Post Listing Update: This Maico did not meet reserve with 13 bids up to $2,380.
After Maico’s disastrous results with the Corte & Cosso monoshock designs of their 1982 bikes, they quickly slid down the path to bankruptcy. The first of many unsuccessful attempts to bring Maico back to life was “M-Star”, and they offered 250 and 500 models that were almost identical to the 1983 Maico models. M-Star did not last long.
First of all, if you’re not familiar with the story of how Maico collapsed in the early 80s, you absolutely must read Rick Sieman’s two-part story on it: Here’s Part 1, and here’s part 2. Here’s his take on the 500 SC that you find in front of you:
“The M-Star 500 Supercross was exactly a 1983 Maico, fins and all. A few low-quality decals were slapped on the tank to make it look different. The “Supercross” name showed the complete lack of familiarity with the American dirt bike market. Open class bikes were not even raced in Supercross. And the fact that all the big changes were given to the 250 instead of the 500, displayed an almost complete ignorance of the track record of sales. The big Maicos always outsold the 250s on at least a three-to-one basis, often more.”
I assume he was referring to the ’84 models because by ’86 the M-Stars had at least upgraded to disc brakes front and rear.
With all that said, this is still an interesting option for a vintage bike – maybe made even more interesting thanks tothe history and rarity. This example has been “fully restored to almost show quality”, which includes many new parts – the fenders, side panels, crank bearings/seals, piston, air filter, intake, clutch, swing arm bearings, shock linkage, Maico Only pipe/silencer, and more. The forks and shock have been rebuilt, and the seller has a new seat cover and the original kick stand. Find this M-Star 500 SC for sale in Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania with bidding up to $2,025 and the reserve not yet met