Maico started by producing 98cc and 123cc Ilo two-stroke engines. After World War II the company transitioned to building its own unit-construction two-stroke engines and complete motorcycles. Its road motorcycle range was named after weather phenomena — models including the Blizzard and Typhoon — but these machines sold in smaller numbers than the company's off-road products.
The Maico Mobil, a highly enclosed two-wheeled motorcycle designed to combine motorcycle handling with scooter convenience, large luggage capacity, and weather protection, was produced from June 1950 through 1958 with an aluminum body on a tubular frame. Its unusual silhouette earned it the nickname "dustbin." Maico also produced microcars between 1956 and 1958, and has manufactured go-kart engines.
The Maicoletta was one of the largest motor scooters produced by any manufacturer up to that point. Powered by a 247cc single-cylinder piston-port two-stroke engine with four foot-operated gears, enclosed chain drive, centrifugal fan cooling, and electric start — with an export version using a 277cc engine for sidecar use — the Maicoletta was fitted to a tubular frame with long-travel telescopic forks and 14-inch wheels. Its top speed of more than 70 mph put it ahead of most 250cc motorcycles of the era and well beyond the 55–60 mph of contemporary Vespa and Lambretta scooters with their smaller 125cc to 200cc engines and 8–10 inch wheels.
An unusual Bosch six-volt pendulum electric starter was fitted, which rocked the crankshaft back and forth rather than rotating it continuously, reducing the power demand from the six-volt system. The complexity of this mechanism's contact points made it difficult to maintain, and the Maicoletta later gained a reputation for requiring roll-starts once the contacts wore out.
Maico's racing reputation rests primarily on its motocross programme. The company's MC (motocross) and GS (enduro) models proved highly competitive in European and American competition throughout the 1970s, despite lacking the financial backing of the Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki, and Kawasaki factory teams. Maico riders including Adolf Weil, Swedish rider Åke Jonsson, and Willy Bauer produced numerous top-three finishes in the Motocross World Championships, challenging the Japanese factories with well-developed two-stroke machinery.
In Grand Prix road racing, Maico competed in the 125cc class. Rider Börje Jansson won three 125cc Grand Prix races between 1972 and 1973 on Maico machinery, giving the German company its most significant achievements on tarmac. American publication Motocross Action named the 1981 Maico Mega 2 490cc the greatest open-class motocross bike of all time.
A significant contribution to suspension technology came in 1974, when the Wheelsmith Motorcycles team in the United States and the Gunther Schier teams in Europe repositioned the rear shocks forward on Maico factory-backed motocross machines. The change dramatically increased suspension travel and competitive performance, triggering an immediate response from rival factory teams and privateers who modified their own frames in an effort to match the improvement.
Maicowerk AG filed for bankruptcy in 1983 but continued producing small numbers of motocross and enduro machines through 1986, with US sales re-badged as M-Stars due to legal complications. The company was subsequently sold to Lorenz Merkle, who manufactured machines under the Maico name into the mid-1990s. The Dutch company Rodem then acquired the brand and produced Maicos from 1995 to 1997 before going bankrupt, with its largest shareholder, Brouwer, taking control.
No Maico was released in 1998. Two-stroke tuner Hermann Walgenbach retuned the engine, and a new bike with hydraulic clutch appeared in 1999. Production eventually passed to Koestler in Germany, who continued making Maicos and in 2003 sponsored a supermoto team, leading to the development of the Maico 620 and 685 high-displacement variants.
Maico retains a strong cult following among vintage motocross enthusiasts, many of whom restore and race older machines. The marque's influence on suspension development — the forward-mounted shock experiment of 1974 cascaded across the entire motocross world — represents a lasting technical contribution that outlived the company's financial difficulties. The Maico name continues in limited production, a testament to the appeal the brand built through its rivalry with the Japanese factories during the sport's most formative decade.