Maico M1 250
The M1, Different Even For a Maico, Corners So Well It's Almost Like Cheating
MAICO M1 250
CYCLE WORLD TEST
Maico is a small company, as motorcycle makers go, with a big problem: Ever since the appearance of long travel suspension and leading axle forks. Maicos have been the standard by which other motocrossers are compared. Maicos are the bikes the bigger firms buy when they wonder how good their new models really are.
Flattering, but also a problem, as Maico knows that everything they do will be tested and compared and when it works, it will quickly appear on rival machines. What Maico does to combat this is simply to make better machines, to change and improve first and then keep on improving.
For 1980, Maico does it again. Enduro models aren’t changed but the new motocrossers are different from past Maicos. in fact they are different from past anythings. The motocrossers, called Mis, get forks with giant stanchion tubes and new frames designed for added strength, extra suspension travel and low seat height.
Most modern forks are derived from designs intended for substantially less travel. As demand for more travel was voiced, the manufacturers responded by reducing engagement (the amount of overlap between the stanchion tube and lower leg at full extension), to achieve the extra travel. Naturally, the bikes got higher and the decreased fork engagement meant less steady front ends. Some manufacturers countered by increasing the length of the slider below the axle. This approach has been the accepted method for a couple of years. Maico’s 38mm forks had good engagement designed into them all along, so they didn’t have to play the game until more than 11 in. of travel was deemed necessary.
For 1980 Maico has designed all-new units with giant 42mm stanchion tubes. Travel is 12.2 in. and engagement an almost unbelievable 8.5 in. The engagement is achieved by making the fork leg longer at the top—not the bottom. By extending the top. the lower leg doesn’t drag in berms. Normal clamps would prohibit such a design, as the front of the bike would sit too far off the ground. Maico solved that little problem by stepping the lower clamp enough to clear the sliders. The top clamp has rubber mounted handlebar pedestals and naturally, both clamps are made from aluminum. The new clamps place the stanchion tubes farther apart than before and hardenèd allen head screws securely clamp the tubes in place. The top of the stanchion tube is held in place with a snap ring and the tubes fit > flush with the top of the top clamp. Maico doesn’t allow for height adjustments, that is. moving the stanchion tubes up or down in the clamps. And none of our test riders thought the geometry needed fooling with.
Changing fork oil requires fork removal because drain screws aren’t provided. But don’t bother until three bottles of oil are on hand—each leg holds 570cc (19.27 oz.) of oil.
The Ml’s frame is as futuristic as the forks. Maico calls the design Megaform. The backbone is chrome-moly steel, constructed from two stampings, then welded top and bottom. Additionally, three square holes spaced through the center of the form lighten the piece and add strength, much like arches or doors strengthen a wall. The front of the backbone sits rather high, then drops steeply to a point above the carburetor where the seat rails and subframe tubes connect. The large steering head is set at 28°. two degrees steeper than last year. Double front downtubes are still used and both wrap around the steering head to add strength. The downtubes wrap under the engine then curve up. terminating at the rear of the formed backbone. The top shock mount is supported by another tube that intersects the end of the seat rail and the top curve of the engine cradle tube. Thus triangulation is formed under the seat with about half the tubing required on last year’s frame. The rear part of this triangle is filled with gusseting to add strength and prevent bending when crashed. The exposed rear frame loop is replaced by a flat strap that solidly mounts the rear fender while hiding under the seat.
The departure from an all-tube frame is an attempt at distributing the tremendous stresses a motocross frame is subjected to. The built-up backbone is claimed to do just that. Instead of applying force into one large backbone and trying to keep it all together with gusseting and triangulated smaller tubing, Maico has designed the Megaform backbone, which spreads loads through the structure without overloading one spot.
The swing arm is mounted to a frame gusset at the lower rear of the frame and as before, the bolt serves as the rear engine mount. The curved chrome-moly swing arm is unchanged except for the axle adjusters. The adjusters have double nuts, one on each side of a frame bracket, that eliminate the need for a hammer to adjust the rear wheel. By loosening one nut and tightening the other, the axle can be moved fore and aft easily.
Corte and Cosso remote reservoir shocks are still standard. They mount in a more laid down position and have slightly stiffer springs to cope with the extra leverage. The reservoirs are mounted with steel brackets and rubber bands.
