After World War II, they began producing their own unit construction two-stroke engines, selling complete motorcycles.

Maico motocross (MC) and enduro (GS) racing models proved very successful in both European and American competition throughout the 1970s.

While lacking the financial capital and big money race-team backing like that of the Japanese factories of Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki, and Kawasaki, Maico riders such as Adolf Weil, Åke Jonsson and Willy Bauer proved to be serious challenges to the Japanese factories and produced numerous top-three finishes in the Motocross World Championships.

This initiated a frantic effort on the part of factory teams and privateers alike; chopping up their frames in a desperate attempt to remain competitive.

Maicowerk AG filed for bankruptcy in 1983, but continued to produce small numbers of motocross and enduro models (re-badged as M-Stars in the United States due to legal issues) through 1986.

In 1992-93, the 500 became a true 500 cc instead of a 490 when the location of the connecting rod was moved on the crank to increase the stroke and raise the ccs.

The famous two-stroke tuner and sidecar engine builder Hermann Walgenbach completely retuned the Maico and in 1999 there was a new bike released that also now included a hydraulic clutch.

[8] An unusual Bosch six-volt "pendulum" electric starter system was fitted, which was quite advanced for the 1950s, and about which there are a number of common misconceptions.

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.

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.