Does anyone remember..........?

[Maico International]

I know that this is a little off the usual territory but without mentioning the "M" word I wonder if any of you guys on here remember the Cotton E.M.X. I started racing in 1978 and in 1979 moved onto a brand new Cotton E.M.X. 250.They were made in the U.K.and the company was owned by a well respected frame designer Mike Eatough who use to work for another famous British Company C.C.M. (recently reformed)

The bikes were all hand made and were fitted with a rotax air cooled two stroke motor which I have to say is the only other powerplant I have ever used that was comparable in its power and delivery to that of the "M" with the 250 pumping out 42hp in 79 and at the time I was 15 and drove for five hours to the factory to pick which one I wanted I was like a kid in a sweet shop back then, but it was a superb bike.They continued into 1980 when they changed colour to white with orange frame and orange engine and they produced a 125 250 and 400.Sadly they went bust after a rather expensive attempt at road racing, and now as far as I know Rotax don't really produce a two stroke motor for M.X. any more.

Did they ever make it to the U.S.A.? or does anyone ever remember them? surely this is one for Opferman?     

[ford832]

I don't recall ever hearing of them in Canada.

[SachsGS]

At a garage sale I found a copy of an old Brad Lackey "How to Ride" guide that has two pictures of a Cotton 250 EMX. However these are photographs of the Sachs powered model that preceded the Rotax versions, if I can find the book in all my stuff I'll scan and post some pictures. These Sachs models used first the 2501/7A and then the 2501/5A engines (see pictures of Helmet Classen's Sachs). It is interesting to note that Bombardier Corp. purchased the engine works Sachs Austria from Fichtel and Sachs, Schweinfurt, Germany in 1969 (if my memory is correct) and renamed it Rotax. It is my understanding that the disc valve engines had already been designed at that point, evidence of this is that these engines display design featurers similar to the Sachs 1251/5/6 series engines such as concentric kickstart/shift levers, crankcase cooling fins etc..

  We can also thank Cotton for pioneering the aluminum "beam" chassis first developed for their Rotax longitudinal twin road racers.

And lastly, rumour has it that a farmer south of me (thats all I'll say) purchased a CCM 500MX new in 1979 and that he might still have the bike. We are on the hunt for that one.

[SachsGS]

Off-Road Action (U.K. magazine), winter 1993 - volume 1 - number 3, page 8: "EMC into the future in 1977" an article about EMCs. I'll scan the article when I have a chance. It's funny, I can remember this article but I can't remember my *@$% tel. # when I rent a video!

[riffraff]

here's a video of the Cotton E.M.X. with the Rotax

Cotton Emx Motorcross footage

[JETZcorp]

Sort of an awkward-looking machine in the way it's colored, but I have good faith in Rotax engines.  I have to say, I've never heard of these things before.

[TMKIWI]

Here's a Cotton for sale in NZ at the moment.
1966 with Villiers 32a engine.
$3500

[opfermanmotors]

A few of these have Sacshs engines.










Frank Willoughby Cotton founded Cotton Motorcycles in 1918 and invented the triangulated frame.  Using straight pipes to strenghten frames and lower the center of gravity so they would not break or bend as easy and make the bikes lighter.

Patent number: 1169381
Filing date: Jul 6, 1915
Issue date: Jan 25, 1916

http://www.google.com/patents/about?id=A7hkAAAAEBAJ


Cotton made their own frames but bought the rest of the parts, in the 70s they lost Villers, their engine supplier, so we have Sachs and even the 2 stroke Rotex 250.  The factory closed in 1980 though because of losing their engine supplier and as with all the small European outfits and many other small manufacturers, the large scale Japenese productions. 

There apparently were some replicas made in the 1990s.  I've never seen one in person though and haven't heard of them before, there are a lot of manufacturers which have come and gone though. 

That's just a summary of this page:

http://motorbike-search-engine.co.uk/classic_bikes/cotton-motorcycle-history.php

[JohnN]

I know that this is a little off the usual territory but without mentioning the "M" word I wonder if any of you guys on here remember the Cotton E.M.X. I started racing in 1978 and in 1979 moved onto a brand new Cotton E.M.X. 250.They were made in the U.K.and the company was owned by a well respected frame designer Mike Eatough who use to work for another famous British Company C.C.M. (recently reformed)

The bikes were all hand made and were fitted with a rotax air cooled two stroke motor which I have to say is the only other powerplant I have ever used that was comparable in its power and delivery to that of the "M" with the 250 pumping out 42hp in 79 and at the time I was 15 and drove for five hours to the factory to pick which one I wanted I was like a kid in a sweet shop back then, but it was a superb bike.They continued into 1980 when they changed colour to white with orange frame and orange engine and they produced a 125 250 and 400.Sadly they went bust after a rather expensive attempt at road racing, and now as far as I know Rotax don't really produce a two stroke motor for M.X. any more.

