page_title: Maico
section_title: Maicoletta
hierarchical_section_title: Maico / Maicoletta
caption_attribution_description: Photo that I took of my 1957 Maicoletta scooter's dashboard.
context_page_description: Maicowerk A.G. was a West German motorcycle manufacturer. Founded in 1926 by Ulrich Maisch as Maisch & Co, the company originally manufactured 98 and 123 cc Ilo two-stroke engines. After World War II, they began producing their own unit construction two-stroke engines, selling complete motorcycles. Maico made a brief foray into the automobile business with their own line of microcars in the late 1950s. Maico have also made Go kart engines.
  The road motorcycles were named after winds... 'Blizzard' 'Typhoon' etc., but the company was better known for its purpose-built Motocross and Enduro machines, and for its 'Maicoletta' motor scooter, both of which sold in higher numbers than the road motorcycles.
context_section_description: The Maicoletta motor scooter of the 1950s was one of the largest motor scooters produced by any manufacturer until the modern era. The engine was a single cylinder 247cc piston port 2-stroke (an export version featuring a 277cc engine was also produced for use with a sidecar), with four foot-operated gears, enclosed chain drive, centrifugal fan cooling and electric start. This was fitted to a tubular frame built on motorcycle principles with long travel telescopic forks and 14-inch wheels. The Maicoletta had a top speed of greater than 70 mph, comparable with most 250cc motorcycles of the time. In the 1950s most scooters such as Vespa,  Lambretta, were 125cc to 200cc with 8-10 inch wheels and a top speed of 55 to 60 mph, so the expensive but fast and comfortable Maicoletta developed a following amongst scooter club enthusiasts.
  By modern standards the brakes (drum front and rear) leave something to be desired, but compared to those of other scooters from the period, the brakes are not inferior. 
  Pendulum starter
  An unusual Bosch 6v 'pendulum' electric starter system was fitted, which was quite advanced for the 1950s, and about which there are a number of common misconceptions. When activated, instead of rotating the crankshaft the starter used the generator coils on the shaft to rock it back and forth under the control of cams on the crankshaft. These cams closed contacts in the generator 
  to trigger a reversing switch in the Control box that changed the crankshaft direction at the end of each swing. This gives the impression of the crankshaft continually bouncing back and forwards against compression, when operated. A separate set of ignition points fired the spark plug in the forward direction only, and when this fires the mixture in the cylinder the engine starts to rotate normally, the starter is released and the normal ignition system takes over.
  The advantage of this system is that the starter does not have to force the crankshaft to turn over against compression, so less power is required from the 6volt system. Its disadvantage is the unusual number of contacts, which can be difficult to adjust. The reversing switch contacts tend to wear out with extended use and can be very difficult to get repaired, hence the scooter's reputation for requiring roll starts later in life.
caption: Maicoletta Dash
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