Issue link: http://trailridermagazine.uberflip.com/i/1514917
32 Trail Rider www.TrailRider.com Vintage Feature Vintage Feature 1977 Maico AW440 1977 Maico AW440 By Kurt Flachbart By Kurt Flachbart Let me introduce you to this month's vintage resurrec on, a 1977 Maico AW440. The le ers AW stood for Adolf Weil, known as the "Iron Man of Motocross". During his 20+ year career, Weil raced for the Maico factory from 1966 to 1978, earning 14 German Motocross Na onal Championships along with the 1973 Trans-AMA Championship at the age of 34. In 1976, Weil was awarded the Silver Laurel Leaf, the highest award for athlet- ic performance in Germany. A er re ring from motocross compe on in 1978, Weil ran a motor- cycle business with his sons Frank and Jürgen in his hometown of Solingen, Germany. The legend Adolf Weil passed in May of 2011 at the age of 72. This par cular Maico is a piece that's occupied space in the shop for a dozen years or so. The bike landed in my hands as a well used but unmolested barn find. Once cleaned up, it looked ok to the naked eye. But, like so many old bikes that have sat for an extended length of me, the motor was stuck as a result of the typical mouse condo that those vile rodents are so adept at construc ng. Basically, the mouse urine had seeped into the cyl- inder s cking the piston. My ini al diagnosis a er pulling the head confirmed this issue and the bike was pushed into the corner for another decade. Having finally completed a few of our most recent vintage projects here at Trail Rider, I finally found me to devote to the big Maico. Once wheeled up on the li and given a thorough cleaning, we decided to tear it down for a nut and bolt res- urrec on. From the wear on the frame rails and other tell-tale signs, it was clear, this big bore had been thoroughly enjoyed and raced as intended. Incredibly, the wheels were straight and true with no signs of punishment in the rocks. Once disas- sembled, we found a good solid core in need of all consumables replaced.