The Ml has the best airbox we’ve seen. It’s a large plastic unit that carries a big foam filter, has a completely open top. a
one-way water drain, and a straight air intake boot. Forget about trying to hold the filter in place, the filter on the Ml is removed by simply squeezing a wire retainer. The system is similar to Husqvama's but the retainer on the Maico isn’t hinged. Instead, it is completely removed after being squeezed. Replacing a clean filter is very easy; place the oiled and greased filter into the airbox, insert the wire retainer into the lower rear of the airbox and squeeze the top into the brackets. The procedure requires the removal of the seat, but still takes less time to
do than to describe. Makes us wonder why it took so long for someone to develop such an efficient, yet simple system. Let’s hope the rest of the bike manufacturers copy it.
Outwardly both wheels look like copies from ’79. The shape is unchanged, but the material is now aluminum instead of magnesium. The change to aluminum makes them slightly heavier but stronger. Gold colored Akront rims are laced to the hubs via good quality spokes and Metzeler tires are standard. The front backing plate has finally been moved to the left side. The reason for the switch serves only one purThe biggest change to the 250 Maico engine is the carburetor. A huge 40mm Bing feeds the fuel into a loop port, nonreed cylinder. The cylinder is heavily finned aluminum with a steel bore surface that can be rebored six times. The transmission furnishes five perfectly spaced gears and primary kick starting. Primary drive is still double row chain and cupped washers are still used for clutch springs.
pose; the brake cable doesn’t have to make such a tight bend. Not a major change, just one that has been needed for too long.
Maico uses a plate instead of a drum to
move the three transmission shift forks. The plate does the same job but takes up less space and weighs less than a drum. The linkage between the folding shift lever and plate has been changed to a hooked ratchet type that makes Maico’s famous shifting even better. -
Engine cases are compact and the swing arm bolt doubles as the rear engine mounting bolt. The cases mount at two points at the front and a head stay is used to add strength and reduce vibration. The small cases have thick wall castings and steel bushings are installed in the case’s
mounting holes to prevent elongation from a loose mounting bolt or years of use.
The high snake pipe is also new for ’80. It loops around on the right side of the bike, ending in a repackable silencer. The center cones are much larger than those on the Maico 450 and protrude from under the tank about 1.5 in. It is nicely formed and has excellent mounting brackets but should be tucked in better.
Our test bike was the first 250 in the country and had been held up waiting for a pipe, so later models may not have this problem. >
All the plastic parts on the Ml are new. The fenders are wide, strong and properly shaped. The front fender has louvers in the rear part to let air pass through, helping cool the engine on hot days. We have been laughing at the same design on Yamaha’s MX 175 for a couple years, now here it is on a serious motorcycle. Yamaha gets the last laugh this time.
The side panels have been redesigned to avoid the heavy look the ’79 had. Even the fuel tank is plastic on the newest Maico. It is color impregnated and shaped much like a Suzuki RM tank. It holds 2.5 gal. of premix and attaches to the frame without bolts. The tank slides down and forward over four rubber covered pedestals on the frame backbone and the seat holds it in that position. The gas cap is also plastic and the filler hole is large.
Like past Maicos. the controls are first class. The hand levers are dog-leg Maguras. the throttle is a straight pull Magura. the bars are chrome-moly steel, the shift lever folds and the rear brake is rod operated. The rear isn’t a full floater but doesn’t chatter under the most severe conditions. The pedal is a little slippery due to a lack of a rough top. but that’s easily fixed by bending the outside edge up and filing teeth into it. Why doesn’t the factory do it for us?
Sitting on an M 1 will bring mixed reactions. The seat height is 36.9 in., low for a racer with over 12 in. of wheel travel. And the front of the bike is high, compared to the seat height. This was part of the design concept; furnish long travel, keep the seat height low. It feels much like Honda’s XR500, but more exaggerated. One test rider described it as feeling like a Big Wheel trike. Older dirt bikes used to feel much like the Ml. but longer and longer suspension travel and high pipe routing soon dictated the sit-on-top-of-a-sawhorse feel most motocrossers now have. The M 1 is also wider than the Magnum. The more radical shock placement has moved the top shock mount farther forward and increased the width enough to rub the rider’s legs. To keep seat height down with the long travel suspension meant building a shallower frame. Now that the bottom of the frame is higher, the pegs have been moved lower so the peg-to-seat relationship stays the same. The result feels strange to riders used to previous Maicos. These positions could be altered by raising the pegs and installing lower bars, but most riders adapted to the stock location after a few hours riding time.
