Will there ever be another 1981 Maico 490?

[opfermanmotors]

The question is simple but let me explain.  The 1981 Maico 490 is hailed as the best MX bike ever and to this day other bikes are measured against it and it in itself has gone into legend.  However, do you think any modern bike being produced could ever raise that level of excitement again?

I.E. in 20 years from now would anyone belike OMG, I WANT A 2010 YZ450F!  I want that year only it was the best year, no other bike can beat it!  Yamaha sold more 2010 YZ450F that year than Star Bucks sold cups of Coffee!!  A YZ450F 2010 in 2030 sells for $50k!  You get the picture, can even be a 2 stroke, I'm just using the YZF450F because Yamaha is making such a big deal about it being even more retarded than before.

Anyhow, what are your thoughts, think a manufacturer will ever produce a bike with such lure as the 1981 Maico 490 or are they all just equal cups of coffee these days and forever more. 

[Paul P]

I doubt that will happen. The 81 is the most copied of any bike. Honda bought a lot of factory inventories in the early to mid 80's, I heard from a reliable source that some of Maico's inventory went, along with Bultaco and Montesa, to one or more of the big 4. Ever wonder why Honda's started handling more like Maico's in the early 80's? I had 84 and 89 CR 250's, measuring all points like footpeg, axle, crank center, ect, all measuring points were very close to my 81 Maico.
   Also, they no longer name any motorcycles after the rider as a replica, like AW, Pomeroy, VR, Mikkola, ect. There was a certain 'class' with owning one of those. My 400 AW is still so much fun to ride, and that nice smooth power! Aside from jumping, they still handle as well as anything. I know, most of the tracks now are just one jump after another, and that's why most tracks nowadays just plain suck.
   My answer would be No, I doubt there is a bike made in the last 25 years that will be reffered to as a classic. The new 4T's especially, most of those will be just melted down for future beer cans.
           Paul

[SachsGS]

It's simple,the 1981 Maico was designed and built by madmen. Let me explain. The Engineer who oversaw the production of the 1955 Mercedes Benz 300SL (Gullwing) was also a successful racecar driver who was still winning in his late 60's. Ettore Bugatti was an impassioned industrial designer and was quite literally insane. Need I mention Mr.Ferrari?

If you put your heart and soul into something sometimes the outcome is truly magical. I think if you are on the same "wavelenght" as the designers sometimes you can tune into these passions and in the offroad world few motorcycles demonstrate this better then the MC490.

In the recent British Two Stroke Nationals there is a photo of an 81 490 about to blow by a Service Honda.29 years old and Maico is still delivering knock out punches.

[TMKIWI]

You forgot Colin Chapman. Lotus
He had a briliant mind but was not a very good engineer.
He would draw designs on napkins and then tell his engineers to make it work.
He was responsible for most new F1 designs in the 60's & 70's
Monocoque chassis / ground effect car.

Another was John Britten.
He put his brilliant design into reallity.

Another mad man will come along.

[SachsGS]

Professor Taglioni (Ducati), Henry Lyon (Jaguar) and guy from N.Z. who built a racing Indian are a few more impassioned minds who never compromised.

[JETZcorp]

The name that comes to mind for me is Preston Tucker.

As for bikes with lasting fame, I think the YZ400F might genuinely be remembered for the influence it had.  Say what you want about four-strokes and performance and rules and all that, but you can't deny that this bike was a gigantic turning-point in motocross history.  I think, for that reason, it may be a popular museum piece.  But of course, it'll never have the kind of reputation the 490 has, I don't think.

[ford832]

Britten,now there was as designer/engineer/enthusiast/brainiac etc.It's a crying shame that ended the way it did.Given the progress and deviation from conventional thinking,it's hard to say where that bike may have ended up.We may not see the likes of him for a long time to come.I was never fortunate enough to see it in person,but even to see/hear Stroud going on it on TV was something else

[SachsGS]

The initial testing for the Britten V-twin was done at Westwood racetrack (now defunct) in Coquitlam, British Columbia. My family still owns property in this area and there are trails leading directly from my family home to what was the track.

In the springtime the access road to Westwood was often blocked with snow but the track itself was clear and neighbourhood kids and myself would stage races here.

[JETZcorp]

SachsGS, do you have a connection with every single person who ever touched a motorcycle?  It seems at times like you must've spent your entire life just flying thither and yon to shake hands with all the big (and little) names in the industry.  How are any of us supposed to compete with that?

[ford832]

The initial testing for the Britten V-twin was done at Westwood racetrack (now defunct) in Coquitlam, British Columbia. My family still owns property in this area and there are trails leading directly from my family home to what was the track.

In the springtime the access road to Westwood was often blocked with snow but the track itself was clear and neighbourhood kids and myself would stage races here.

Cool.If you'd been thinking you would have stashed one of the original prototypes nearby-maybe along with the one AVRO Arrow that got away.Now that would be the start of a sweet collection

[SachsGS]

I guess I've led a sort of Forest Gump'ish life. I don't know why events in my life have unfolded as they have. The strange thing is I have many more stories to tell, like the time I ran over the star of "On Any Sunday" (with a Maico 500 - he was laughing) or a kid I helped who went on to win the AMA 600 Supersport crown. One of my riding buddies raced against the founder of Pro Circuit and knows him fairly well, it's a small world out there. I still remember the sound of the Britten echoing thru the hills.

[TMKIWI]

John Britten was a truely insperational man.
He nearly pulled the pin on the whole project when the front end broke on one of the first tests.
Such a waste he died so young. :'(


http://www.fasterandfaster.net/2008/01/britten-v1000-greatest-motorcycle-ever.html

Watch the last bit on the video below.
Thats one of the best bit of motosport gamesmanship i have ever seen.
Imagine what was going through the heads of the Ducati factory when they saw that Stroud was just playing with them.

John Britten watches his bike go

Below is a link to the full doco done here in 93 for those that may be interested.

http://www.nzonscreen.com/title/britten-backyard-visionary-1993

[JETZcorp]

I love how at the end of the documentary, when they have the newspaper headlines going, one of them reads, "... the most powerful four-stroke in the world..."

The implication, of course, is that even this crazy thing would've had a very difficult time indeed with keeping a two-stroke in sight.

[TMKIWI]

The point being made was it was the closest to a 500GP bike that Alan Cathcart had ever riden.
I know its not a 2 stroke but i think the point of the thread was about guys that thought outside the square.
You have read the experimental motorcycle association jetz. There is plenty of scope to build bikes that do not conform to the norm.

BTW: i have always thought that the Britten with a 500GP engine in it would have been THE fastest BIKE in the world.
We will never know how the bike could have evolved with Johns untimely death

[ford832]

Thanks for the links TMKIWI
Yeah,2t/4t has nothing to do with the Britten.You need to remember jetz that in those days,the 2t was king so for Britten to accomplish what he did would be similar to the reverse today.Aside from that,the engine was only one part of Britten's design.Read up on the rest of the bike and think of it as compared to what was around at that time(or even nowadays for that matter) and you'll start to appreciate how truly forward thinking and ahead of his time he was.I read an article one time(Kevin Cameron I believe?)on the detailed tech aspects of the bike as related by Britten.Very shortly into it I had what would likely be a similar feeling to sitting down for a chat with Stephen Hawking.