Maico Enduro 500

The first thing that you will notice when you see the Maico in person is how tall it is. The Maico has one of the tallest seat heights in all of the industry. You’ll also notice that the Maico has a steel frame. As you look over the bike, you will notice that everything is the grandest in size. The cylinder itself dwarfs that of a 250 two stroke. A friend once commented that the cylinder looks like something from “Sputnik”. It has a right side chain drive, and a left side kick.

You’ll also notice that Maico uses a linkage rear suspension. Maico uses a compression release for ease of starting. It is worth noting two simple things, it’s nearly impossible to start one of these bikes without the compression release. And that the compression release is not your dad’s compression release available in the 1960s and 1970s. The bike will start and run with the compression release pulled. It will not slow you down going downhill. The compressor release has one purpose and one purpose alone… to start the motorcycle.

The Maico is modern in every respect. It is liquid cooled, reed valved, and has an exhaust valve. There are two versions available, motocross and enduro. Since I’ve always ridden motocross bikes in the woods and that is 99.9% of what I ride, I wanted the motocross version. I had no choice, and bought the enduro version I found. There are only a few differences between the two versions.

The MX version has the internal rotor PVL ignition, while the enduro has the external rotor SEM ignition. The MX version comes with a TMX Mikuni flat slide carburetor; the enduro has a round slide Bing. A 19 inch rear wheel is standard for the motocross; the enduro has an 18 inch rear wheel. Those are the only differences between the two versions. Transmission and secondary gearing is the same for both models. The exhaust pipes are the same one both models.

One complaint I read about online was from someone who has actually seen a Maico, but didn’t ride it, or even work on it for that matter. His complaint was that the swing arm was “old school” and was very heavy. I will admit, the swing arm looks heavy, but in fact is incredibly light. In fact, I have had issues with cracks in the swing arm where a round brace goes from side to side, near the shock linkage mount. It appears that the brace was cut short and they filled the gap with weld. This is where the crack occurs. I have repaired mine once and it has not failed again. If it does, I will fabricate a new brace that won’t fail.