A few days ago, one of our loyal readers, mentioned in the comment section that Maico USA had not been responsive to an information request. Rich Winkler, the President of Maico USA, read the comment and responded with the following letter.
Hey I saw your comment on the Two Stroke Motocross site, and just wanted to drop you a note saying I’m sorry if I missed your previous inquiry regarding Maico and let you know the latest status…
We have a deal in place with Maico UK to import the bikes and we have the legal permission required through DOT to move forward. We are still working on the EPA import legalities, but I am told this process goes much faster.
Best guess… it will probably be 45 days or so before we are good to go…
As for the bikes, the news is really exciting… With the recent announcement by MAICO UK that they will begin building their own frames and engines in the UK for the 2011 model year, all similarity with the somewhat dated bikes sporadically imported in recent years goes by the wayside! The MAICO UK guys are doing EXTENSIVE R&D and either building or buying all the good stuff you see in the brochure or at MXA, or on my site, and then hand assembling each bike from the ground up. I have been over to the UK several times in the last few months and the bikes are really cool.
Vince Page is a Maico “True Believer” and has put a ton of time and money into the R&D of updating the bikes, and it really shows !
Unfortunately with the dollar/euro and dollar/pound exchange rate these days they are going to be pricey… 10k to 12k range for the big bores… maybe a bit less for the 250 and 320, but these are really hand built high end bikes with all the good stuff as stock, and MAICO UK is making a program available to us where the customer can upgrade very reasonably as new parts become available in subsequent years, so your bike will not become dated as quick as with the Japanese models.
Obviously it is an expensive niche bike, but I’m a MAICO nut and I’m going to give it my best to get them over here at as best a price as I can, and hope there are enough guys like me out there to make it viable. There is just something about a traditional motocross two-stroke that makes me want to keep them alive in a world of cookie-cutter Japanese four banger boat anchors ! I have always been a Maico guy, and I am trying hard to make this a reality.
The UK guys definitely have the passion for the brand as well. Obviously we are going to be doing this on a very small scale at first, strictly distributor direct, though I would love to grow it in the coming years to where we have a small group of dealers who are as into the bikes we are.
I’m super excited about it myself.
I will keep you posted.
WINK
