I first saw one of the Rage Maicos on display at an open house at Bill Ramseys Motorcycle Accessory Shop (MAS in Mesa, Arizona).There was a small crowd gathered around the 1981 490 Maico and most of the people just shook their heads and jaws hung wide open. The bike was staggeringly beautiful and the attention to detail was incredible. Later on, I had a chance to talk with Lynn Shoup, owner of Rage Racing (www.rageracing.com 602-957-7150 or 602-470-2761) and asked him about the Maicos that he built. He scratched his head a bit, then said: I want to make the bikes perfect. Better than stock. I made a mental note to find out more these Maicos. A month or so later, I headed out to an AHRMA Vintage event and saw a Maico that Rage had prepped for the track owner, Bobby White. As per usual Rage practice, the bike was literally perfect in every detail.
The chassis was an early '79 model and the Maico factory intelligently used up their 1978 model frames by modifying them into a new '79 configuration. Theses mods included: removing the old style foot pegs and fitting them with a new style and adding a rear fender loop by welding a smaller diameter tube into the larger 78 seat rails. This frame retained the 1978 side panels and lower rear motor mounts till they were gone. The 1979 frame came with a continuous small diameter seat rail to fender loop, new style side panels and elimination of the lower rear motor mounts. Everything on this bike was rebuilt or replaced.The chassis was gusseted, the lower side panel brackets removed and powder painted the whole works. The donated tank was prepped and squirted with a color matched enamel paint. Next, Rage installed 1981 and up Maico 42mm forks. This modification really helps the front end steering stiffness, because the 38mm forks were at end of life on their tube length. Maico had been increasing the travel on the 38mm forkssince 1975, while loosing overlapping year after year. This created a fair amount of flex by the time they got to be at 11 of travel. Converting to the 42mm forks required three major modifications: one inch shorter steering tube, shortened tubes and shortened damper rods. Finally, the forks were assembled with anodized sliders, .48kg springs and Bel Ray fork oil. On the rear end, Ohlin'sbuilt some sweet Piggy Back shocks, which were rider tuned bySRD Suspension.These shocks were so dialed in that no further adjustments had to be made to assure a flawless ride. When building the wheels, the hubs were machined, stainless spokes polished and the Akront Rims re-anodized, then the whole works was assembled and tensioned industriously. The motor, beneficially, was a low hour 250 motor; the crank was set up with a new rod and the KK ported cylinder was bored.All the standard parts were rebuilt or replaced; bearings, seals, primary chains, clutch springs and gaskets. In addition, the cases were acid-etched so they looked as if they just came out of the Maico factory. Then the motor was topped it offwith a 38mm Mikuni carburetor, a folding shifter, billet ignition cover and a case saver. PARTS LIST Labor - $2,000 Click on any picture to see a larger image - rate it, share your comments!
1981 MAICO 490A close look at one of the 490s that Rage built shows the same care and detailing that typifies his bikes.Even though the bikes retain the older look, theres a quality feel that takes your breath away. If you decide to have Rage build your Maico, don't look for an ultra-quick turnaround - Lynn won't be rushed. Good things take time.
An '81 490 Maico loaded with all the good stuff. Follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/OffRoadDotCom
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