That said,I could probably produce articles from the last 10 yrs promising the great Maico return
Firstly, while this is true and I can even find a 1997 article on that, none of these returns were by Maico International. None of these returns invested anywhere near the amount of effort and updating to the bikes that Maico International is doing. No where near. Also, in every case, the bikes WERE released. There is not 1 year in which a Maico hasn't been made (can't even say the same for Husqvarna on that one
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Maico was owned by Merkle until the mid 1990s, possibly 1994/96. He sold not the name but the production to a netherlands company who produced the bikes. In 1997/98 they were announcing a come back. It never seemed to materialize, however it really did and the bikes were even imported into the US. There's a guy in Erie PA who was a dealer and STILL has some bikes in crate who was selling them on craigs list. Not much was done to the bikes though aside from plastic changes and addition of hydraulics.
In 1999, Koestler started making bikes and he still does today. He also sells them today however, while maybe he tried importing them in the early 2000s (I have a price list from 2000 from Maico USA below) it also never went anywhere.
I don't know all the details of what happened, however the bikes were made and even imported. One thing I think that happened during those times was NO ONE REALLY KNEW when it happened or WHERE to get them. Some ppl who knew even iported their own bikes (I've known several ppl who did this).
In fact, even Koestler told me earlier this year I can order any bike or motor from him when I was ordering old Maico parts. One of the things I think was either little interest from the dealer side in advertising or even if there was, harder for a smaller company to be recognized. I mean, GasGas, TM, those aren't mainstream bikes but have larger budgets than Maico International does right now most likely and without the internet I bet no one would have heard of them. I think that's one of the biggest advantages now, the internet is more mainstream than 10 years ago and when ppl relied solely on a magazine saying they were comming back and no other information hard to find them. The internet has allowed more cheap, mass advertising and easier to reach ppl and ppl will be easier able to find them.
So, when you talk about "comebacks" not happening. They did, you just didn't see them. They also had nothing to do with Maico International, so as John says probably best to talk to them if you have questions.
US Maico Parts List from early 2000s, last page has new bikes price list.
http://www.maicowerk.com/Images/Maico/Manuals/Pdfs/USMaicoPartsList.pdf