Maicomobil
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The Maicomobil was a fully-bodied motor scooter from the manufacturer Maico , which offered extensive protection against dirt from the road and the engine, as well as safe road holding, economic efficiency and good driving comfort. It was presented to the public in Reutlingen in June 1950 as "the two-wheeled car".
Model MB 151
landing gear
The front wheel guidance came from the Maico M 151 motorcycle and was designed as a stable telescopic fork , the rear wheel together with the entire engine was guided in the form of a drive unit swing arm with a pivot point in front of the engine. The cushioning took place via a single helical spring with a solid rubber cylinder inside the spring as a stop buffer. In order to dampen and prevent the spring from slipping out during rebound, the spring travel was limited by two rubber bands. The footbrake was operated via a rearward-facing pedal on the right side - in other words, the other way around than usual with the heel instead of the toe. The tire size of the Maicomobil was 3.00–14 ″.
engine
The single-cylinder two-stroke engine (148 cm³ / 6.5 HP) of our own production, taken over from the M 151 motorcycle, was located approximately in the middle between the wheels, the 8.5 liter fuel tank at the height of the steering head . A radial fan driven by the crankshaft via V-belts cooled the engine. The three-speed gearbox was shifted with a twist grip on the handlebars - also as with the M 151.
body
The full casing was made of light metal sheet . The bow fairing was wide enough to completely encircle the driver's legs; She also wore a 50 cm high curved and streamlined protective screen made of pressed Plexiglas . The rear panel took up the transverse spare wheel and provided space for luggage. The upper part with the pillion seat could be folded forward to reveal the access to the luggage compartment. The engine was accessible through two flaps that opened upwards. The engine cooling air warmed the footwell in winter.
Plexiglass, storage space, glove box , remote swab , two-slide carburetor , 35/45 watt DC alternator and spare wheel were part of the standard equipment of the Maicomobil, which has a 150 cm³ engine and an empty weight of 122 kg just over 75 km / h Top speed reached. The consumption was specified by the manufacturer as 2.1 liters / 100 km.
Further development: models MB 175 and MB 200
The MB 151 model was only built for one year in a number of about 600 pieces. The larger capacity and more powerful models MB 175 (about 6000 pieces) and MB 200 (10.9 HP, about 3000 pieces) received larger engine maintenance hatches , a one-piece front fairing and a foot-shifted four-speed gearbox; they were particularly popular in England and Holland .
Spread of the vehicle
The Maicomobil always led a shadowy existence on German roads. With the appearance of the Maicoletta scooter in the spring of 1955, the construction of the Maicomobil was officially discontinued. In Great Britain , however, there was still such great demand that Pfäffingen decided to launch a last special series of 200 England mobiles from May 1957. In 1958 the production was finally stopped.
literature
- Waßmann: Maico-Mobil MB175 . A very strange bird. In: Carl Hertweck (Ed.): Motorcycle . No. 8 . Motor Presse Stuttgart , Stuttgart 1952, p. 200–201, 222 ( motorradonline.de ( memento from June 23, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) [PDF; 2.5 MB ; accessed on September 17, 2013]).
