Dissected: The Frankenstein Maico

Many classic old dirt bikes evoke a torrent of nostalgia, and none more so than Maico’s infamous 1981 twin-shock 490 Mega 2. Aussie off-road icon, Geoff Ballard, has had a long and well-documented love affair with this East German mistress, and he’s raced them all around the world. In fact, so infectious is GB’s affection for the 1981 490 that a bunch of his mates have caught the Maico bug. Some have managed to find themselves a specimen in decent nick. Others, not so much.

Case in point: Vivien Jacobs, a French moto nut who’s been living in Australia for several years now, much of the time at Ballard’s farm in the NSW Blue Mountains. Viv’s regular ride is a beautifully fettled CR500, but “Frenchie” has clearly embraced the old German two-stroke, what it stands for, and the otherworldly experience it evidently gives him.

Viv’s Maico, however, wasn’t exactly ready to race when he bought the thing. As he explains in this video, his 490 is the product of a 12-month rebuild project that combines a Maico frame and engine with a Suzuki front-end, KTM swingarm, Husky brakes, Yamaha exhaust, Honda wheels, and a whole lot more bush mechanic wizardry. Say hello to the Frankenstein Maico…

This classic insight into Viv’s Maico reminded us of a fascinating comparo we did between the 1981 Maico 490GS and 2011 Yamaha’s WR450F – two iconic machines of their time, separated by three decades – in the May 2011 issue (#8) of Transmoto magazine. So here’s that memorable feature article again…