Monday, November 15, 2010

Are you going to buy this new Maico? Me neither.


How did this company ever fall out of the limelight? Am I right? Amazing, what unique intuition to know that two strokes were still going to be all the rage even after four stroke technology moved way beyond what a two stroke was capable of? Oh wait, that is the opposite of what happened. I don't actually know if this is the comeback bike for Maico or not, but I certainly haven't heard anything from them anytime in the recent past. Of course, I came to know this sport way after Maico had gone the direction of Angelina on the Jersey Shore (I mean out of the picture, not fat), so I don't really even have a good sense for what impact they had in their prime. But, my impression is that they were a fairly big player. One would assume that a prosperous company like that would be able to at least be able to attract a solid management team to keep up with the trends of the sport. But Maico did not. Why? It probably came down to the fact that Japanese-made bikes can be made for the cost of a pair of decent socks and one shoe (the other one is the Christmas bonus, I believe).


My question in all of this is why does Maico continue to believe that they can break back into the core of the biz? First of all, this bike is clearly covered in leftover Yamaha plastic, some from the '01 bikes, although the number plate is at least a little more recent. Also, though I cannot be certain, this bike looks like it weighs about 20 pounds more than any other 250 two stroke. It doesn't say anything about the weight on their website (which looks like it was made by some high school kid for a project, that got a B-), so you know it must be bad. And most of all, why, oh why, would they still be pushing two strokes? They are done, get over it. I know that there are a lot of people that still swear by two strokes (you know, those guys at the back of the pack on every holeshot), but let's be real, with only two major manufacturers continuing to produce them, it's all coming to an end faster than, well, Maico did in the '80s. Maico, do yourselves a favor, and start producing toasters or something, because motocross just is not in the cards for you, player.

4 comments:

  1. I thought this seemed like an interesting topic and was quick to look for some articles myself. More often than not, I came across supportive write-ups saying that the separation (where it has been done) was a positive change. I think this speaks for itself. Appears as if people are full of good things to say. I was reading quote after quote about how the girls felt more free, and boys didn’t feel like they were to impress a particular classmate they were interested in. The most general assumption carried throughout, was that it helps the students to focus more on their own identities and abilities, building confidence in themselves. These are opinions I expected to see, because I agree myself. I’ll admit, back in the day, I’d always be sitting next to the girl I was liking at the time and use the class time as my chat time with her. When I was younger, class was one of the only times I’d be seeing the girls and so I’d sit there using my time “wisely” (or so it seemed at the time).
    However, I agree with John when he mentioned that it could reinforce gender stereotypes. This is a possibility, and I feel like the best solution to this would be what Beth had said, “I do believe that in order for segregated learning in public multi gendered schools to be beneficial it would have to begin at a young age”. This way, the students are introduced to it so early, it seems as part of the norm.

    ReplyDelete
  2. huh? What the hell does the comment above have to do with this article???
    as for the Maico...I think the plastic is Honda plastic...not that it matters.

    ReplyDelete
  3. hahahahaha, i typed that up for home work 2 seconds before posting here, an decided i'de post it and let people read into it and realize a few lines in it had nothing to do with what the brotocross master was talking about.
    so I ask you this, did you fall for it?

    ReplyDelete
  4. I sure did. And the shrouds on that pile might be honda, but the rest are certainly old yamaha pieces.

    ReplyDelete