perryyo

Hello,

I'm new to this forum and was looking for information on a Maico road bicycle (10 speed). My google searches have turned up nothing. I am curious where they were built and if they are quality bicycles..
thank you
perry

dddd

Maico was the name of a West German manufacturer of considerable esteem in the motorcycle racing world, and produced good numbers of utilitarian motorcycles as well, so may have also had moped and/or bicycle production facilities.

merziac

+1, considerable esteem is an understatement to say the least, no finer example of brute force ever existed imho. Somewhere in the mid 70's a neighbor of a good friend had a brand new 501, lit it up and proceeded to do a burnoff on the asphalt street, it left a trench in the asphalt through three gears, never seen that before or since on or off the dragstrip for 4 decades. One of the coolest things I have ever seen.

Heavy, overpowered, very ill handling and absolutely deadly in the right hands.

I did some research a few years ago when I bought a Maico fender emblem from Rivelo bike shop when they opened, it was for a bicycle but also came on mopeds as I recall, didn't save search or pics.

merziac

Hi Perry, welcome aboard, glad you found us.

Go around, say "Hi" and or comment to get your post count up to 10, then take and post pics, good ones and plenty of them, we need em to help you and as we say "pics or it didn't happen"

Look up Maico motorcycles and dig in, you shold be able to find something that way, until the last few years I didn't know they made bicycles, although I should have since its a no brainer as most motorcycle companies started out with bicycles.

Another fun fact, Holley carburetors started out as a motorcycle company when they were essentially bicycles with motors bolted on although the Holley's were more like modern motorcycles with the engine being a stressed member and the crankshaft right where the bottom bracket would be.

MarcoBianchi

Welcome!
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maico

MarcoBianchi

MAICO-MANNESMANN - Unternehmerdynastie Maisch

cb400bill

Welcome. I didn't know that MAICO made bicycles.

thinktubes 

Adolf Weil!

rando_couche

Forget the 2-wheelers, I want a Maico car!

qcpmsame 

Also made audiometers for hearing testing as well.

I havet a 1973, MC400 Radial Head Maico siting in the garage right now, just have to put it together.

Bill

gbi

I wonder if Maico ever made a road bicycle with a subtly shaped coffin top tube, that would be nice!

qcpmsame 

Doubt that one, but I happen to have one of the coffin tanks for my garage queen basket case. Un-molested and un-used, just need petcocks and to mount it properly. Trying to decide whether to leave the frame in the stock rear configuration, or do the old school LTS rear shock modifications to the upper mounts and the swing arm. I have a good, experienced welder/fabricator to do the delicate stuff. I did the modification to a '71 400 square barrel frame, back in 1975. It worked out really nice with a Fox Air Forx kit installed up front.

Bill

unworthy1

and all this time I thought Maico was another SPANISH MX company (like Bultaco)! We live and learn...
The Maico auto is around the same era as the little-known BMW 700, and looks like a cross between the Bimmer and a Karmann Ghia (at least to me) photo attribution: By Janderk1968 - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=7651470

gbi

Yes, I doubt it too. Wishful thinking.
Sounds like you have the perfect starting off point with the coffin tank!

qcpmsame 

Maico takes its name from the Maisch family that founded the company. Family squabbling about management of the firm is what killed it off, its one of dirt biking's more scandalous stories of the late 70s and early to mid 80s. You can still purchase a new Maico dirt bike, they use odd displacements for their models, and their larger motors are sought after for motocross sidehacks (sidecars in the dirt) sold as Zabel. Its a monster two-stroke single, last I saw was a 720cc displacement. The name and rights have passed along to other firms, but its still a somewhat quirky and unique brand. Probably what drew me to them when I got into motocross and hare scrambles in the early 70s.

Maico made two 720 single dirt bikes in the late 70s, into the early 80s, Rick Siemens, the original Super Hunky/editor of Dirt Bike Magazine back when it was a really great read, rode one in an off road event. Said that it had more torque than anything he had ever ridden, the huge single piston was a Mahle Porsche item. An American manufacturer offered the motor in one of their frames up until the mid-2000s, ATK Motorcycles, not sure if they exist any longer though.

Bill

Hudson308 

Well, since we've ridden so far off topic, I might as well contribute to the confusion.
My Dad had a Maico 250 Scrambler in the mid-late 50's that he regretting selling, anytime the subject come up. He loved to brag about the chrome tank.
Sorry for the poor pics... they're from my Grandpa's slide collection.

First pic is Grandpa trying out the son-in-law's new scooter...



Second shot is my dad giving a ride to one of my aunts. Note that this is in the winter, with my uncles looking on with envy.

dddd

Priceless, from when motorcycles were motorcycles!

And oh, that car!