Did they ever make it to the U.S.A.? or does anyone ever remember them? surely this is one for Opferman?     

Too Funny!! Of course you can mention Maico.... 

But some of the folks on here seem to think that if you have any problem in life, the Maico is the answer. Have a headache? Better get Maico. Have heartburn? Better get Maico... Can't open that can of beans? Better get Maico....

I love these bikes.... but we don't want to add warnings like the drug companies on television. Yes new miracle drug "B" will stop athlete's foot, but it has been know to cause herpes, you may have dizziness, vomiting, vertigo, erectile dysfunction, heart attack or it may kill you... please consult a doctor before taking miracle drug "B".

As for the Cotton... I have heard of them but very little...

[SachsGS]

As society embraces more and more non pharmaceutical remedies to life's ailments - a little sprinkle of a Maico 1977 MC250 combined with a few days evo moto R & R might just be what the doctor ordered!
 
Getting back to the topic of rare gems of the past, here's one that I am curious about: back in the early 80s a british company produced a 500 MX that looked like a fusion of Yamaha and Maico DNA. I believe the bike was called a "Wilco", does anybody know anything about this beast?

[JohnN]

Hi SachGS - I just got an e-mail from England containing the following two photos...


Is this the bike you were asking about? It a Wilcomoto 490cc from around 1978/ 79


The machine above is a 1979 Cotton Emx 250, the young man on the machine is non other than Vince from Maico International!

Cool Stuff!!

[ford832]

As society embraces more and more non pharmaceutical remedies to life's ailments - a little sprinkle of a Maico 1977 MC250 combined with a few days evo moto R & R might just be what the doctor ordered!
 

Lol,what doesn't kill you just makes you stronger

[JETZcorp]

Extra, Extra, Read All About It!  Scientists have discovered that riding a Maico cures Blue Balls!

[maicoman009]

John Nicholas,I feel that I must speak up about your comments about several people on this site maybe talking up the "M" Brand a little to much!Now with all due respect to you John I know your the administrater of this awesome two stroke MX site and I certainetly DO NOT want to get banned from the TSM site,however I have'nt personally read anything on the site that states that the Maico's are some sort of miracle bike or that they can cure any diseases or anything remotely similiar.I have however read as well as blogged a fair amount about the "M" brand myself only because I'm a previous owner of one and also because I'm very interested in the new 2011 M's as I'm sure several others are on the site.I do remember an old television commercial that advertised "Uh Oh,Better get Macco!"which was and I think still is a automobile body & paint shop.It sounds to me,at least in your recent post that you may be getting the two "M" brands mixed up or something because I know that you are also somewhat of a "M"(dirtbike) fan yourself.I presently own & ride a 2008 KTM-300xc and love that bike but there are alot of other brands that I like and have owned both Japanese & European and I persoally prefer the Euro brands as opposed to the Jap brands although I love and will ride any brand and have a blast doing so!I would also like to say that a couple years back I was at work & on my lunch break and my legs were killing me and just aching like they were just beat with a baseball bat!One of my co-workers & friends had his Suzuki 4-wheeler on his truck so I had him unload it & I took it for a quick ride & low & behold my leg pain went away!! Trust me it was'nt the aspirin I took 3 hours prior either it was the adrenelin rush I got from taking a ride on his 400 Quad sport 4-choke!So I do believe dirtbikes can & do help with pain sometimes!  PS Please don't ban me from your site! THANKS,John

[JETZcorp]

In all seriousness, riding is a very good thing, physically.  So long as you don't crash and get all FUBAR, a good four-hour ride provides the sort of exercise that many of us just can't seem to get in our everyday lives, whether it's due to time, apathy, or whatever.  I always come back from a weekend of riding and hauling half a ton of wood to a campfire, feeling stronger and more refreshed.  My dad, who is of course much older and consequently has more ailments to consider, has noticed great improvements in flexibility, breathing, knee movement, back pain, etc.  The most strenuous (and entertaining) bit of exercise I have ever had occurred when I was on the 120.  Here's what I wrote about it when I got home (I keep a log of all my rides, because they're fun to read.)