Our first ride was disappointing. The bike started first kick but didn’t have the power most modern 250s have. It was rich on the low end so we tinkered with the jetting.
The pilot jet size was dropped drastically before the machine would run cleanly down low but power still seemed soft. Also, the front brake felt like someone had greased it and the forks would hydraulic lock (caused by slow movement of oil) when rain ruts were crossed.
Changing the fork oil from lOw to 5w cured the hydraulicing but the front brake and lack of horsepower wasn’t as easy. We decided to race the bike anyway, hoping the brake would seat and that we had misinterpreted the power output. A pro race at Corona Raceway proved the Maico slow, even slower than we had thought. We gave the distributors the sad news. They recommended we return the bike and let them check it over. Maico’s service manager rode the bike and said the carburetor didn’t seem right. He took a new carburetor off the shelf and replaced the original. It was exactly the same size (40 mm) and model but cured the lack of horsepower. The front brake hub was checked and found to be out of round, it was also replaced.
Next time out the bike was completely different. It had competitive power and brakes. We again entered the pro class at Corona. Two second places for the evening were good enough for first overall.
The Ml retains legendary Maico handling but doesn’t feel anything like the Magnums. The front wheel is easily lifted and sometimes comes up during hard acceleration. Straight line handling is steadier and it corners even better than before. The 42mm forks and 2° steeper rake angle make the steering feel power assisted. The heavy steering and front wheel handling trait have given way to a more balanced front and rear type control. Fork com-
pliance is extremely good and bottoming isn’t noticed. The super strong triple clamps and hefty forks provide almost telepathic steering precision.
Unfortunately, the rear shocks aren't as good as the rest of the package. Rebound damping is too heavy and they return slowly. They work fine in big rollers and off jumps but a series of tightly spaced bumps confuse them and they won’t react fast enough. They get better with use but no one will mistake them for Ohlins or Works.
Past Maicos have felt like an extension of the rider; so does the new one. Nothing flexes or fights back, the rider has control and the bike leans, turns, dodges, jumps or goes straight on command. It never acts like it has a mind of its own and falling in a corner is nearly impossible. Off camber corners are as easy as banked ones; the rider, not the bike, chooses the line. Forget about being stuck in the blue groove behind a lapped rider, just drive around him. Any line is a good line on an Ml.
MAICO M1 250
$2416
Jumps. Jumps have to be experienced to fully be believed. The bike stays straight, doesn’t try to dive, loop or turn. And the landings are like falling on a stack of foam rubber, only better because the bike doesn’t rebound back from the impact. When a tight turn follows a jump—you know the kind, it requires a front wheel landing to make at speed—the Maico Ml excells. The robust forks and solid frame don’t flex, making these maneuvers child’s play. The same applies to big rollers; the far side can be smashed into with the front wheel knowing the bike won’t twist itself into a tank slapper.
We found first and second gear starts were best with the 250. If the track is wet and prepped, first gear is best; if it is dry and slippery, second will do the job better. Power is strong and it will stay with CanAms and the new Yamaha YZ-G in the
straights. It’s about the same speed off the line but the Maico rider has an advantage due to the superb shifting. Forget about the clutch, it isn't needed. Just peg the throttle and upshift the lever. Shifts are rapid enough to sound like an automatic transmission to an observer. Horsepower is delivered smoothly and the power band is wide. The engine doesn’t vibrate and the five transmission gears are properly spaced for the engine’s torque curve.
A 1980 Maico M 1 250 retails for $2416. That makes it the highest priced 250cc motocrosser tested to date.
Is it worth the price? We think so. The Ml will instill confidence in a rider that is unobtainable on another make. It will settle the novice and sharpen the expert. And it won’t burden the rider with cornering techniques, all he’ll have to do is steer the bike through any line he chooses. Bl
