1981 Maico 490 vs. 2009 Honda CRF450 – Separated at Birth?

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As we know the beloved 4 stroke while touted as modern tech is really obsolete tech resurrected by a faulty rule book. Here is an image that shows how old “new” chassis design really is.

How different are these two machines that were built 28 years apart?? The thing is it’s not as much as you might think. Sure there have been improvements in suspension, brakes and other things, but in the numbers that really count, these two diverse machines share more in common then at first meets the eye.

When you take perfect side view pics of both, overlay them and erase parts of each photo you see the actual differences. These machines share the same wheelbase which makes this easy.

Maico – CRF 450 photo…. I wonder who “copied” whom?

The really scary thing is that the seat height is nearly the same, but the engine of the CRF 450 is mounted higher in the frame! Shocking.

Photo and story idea by Brian Fedigan –  http://www.mxrestoration.com