The Ultimate Maico Vintage Bike Guide

Nov. 18, 2013 By Rick Sieman

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The 1968 360 is what I would consider the first genuinely serious Maico ever produced. A rider in my club bought one and immediately went from a slow racer to one who left me in the dust. Yes, there were a number of Maicos made before this, but 1968 was an important year for an important bike.

If you have been thinking about getting one of the many vintage Maico motorcycles out there, then you realize that there is a great deal of confusion as to what exactly is what. I have prepared this guide to eliminate any confusion and to make things crystal clear.

1969 had the MC 250 introduced to the racing public. It was the traditional square-barrel Maico and was a great handling, fairly quick bike. Certainly not the fastest one available, it gave handling and turning a new meaning.

MAICO CODE DEFINITIONS
These are the initial markings that you can find somewhere on the motorcycles, and these markings actually tell you a great deal.

MC … Motocross

GP … Grand Prix (1974.5 year)

NG … New Generation (1975 and 1975 ½)

Magnum … 1978 new motor design … Motocross 1976/77

Magnum E … Enduro model

M1 … 1980 Mega

Mega 2 … Motocross Model

Mega E … Enduro Model

SC … Supercross (1984)

LC … Liquid Cooled

The 1970 400cc version proved to be a devastating bike. While the 250 was mellow, the 400 was a proverbial rocket. I bought a 1971 version of this very same bike and went from a middle-of-the-pack racer to actually winning a few races. The bike turned like a demon, had tons of horsepower and tracked straight and true.

As you can see, these code definitions just give you a general idea of which model it is, and quite naturally, you don’t see any liquid-cooled motorcycles until the Maico became the M-Star. Below are some engine code numbers and these letters usually precede the serial numbers. This tells you a whole lot more about the bike, including information about the actual type of transmission.

ENGINE CODE DEFINITIONS
T … Close ratio transmission (square barrel motor)

S … Wide ratio transmission (square barrel motor)

U … Close ratio transmission (radial motor)

K … Wide ratio transmission (radial motor)

M … Close ratio transmission

R … 400 and 440 close ratio transmission

G … 400 and 440 wide ratio transmission

MT … Counter shaft moves back on motor, close to swingarm pivot (250 MX started in 1978)

RT … Counter shaft moved back on open class motors (400, 440, 490 cc MX)

GT … Counter shaft moved back on Enduro models

The first radial came out in 1972 and the 400 became the bike of choice for anyone who wanted to go fast. You could go down to Carlsbad or Saddleback Park, and the starting line would be filled with Maico radials. And most of the races were won with those bikes.

THE HARD NUMBERS
Now, let’s get to the good stuff, such as the actual year, model, chassis and motor numbers.

YEAR MODEL CHASSIS MOTOR

1968 MC 250 380 000 S or T 272 000

1968 MC 360 380 000

1969 MC 250 380 000 S or T 273 000

1969 MC 360 380 000

1970 MC 250 381 000 S or T 274 000

1970 MC 400 381 000 S or T 400 000

1971 MC 250 382 000 S or T 275 000

1971 MC 400 382 000 S or T 402 000

1971 MC501 501 000 S or T 501 000

1972 Sq. Bar. MC 250 387 000 S or T 276 000

1972 Sq. Bar. MC 400 387 000 S or T 403 000

1972 Radial MC 400 387 000 K or U 403 000

1973 MC 250 390 000 K or U 275 000

1973 MC 400 390 000 K or U 405 000

1973 MC 501 501 000 K or U 501 000

1974 MC 250/4 391 000 K or U 278 000

1974 MC 400/4 391 000 K or U 407 000

1974 MC440/4 391 000 K or U 441 000

1974.5 Around serial # 393 500 Became GPs

1974.5 MC 250/4 393 500 K or U 278 000

1974.5 MC 400/4 393 500 K or U 407 000

1974.5 MC 440/4 393 500 K or U 441 000

1975 MC 250/5 321 0000 M 321 0000

1975 MC 400/4 321 0000 U 407 000

1975 MC 440/4 321 0000 U 441 000

1975.5 MC 400/5 323 0000 R 323 0000

1975.5 MC 440/5 324 0000 R 324 0000

1976 MC 250/5 AW 326 0000 M 321 0000

1976 MC 400/5 AW 327 0000 R 323 0000

1976 MC 440/5 AW 328 0000 R 324 0000

1977 MC 250/5 330 0000 M 321 0000

1977 MC 400/5 AW 330 0000 R 323 0000

1977 MC 440/5 AW 330 0000 R324 0000

1978 Ma. MC 250/T 336 0000 MT 336 0000

1978 Mag. MC 400/T T 337 0000 RT 337 0000

1978 Mag. MC/440/T 338 0000 RT 338 0000

1979 Mag. 2 MC 125/T 340 000 340 000/83

1979 M. 2 MC 250/T 341 0000 MT 336 0000

1979 M. 2 MC 400/T 341 0000 RT 337 0000

1979 M. 2 MC 440/T 341 0000 RT 338 0000

1979 Mag. E GS 250 241 0000 GT 236 0000

1979 M.E GS 400 242 0000 GT 237 0000

1979 M.E GS 440 243 0000 GT 238 0000

In 1973, the 501 continue to be sought after by a number of relatively crazy people. I was one of them. I know it didn’t make much sense owning one and I could turn better lap times on 400, but there was just something about 501 cubic centimeters.

In 1974, they had the last of the conventional rear suspension Maico’s ever built. Everyone else was coming out with some sort of a long-travel rear end and Maico was no exception. So people who bought the ordinary rear end in 1974 came to regret it.

In 1974 ½, they came out with the shocks that move forward on the swingarm and coughed up a whole lot more travel. At this point, a lot of shops around the world started modifying the older Maicos into the new longer traveling bikes. How good were the new 1974 ½ machines? Good enough to just about dominate all racing.

In 1976, the five-speed gearboxes with one year behind them were proving to be reliable. The hot bike to have at that time was the 400 AW five-speed.

In 1978, they brought out the Magnum 400 and it turned out to be another great step forward.

Maico continued to improve dramatically. The 1979 Magnum 2 440 had great power from the bottom of the rpm range to the very top. You could race most tracks in two gears once you got past the start.

During this time frame, Maico concentrated more on motocross bikes than anything else. Still, they continue to produce a number of enduro machines, like this 1979 GS 250.