speaking of up close and personal

Only real men could handle this beast

Sweet

Gassin Gaylon, looks like Plymouth, what do you think Bobby?

'71 or '72 Maico 501 it appears; remember 'em yellow, not blue though. Sweet.

The Maico 490 will forever be rememberd as one of the best MX bikes ever. Still, someone improved this one by adding a disc brake.

Which would be adding a brake period

Maico?

Breaks?

I thought you jus' backed it in like Magoo and Pinned it!?

I remember how well those things TURNED!

Tibor Papp

That thing is so beast, the owner is afraid to put a chain on it.

The very first batch of 501's ( '71 model , I believe) were the only ones that were really strong runners. The following years Maico had detuned them so much that they were a turd.

They do bring good money though in the vintage crowd,along with any 125 Maico.

that is a great picture BobbyM. Guy is hauling some ass.

As we speak me and my uncle are restoring two 76s and two more in the barn to go,Will post pics when done!

As we speak me and my uncle are restoring two 76s and two more in the barn to go,Will post pics when done!

Anyone remember the full page color photo in Dirt Bike sometime back in 1975-1977 where a Maico is shown completely wasting a huge berm? Bike and rider are nearly upright and the rider has both feet on the pegs full throttle. Was somebody like Gunnar Lindstrom. Similar to above except the rider is going the other direction and just exiting / wasting a deep loamy bowl type berm and a the front wheel is about 2 feet higher off the ground. Forever burned in my memory! Just spent an hour trying to find it on Google with no luck.

Bobby that is my brother from another mother Prillernut on his 74 400. But I did put a fair amount of time on it and was even lucky enough to race it at Burnt Hickory (Can I have an Amen Brother). Yes I remember the power and if these kids today were able to ride one they would realize that the sweetest 450 4 stroke only mimicks the power delivery of those primary chain driven machines of the 70's.
I also have a vivid memory of the first time I rode that bike. The first lap and a half was awful. It vibrated like a jack hammer and the front end felt like it was 3 feet lower than the rear. Then I overcooked it into a sandy corner and in desperation I stuck the front Metzler into a small groove which was all that fine Teutonic piece of engineering needed to rocket out of the corner. The next turn was a hard packed sun baked red Georgia clay corner that would give a sprint car driver wood and the Maico tracked around it with the rear end drifting like Jay Springsteen's XR750 at San Jose.
All you had to do to go fast on those bikes was commit and she would not let you down. Put a few hours on a 79 440 Magnum and it was exactly the same. No one else has ever built a bike that you and I could buy for a reasonable amount of money that performed that well.
One other note Bob, Prillernut still has that Maico with the original tank and fenders and is restoring it now.

heres mine. if you think the disc brake one was weird look at my fork.

Definitely Mosier and Plymouth, Hangtown!! Back in the good "ol Days!!

Yota, you don't understand how much I admire your taste in machinery. Nice collection!

Never thought a picture of me would be considered "Vintage" but here is a picture of me racing early 80's at Saddleback. Sorry for the poor quality as I made it from a scan.

Wheelsmith sure was the sh!t back then...