The reality is that,with due respect,what I have said is devastatingly accurate.
The 74.5 Maicos were the first production long travel offroad motorcycles.
All modern 2T offroad motorcycles 250cc + utilize Maico engine geometry.
The chassis geometry developed by the 1977/78 Maicos is basis for ALL modern offroad motorcycles.Those that break away from this formula are thoroughly roasted by the press,witness the BMW 450X. Maico was the first manufacturer to thoroughly embrace leading axle forks in their motocrossers (I know some AJS fans will disagree).
I have sold hundreds of vintage motorcycles (I still own a few dozen) and have learned that it is the vintage Maicos that feel the most modern,all the rest are quirky and odd in someway or another.
In the early 70's Maico,a small company with two engineers,trounced the mighty Japanese mega corporations in Trans AMA competition and came within one stripped spark plug hole of defeating the Japanese in world 500cc competition.
Let me go further....in the early 1980's Honda lured Roger Decoster away from Suzuki to re engineer their CR line of motocrossers (the Honda CRs at that point were effectively Husqvarna copies). These CRs came to dominate the industry and,first KTM, then the rest copied with the 97 + RMs being the last. Mr. Decoster freely admits that when he redesigned the CRs the Maico was the inspiration.
The fact that a company as small,with as limited resources as Maico,could have accomplished all this in the face of the almighty Japanese competition is the stuff of legends and why we have Maico fans the world over 30 years after the glory times of the company.It is also why we have no fewer then 4 companies presently manufacturing Maicos and a war going on as to who actually legally owns the rights to the name.
