price maico 490 1981

[wintrader]

Thinking of riding a bit again. I want to buy a maico 490 1981 model. Living in the Netherlands. What are they worth right now? So what should i pay. Are you still able to buy parts for them? How much were made? Perhaps good investment?

Because i think i will only ride a couple of times o year i want a bike that will not loose its value so fast.

[JohnN]

These machines have traditionally held their value better than any other vintage machine. Although I have not looked into how much they are worth now....

There is a huge aftermarket supply for parts, plus parts are still available from the factory!

If you have a great deal to invest, the factory can build you a brand new machine. That's right, you can buy a brand new 1981 Maico 490 in 2010.

Of course they are also available on the used market as well.

Good luck and send us some photos when you get the bike!

[JETZcorp]

My dad has a 250 model from that year and it was easily able to keep up with my uncle's '81 Husky 430 in somewhat-tight sections of woods.  The 490, which is identical except for gear ratios, bore, stroke, and carburetor (40mm Bing instead of 38mm) must be the most awesome machine ever.  I've not ridden one, so I'm obviously no authority on it, but they have an incredibly good reputation.  I think that with an aluminum tank (which you can find, by the way (my dad's 250 even has an early '70s coffin tank!)) and it'd be perfect.

That said, my researches on eBay seem to show that they run massive prices when compared to other models.  Where a '78 Maico 440 might cost you three grand, an '81 Maico 490 in similar condition might run you five or six.

[admiral]

i had no idea that they would bring that kind of money. i have an '81 490 that i bought in '89. i was in college at the time and the seller was getting rid of his '88 CR500 and the 490. he was selling both bikes and his trailer and gear because he was getting married. i only wanted the CR but he wouldn't split up the package. he also wouldn't let me leave because i was the only one who showed up to look at them and i had cash. so he kept lowering the price until i bought everything. i ride that old Maico a little (once a year) but the clutch is terrible.

[evo550]

Yep, here in Oz they are still fetching aroung $10000 for a well restored one. Before the U.S, sent the world into an economic downward spiral, cashed up baby boomers where paying up to $15000 for them.
No other Maico can touch them as far as pricing goes, except maybe the 501.
Never seen the sense in paying that much money for one, I have had a few '84's which is a much better bike and at 1/3 of the price.

[JETZcorp]

Personally, I'd be (and hope soon to be) looking for a Magnum Maico, that is, a '78-79 model year.  They don't have the crazy power of the 490 but they're a little lower to the ground and I hear you can really tell it in the handling.  If you're not too concerned with racing vintage, you might try a monoshock Maico of '82 or '83.  The '82 is also a 490 and the motor is virtually identical (it's ported to emphasize low-end slightly) but it just happens to be a monoshock.  These bikes got an incredibly bad reputation when some weird design work resulted in bent shocks, and Maico lost a trainload of cash on warranty claims.  The '83 bike has an even worse reputation.  Even though it makes the sort of power than an '81 or '82 could never dream of, and the shock problem was fixed, the bike's transmissions sometimes weren't heat-treated (this was an act of sabotage, not failed QC.)  Some 490s had their transmissions blow up and some people were even killed.  If you find one today, the problem is 99% sure to be fixed, and the bad rap keeps the prices lower than an '81.  Unfortunately, many vintage racing series' don't allow monoshocks into competition, which means that you may not be able to race this bike, and that further drives the prices down due to decreased demand.  My monoshock recommendation is the '83 Sand Spider (the Sand-Spider is the 5-speed, and apparently Super Hunky helped name it!)

So there you go.

[scottydog]

These machines have traditionally held their value better than any other vintage machine. Although I have not looked into how much they are worth now....

There is a huge aftermarket supply for parts, plus parts are still available from the factory!

If you have a great deal to invest, the factory can build you a brand new machine. That's right, you can buy a brand new 1981 Maico 490 in 2010.

Of course they are also available on the used market as well.

Good luck and send us some photos when you get the bike!

Hold the phone!

so you can buy a whole new 490 air cooled donk and then slot it in to a late model YZF/RMZ/KXF/CRF rolling frame??

[evo550]

These machines have traditionally held their value better than any other vintage machine. Although I have not looked into how much they are worth now....

There is a huge aftermarket supply for parts, plus parts are still available from the factory!

If you have a great deal to invest, the factory can build you a brand new machine. That's right, you can buy a brand new 1981 Maico 490 in 2010.

Of course they are also available on the used market as well.

Good luck and send us some photos when you get the bike!

Hold the phone!

so you can buy a whole new 490 air cooled donk and then slot it in to a late model YZF/RMZ/KXF/CRF rolling frame??

Sure you can..........just flip your rear wheel over to accept the right side drive chain.
I would go with a "83/'84 reed valve motor, even better

[JETZcorp]

Yeah, the '83 490 motor makes something like 6 horsepower more than in '81/82 (according to Super Hunky.)  That's a huge amount of power and there's not really anything like it I can think of you can buy today that's got that sort of grunt.  How much power does a KX500 motor make?  With these late-model 490s you're looking at 62.