Issue link: http://trailridermagazine.uberflip.com/i/1048523
O November 2018 37ctober does exist and is s ll built by Koestler to this day. In 2015 I bought one from Koestler and imported it into the US. This was the first me anyone had im- ported one in perhaps 10 years he told me. Since then, many people all over the world have been buying and impor ng the Maico 685 even into the US and Canada. Impor ng a bike is not as hard as it may seem. You have two government agencies you need to sa sfy with paperwork and one is the EPA (Environmen- tal Protec on Agency) and the other is the NTSB (Na onal Transporta on Safety Board). The NTSB is simple if it's not for road use because you simply state that and you do not need to ensure it has all of the safety equipment. The EPA is another story as you cannot put it on the road if it is not an EPA approved emissions which two strokes are not. You have the op on to either do a Compe on Racing import exemp on or as a personal import. You can work with an import broker who will help with all of this transac on. Once you actually get the bike the first thing you will no ce about this bike is how hard it is to pull in the clutch. These bikes have hydraulic clutches however it takes over 20 pounds of force to pull it in. This is problema c for trail riding unless you have fists of iron. These need to be this way in or- der for the clutch not to slip under all of the power. Fear not though because there is a solu on. Australian company Clake makes a system called the "One Light Clutch". This is not to be confused with the "Le Hand Brake" package that includes the "Easy Clutch" system. The Easy Clutch system is a mechanical solu on that creates a longer pull to ease the leverage. This is not what the One Light Clutch does. The "One Light Clutch" u lizes a large spring that you adjust the tension to and it helps to pull in the clutch lever with you. This has reduced the Maico's clutch pull to 4 pounds and provides the ability to use just one finger. This is essen ally a must have for trail riding. Star ng the beast is fairly simple once you have go en used to it. The kick start needs to be mounted forward and when kicking it over you need to ensure you have it engage as high up as possible. There needs to be a long kick in order for it to spin enough to start. A cold start will require priming kicks with the choke on. This is anywhere from 5 to 8 priming kicks before a emp ng to start. The kick start then needs to be put at TDC or "Top Dead Center". Finally you will need to use the com- pression release or it will be impossible to start. The compression release must be opened only half way to get the maximum amount of release. Opening the compression release all the way actually compresses the spring on the release and restricts the decompres- sion air flow making it harder to start. The bike rides like a Maico. The power is smooth, linear and trac on is not a problem with the right set- up. I run a trials re which you ride differently from a knobbie and the linear power makes it possible to gain endless trac on on the trails. The bike does not have any hard hit but any a empt to whiskey thro le will end in serious pain. You can ride the bike with barely touching the thro le and in fact its best to simply ride short shi ing the bike in low RPMs on the trails as at- temp ng to go WOT will jump you into light speed. The easiest way to put the power of this bike into perspec ve is to imagine riding a 500. The power of the 500 and the responsiveness you feel when riding it. Now you ride the Maico 700 and then jump back onto that same 500. You will now think you jumped on the wrong bike, did you just get on a 125? This bike has something wrong with it, it has lost all of its power! That is the difference between riding the 700 and the 500. The front number plate is an extra gas tank that holds 1.3 gallons. This automa cally syphons into the tank through the breather hose as I ride. This brings me to 3.8 gallons of gas and you really need it with that bike. The bike only gets about 9.5 miles per gallon when trail riding. I have also added fans to the radiators since the bike will overheat on the slow trails. You might also be wondering about vibra ons and this bike definitely vibrates. If any motor mount becomes loose the bike is not ridable as you can't even hold onto the handle bars. The bones in your fingers will cla er together painfully. Even when everything is ght if you touch your teeth together they will cha er. In short the Maico 685 or the Maico 700 does exist and you can purchase it today. There aren't any Maico distributors le anymore though and so you will need to import it yourself which is not as hard as it sounds. They are fun bikes but they definitely have a lot more power than you need for trail riding!