Maico

[Sulli]

why in the hell are they running a Bing carby on them the 685cc. last time i saw one of those it was on a r75/5 bmw boxer and the carbs needed 2 tuneup to get from sydney to gosford one way

[Jonno]

Around the time i gave speedway a shot, mid 80's, was doing a lot of enduro's back home in sunny QLD, had a IT 490K, reeds, pipe, carb, ect, crazy power those 500cc 2 stroker's, mates tried to talk me into down sizing to a IT250, Nah no way, loved that 490, used to top out at just under 160kph.

I had a Wiseco kitted IT465 with a YZ carb-boyesen reeds and modded pipe, I have not riden a dirtbike since with that kind of violent power with huge torque and it steered like an XR in the tight stuff if the front wheel was on the ground long enough, silly me went and traded it on a IT490 which was much smoother and probably a better bike but not as much fun.

The modern 4t bikes make good power but nothing is ever like big bore 2t crazy fun and I would like to have one in the stable again even at the expense of the other bikes.

back in the day Maico, KTM, Husqvarna were the kings and no one really wanted Japanese reliability, the 440 Maico was un-beatable and the bike to have until the 1981 Yamaha 465 arrived then maico brought out a 490 air cooled (Mega 1 & 2?) which still today is comparable to the 525 ktm in capability, none of us could ever afford one and we seen very few out on the local trails, they were the elite of dirt machines and was only ever a dream. Unfortunately Maico had an implosion from a family feud and in short shut down, very successful company through the 70's outselling all others by 10 fold although a few issues with some of the later bikes didn't help in the 1980's so I never got the chance to get one. Bing carb, migrating to single shock was troublesome and expensive, rear hubs cracking were the main issues IIRC and that wasn't helpful along with poor management and eventually the German government closed them down.

(I read every Trail and track and ADB religiously around this time and i could be found with my nose pressed against bike shop windows and annoying salesmen for details)

why in the hell are they running a Bing carby on them the 685cc. last time i saw one of those it was on a r75/5 bmw boxer and the carbs needed 2 tuneup to get from sydney to gosford one way

Throw back from the 70's & 80's when Maico ran the temperamental Bing's, they leaked a bit and needed a bit of attention depending on the weather but they made the big power.They have now used Mikuni on the smaller cc models and must have good reason to use the Bing on the 685, they are now apparently owned (not clear really who owns the brand) and made in Britain so hopefully they have sorted those issues.

Bing, Bang, Boom.