| June 2, 2024
Cycle News Archives
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The motorcycle brand that could but didn’t
By Kent Taylor
When motocross’ dinosaurs roamed the Earth, the Maico brand was like the Tyrannosaurus Rex, a behemoth whose thunderous gallop cast fear into the hearts of the competition. The German machines were beautiful, well-crafted motorcycles and their unique features, like their sculpted, coffin-style aluminum fuel tanks and leading-axle front forks, helped them to stand out among the rest of the plant-eating two-wheeled moto-sapiens.
The list of riders who competed on them might as well just be a list of some of the greatest motocross riders of all time. In Grands Prix competition, Ake Jonsson, Adolf Weil, Gerrit Wolsink, Graham Noyce, Willy Bauer and Neil Hudson all won major races riding Maicos.
Thus, it may be hard to believe that, when it is time to play motocross trivia and the question is: “Name a major MX brand that has never won a World Motocross Championship,” the correct response is “Maico.”
Denny Swartz and Steve Stackable gave Maico a couple of AMA National MX race wins, but never an outdoor AMA MX Championship or World Championship. Stackable did, however, win the short-lived 500cc Supercross title in 1975 on a Maico.
Bultaco, Montesa and AJS would also be the right answers, but those are Archives’ features for another day! But, Maico!?
The aforementioned list of European riders did help Maico to nab their only U.S. Championships, with both of those coming in the early 1970s. The Trans-AMA Series was won by Ake Jonsson in dominating fashion in 1972, and when Jonsson was lured away to Yamaha the following season, his former teammate Adolf Weil kept the Trans-AMA title in-house for 1973.
Throughout the 1970s, however, the AMA’s coveted 125, 250 and 500cc crowns belonged mostly to Japanese manufacturers. There was one title for Can-Am, and a couple of others were snagged by Husqvarna, but it was clear that the big guns from the Land of the Rising Sun owned American MX.
Maico’s failure to win more races in America was certainly no fault of its riders. Talented riders like Steve Stackable, Gaylon Mosier, Darrel Shultz, Danny Chandler and others were some of the top riders of the ’70s and ’80s and capable of winning on any given day. Yet, surprisingly, only twice would a Maico rider stand atop the victory podium at an AMA National. Their first victory came at the Lake Whitney 500cc National in 1977. Their second and final win took place at RedBud in 1980, when little-known Ohio rider Denny Swartz topped the field.
The battle for the 1980 500cc National Championship was a mixed bag, with several up -and- coming riders aiming to send established stars into the history books. There were no fewer than four former champions in the class that day at RedBud. Jim Weinert, Marty Smith, Danny LaPorte and Rick Burgett were all still capable of running up front, but the current points leader was Team Honda’s Chuck Sun, who had been recently signed away from Husqvarna.
A bright, sunny day of motocross took a dramatic turn, when a surly Mother Nature brought forth a series of thunder squalls. Rain came down in sheets on promoter Gene Ritchie’s RedBud track as temperatures dropped into the low 50s and the course turned into what Cycle News described as “the wettest, muddiest and sloppiest MX of the season.”
Mud is one of the more divisive subjects in the world of motocross racing. Like 1970’s disco music, you either love it or you hate it. Most riders seem to fall into the latter group. Who can find enjoyment while riding in goop that is somehow both sticky and slippery, feet flailing about as the motorcycle adds about 10 pounds of unsprung weight every lap? Deep ruts make for single-line race tracks. Riders clinging to slimy grips are struggling to see through caked- up goggles as their motorcycles suck mud into airboxes. Every nook and cranny, including finned cylinders and frame tubes, become nesting places for the goo.
There are riders who were known as “mudders.” 1978 500cc champ Rick Burgett was one of them. “The Lumberjack” hailed from the Pacific Northwest, where racing motocross often meant racing in sloppy conditions. Burgett would put his reputation to the test this day and scored an easy second-moto victory. Unfortunately, his first moto ride had come to an end on the opening lap when his works Yamaha threw a chain.
That first moto and eventually the overall win belonged to Team Maico rider Denny Swartz. The Ohio rider led most of the way, with Kawasaki rider Goat Breker challenging. Breker even took the lead at one point but would bail off soon after, putting Swartz and his Maico back in the lead. Suzuki’s Marty Smith took second over Sun and Team LOP’s Marty Moates, who was soon to make history as the first-ever American rider to win the 500cc USGP at Carlsbad.
Swartz could only net a fourth place in moto two, but his 1-4 placings were good enough to give him his only, and Maico’s final, overall win in an AMA Pro Motocross National.
There were three other Maicos in the top 20 results that day. Steve Stackable, who had just returned to the brand for the third time in his career, posted 11-13 finishes for 13th overall.
The company would be no more within just a few years. Today, one must visit either a vintage motocross race or a museum to lay eyes on one of the most amazing race machines ever built. If it were a book, the Maico would be a coffee table tome, with its sleek lines and simple yet elegant German craftsmanship on display. The story—why didn’t it win more races or at least a World Championship? That would be a mystery.CN
