-cylinder, which would have had rotary valve induction and sand-cast cases. Some racers would take the engine apart before races to make sure that the outer-left crank bearing was adjusted correctly, and also would grease the shifter after every race, clean the points, etc. As with most vehicles, proper maintenance will help them last for years or decades. The seller says that this one starts and runs well. Have any of you owned a Maico motocross or other Maico motorcyle?
I had to look twice – I had two CanAm TNT’s.Bought
a 250 new.Great bikes.
Raced Hare-&-Hound against them with a Bultaco back in the day. “Maico Breako” was the derisive nickname given by those of us that couldn’t keep up when they were running right and a good rider aboard. They held their own for quite awhile even against the upstart Japanese invasion, but the “Monoshock” quickly brought an end to most European dirt bikes.
FWIW, the bike forums are talking about the “new” Maico company, advertised as “Made in Germany” since 1999, limited to 50 bikes @ year!
Found this https://www.maico-bikeworld.de/en/
Nice find and write up, Scotty!
Who else? A Maico, by golly, it’s been a while, a signature feature of the author. When I had my Bultaco Pursang, naturally, I rubbed elbows with all the “other” riders that had non-“Big 4” bikes, and Maico was one of them. Didn’t see many smaller ones, most were the big 490, that beat everyone, due to it’s sheer power. The 125 class was much more competitive, as it was riding style, not hp that won the race. 2nd gear holeshots were the trick. The Maico was simply the “biggest stick” you could have. Seeing this makes old MX injuries ache once again, but more fun on a motorcycle, I couldn’t have had. Maico was top shelf. Cool find.
In a related motorcycle note, I read, Harley is teaming up with Benelli and a Chinese company, to build small 350 and 500 twins( not V twin) for the European market. Time will tell if that makes it here. While I cringe at the fact that Asians and Italians are building so-called American bikes, it’s a bit unsettling, but Harley has missed out on the smaller bike market for years, so who knows. My old man is spinning in his grave,,,
Been reading where Triumph is building a Motocross/ Supercross bike for the world Supercross series. Rickey Carmichael is on board with the development.
Friend had a 501 back in the day
In 1974 bought the revolutionary at the time Honda cr 250 Elsinore, 10 days later it was stolen after the first moto when I went to see how I finished. A few weeks later I traded my 66 Pontiac lemans for a 1971 maico 125 that had a weird custom paint job. Managed to order some parts from Honda of piquia in Ohio and cured the shifting problem and at one point ran it with only the top piston ring, modified the frame for laid down shocks for more rear suspension travel and while racing the frame head pipe separated and broke my neck, still feel fortunate to have had a maico…
Friend of mine had 501 Maico bintd .
Maicos handled great and had good suspension, but by 1978, this bike would not have been competitive on US tracks with the Japanese 125s from Yamaha and Suzuki, which were ubiquitous.
Here’s the problem: If you want a Maico, you want the 490. By 1978 the 125 and 250 weren’t competitive; Suzuki RM 125 and Yamaha YZ 125 were way better bikes.
I had a Maico 200 street bike back in 1955. Great little bike but no where the preformance of the off road bikes. I really wanted a Triumph Tiger Cub but they were about $50 bucks more.
I owned a 1980 Honda Elsinore (CR125). Honda copied practically everything on that bike from this Maico. So you know Maico definitely got it right with these bikes.
Maybe the “”Maico Break-o” reputation was earned. The parts sure as hell seemed expensive and hard to get too. But these bikes were competitive almost everywhere they showed up.
I rode a Maico 501 once…just once. Scared the daylights out of me.
Raced a Maico 490 after my stint riding Bultaco Pursangs. Maico’s open class bike were beast and were the best handling MX’ers until the went to the Alpha shock single rear shock. That helped lead to the demise of Maico. Although you can still get a few new Maico’s. They have a 700cc 2-stroke monster available!
Auction update: this one ended at $8,100 and no sale, wow. That’s close to a #1 Concours value and it didn’t even meet the seller’s reserve.
Maybe another case of “Really sweetheart I tried to sell but no one wanted to pay what it’s worth!!”????
Ha, if I had a nickel for all of those, I’d buy everyone here their own private island.
Had both the Maico 125 in 1974 and a 490m2 in 1981.
The 125 was my desert bike in El Paso.
The 490 was my MX bike.
Both were very reliable and sweet.
In the middle ´50´s, Maico produced the possibly most advanced, beautiful road machine, the Maico Taifun. It was powered by either a 350 or a 400 cc 2-stroke twin, handled like a formula machine and had the most advanced styling of them all. The Maico 500 micro-car was a gem as well. The demise of the company reads like a a Russian novel, full of intrigue, betrayal and darkness. A very sad ending.
I got to ride a 250 Maico while stationed in Kaneohe Bay, Hi. I really liked it. It had a lot of torque and handled great.
When I was a kid, my next door neighbor had one in his basement. It sat untouched for at least a decade. Every time I visited, I would ask his little brother if he would sell it. Never got an answer. That was in the 80’s, I wonder what happened to it.
Whenever we would see a Maico out of the top ten, we would look at each and say something like, “Well, it isn’t the bikes fault.”