Sure thing, none of my friends ride so I'm looking for riding buddies. I'll drop you a PM, it's almost spring!
Just bought this piece of Gem in the rough. Can't wait to get it back to its glory days (with some appropriate mods of course).
Work is progressing on the "Gem", lots of elbow grease and old grease. The motor is virgin, KIPS valves intact. Bike is down to the frame, engine out. All suspension components are out as well. And now cleaning time. So far, found no evidence of abuse other than a coat of green spray paint and several coats of black paint.
Progress along the way Kips intact, including the reeds. No sign of wear. Wondering if I got very very lucky, or this bike has low mileage? The is no oil left in the rear shock and less than a cup full in the front forks.
She's coming along nicely, nothing major so far with the exception of a broken rear caliper axle holding unit. Must have been broken for a very long time. Working on removing 4 layers of paint, one at a time. Rear shock assembly completed. Brakes are completely rebuilt, again nothing major found. And more plastic being cleaned up. Will need to source a rear fender, some sort of fiberglass repair was attempted.
It's a 220, but, out today. I'm the one with the camera usually so it's nice to get a pic of my bike.
Hi everyone! Been a lurker here a long time, finally got myself an account :) I have never ridden a modern two stroke, but thinking of adding a modern training bike to the garage. I have a standard restored '78 maico 250 as a reference, which is a neat bike. I want something less explosive and on/off engine character wise, i think a 200exc or gasgas 200 could be perfect, but im not sure. What do you think? I ride a crf250 pretty often as a part of a motocross school, that has definitely made me settle for another 2 stroke :)
I think you are correct! Both those bikes, and actually most modern 2T enduro bikes, have much more controllable and linear powerbands than your Maico does. How about posting a picture of the Maico?!
I would really hope 30-40 years of development did something to the powerband :) Problem is the 200s are massively outnumbered compared to the 300s, the price difference isnt that big either since the 300s are so plentiful. The 300s are probably great bikes, but im afraid its to much power to handle, i want be able to wring the bike out wihtout killing myself, and also lug around the trails. I have small kids, a house project, my maico and a track car aswell, so i have very little time actually train, hence im not the athlete i need to be :). The use is enduro tracks and some light motocross training.. The Maico 250 has been around for a while, completely off topic though. Got it when i was 17, the bike was more or less a barn find. It broke a couple of times and when the gearbox finally broke i didnt have the money to fix it. It was then in boxes for ten years until (2013)i became wiser and had more money, so made a ground up restoration. The bike is for racing/fun once in a while. Pic is from when it was almost finished, have made some changes since.
i've got a plated '06 exC 450 for all around d/sporting and dirt biking. But after getting my butt kicked on a tough dual sport ride, I decided to get a light weight off roader. I ended up with '01 GG XC 200. It looked pretty good when I bought it, but I ended up going thru it from front to back. Very worthwhile project! I love this bike. It does great in the woods and seems to work better the faster you go. Nothing against the KTM's, I like them too. The XC came with a headlight, tail light & brake light, FWIW. RB
