On the move: Maico MD 250 WK

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On the move: Maico MD 250 WK
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On the move: Maico MD 250 WK

Athletic competition for the Japanese

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With the MD 250 WK, Maico wanted to face the Japanese competition again in 1978. The sporty street machine almost had what it takes.

What if the Maisch clan hadn’t fallen out, if Maico had consistently developed its models for the market, and if the company hadn’t gone bankrupt? Perhaps the traditional company would still produce motorcycles in Pfaffingen today. But that’s speculation. The fact is that the M.D 250 WK combined modern motorcycle construction with traditional technical solutions and that MOTORAD CLASSIC was allowed to test drive one of the last specimens on the little streets around its place of origin.

A small wire clip protruding from the rubber cover of the carburetor operates the choke. It must be lifted and turned to one side. The engine has good compression. A few powerful kicks on the kickstarter on the left, and the two-stroke starts uneasily, enveloping its surroundings in blue haze. With a little gas I stop him from dying off again and drive out of the yard. The engine only needs a few minutes to warm up and the choke is superfluous. From the end of the town the MD is allowed to show its true colors. The two-stroke engine revs up, almost begging for revs. He reacts spontaneously to every turn of the throttle.

He doesn’t like to relax at low speeds. He acknowledges this with a grumbling, irregular run and a rattling drive chain. One after the other, the gears of the draw-wedge gear “crack” into position, the gearshift travel is short but notchy, and faster than expected the permitted speed on the country road is exceeded. The Maico can be directed almost playfully by me and shooed around corners, its sporty, firm chassis supports brisk driving. Narrow streets are the most fun with her, that’s her domain. The 132 kilograms caused little trouble for the 27 hp, and many more powerful machines were left behind against the agile MD. But driving pleasure alone has not won a flower pot.


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Despite modern cast wheels, disc brakes, rear bumper, colored painted front fenders and one-piece instruments, the Maico MD 250 WK looks conservative. You couldn’t save the company from bankruptcy.

The strongly vibrating 250 was not a best seller. Its modular design looked antiquated compared to the Japanese models, and technically it was no longer state-of-the-art. In addition, there were problems with slipping clutch linings and piston jams on the MD 250 WK. And water pumps quitting duty angered the owners. Instead of fixing the known shortcomings, Maico created a brand cup with the 250cc in 1981.

Technicians modified 50 machines with fairing, aluminum tank, hump seat and stub handlebars, and tuned the engine to 37 hp. The racing series should also boost sales of the road machine, of which the company had sold just 300 copies by 1981. However, the plan failed. Managing director Otto Maisch stopped the races at the end of the year and sold the rights to them. Again the Maisch brothers suffered a severe economic defeat.

By 1983, the factory hadn’t even produced 500 of his large street bikes. Most recently, it was displayed in the dealers’ shop window as a slow-moving goods – including the machine that was being driven. The frame bears the number 466, by the way. The previous owner bought it cheaply from a dealer in the 1980s. But she, too, had suffered a defective water pump due to the long downtime in the sales room, and her engine ran more poorly than well. Soon it stood again and waited – until its owner advertised it.

Harald Muske bought them unseen. When he picked her up, the speedometer was just 38 kilometers. Apart from a thick layer of dust, it was optically in pretty good condition. Only the inside of the tank was heavily rusted and had to be repaired. Muske implanted a new water pump and sealed the cylinder head. There was nothing more to be done.

She has now unwound almost a thousand kilometers without any problems. The water-cooled 250 is simply too good to stand in the corner. It marked the end of Maico’s street motorcycles. From then on, only off-road machines were built in Pfaffingen until the company went bankrupt.

Technical specifications


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The ultra-short-stroke designed two-step machine vibrates immensely.

engine design type  Water-cooled single-cylinder two-stroke engine, controlled by rotary valve
drilling  76 mm
Hub  54 mm
Displacement  245 cm3
compression  11.7: 1
power  27 hp at 7000 rpm
Torque  29 Nm at 6400 rpm
Mixture preparation  Bing slide carburetor, Ø 32 mm, mixed lubrication
Mixing ratio  1:50, with Maico special oil 1: 100
   
Electrical system
starter  Kickstarter
ignition  Bosch RCPK1 ignition, contactless
   
Power transmission
coupling  Multi-disc clutch, in an oil bath
transmission  Six-speed, draw-key shift
Secondary drive  Chain
    landing gear Frame type  Double loop frame made of tubular steel
Front wheel guide  Marzocchi telescopic fork, Ø 32 mm
Rear wheel guide  Steel swing arm with two Koni struts
Front / rear suspension travel  120/105 mm
bikes  Cast wheels, 1.85 x 18
Front tires  3.00-18
Rear tire  3.25-18
Front brake  Brembo single disc with Magura pump Ø 260 mm
rear brake  Brembo single disc Ø 260 mm
   
mass and weight
Weight  132 kg
Tank capacity  16.5 liters
   
Performance
Top speed  155 km / h
0-100 km / h  7.2 s
   
price  4852 Mark (1980)
   
Manufacturer  Maico-Fahrzeugfabrik GmbH, Pfaffingen

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