The Maico MD is one of the road motorcycles that Maico built in Pfäffingen near Tübingen. The firm is remembered today above all for motocross and enduro racing bikes, but it also made a full road range, and its fast touring models were named after winds.
Maico MD at a glance
| Maker | Maicowerk A.G., Pfäffingen, Germany |
|---|---|
| Type | road motorcycle |
| Road model names | after winds, such as Blizzard and Typhoon |
| Better known for | motocross (MC) and enduro (GS) racing models |
| Scooters | Maicoletta, built in larger numbers than the road bikes |
| Founded | 1926, by Ulrich Maisch |
| Family ownership | until 1987, through several companies |
| Brand today | still used for limited-production motorcycles |
Based on one source: the Maico company article. There is no Wikipedia article on the MD itself, so this page describes the road range it belongs to and does not give model-specific figures.
History of the Maico MD
Maico was founded in 1926 by Ulrich Maisch as Maisch & Co in the Swabian town of Pfäffingen near Tübingen. It began with small two-stroke engines and grew into a maker of motorcycles, bicycles and, briefly in the late 1950s, microcars. The family kept the business until 1987, although it passed through several companies and was sold more than once; the brand name itself stayed in the family.
The company built a broad range of road motorcycles. These were named after winds, with models such as the Blizzard and the Typhoon, and they were joined by the Maicoletta motor scooter. In sales terms the road bikes were never the firm’s strongest line: Maico was better known for its purpose-built motocross and enduro machines and for the Maicoletta, all of which sold in higher numbers than the road motorcycles.
The MD belongs to that road tradition. Maico’s engineering reputation was built on two-strokes: after the Second World War the firm developed its own unit-construction engines, and in 1953 it introduced the Rundmotor, a redesigned unit with the generator inside the casing that stayed in production in various capacities for about twenty years.
The racing side of the business eventually overshadowed the road range. Maico’s motocross and enduro models were successful in Europe and the United States through the 1970s, and after the bankruptcy of 1983 the brand continued in small-scale production, changing hands several times. It survives today on limited-production dirt bikes and on a strong following among riders who restore vintage Maicos.
Design and features
- Road line: part of the range Maico sold alongside its racing machines.
- Wind names: the road models carried names such as Blizzard and Typhoon.
- Two-stroke engineering: the firm built its own unit-construction engines after the war.
- Rare today: road Maicos sold in smaller numbers than the motocross bikes and scooters.
Maico MD versions
- Maico MD: the road model described here.
- M 250 and M 277 Blizzard: the best-known wind-named road models, covered on the Maico 250 page.
- Maicoletta: the large Maico scooter of the 1950s.
The road range also included the single-cylinder M series and the twin-cylinder Taifun. More machines are in the Maico collection.
Sources
- Maico, English Wikipedia: road range, model names, sales
- Maico, German Wikipedia: company history, engine development
