Classic & Vintage - can someone please give me some info...

i inheirited a bike that belonged to my brother after he passed away a while ago, and id like to restore it and know more about it. i remember when he got it in the 80s it was expensive and top of the line... anyways heres the details. any info you can give me would be awesome. its a motobecane grand touring in grey with gold trim. the forks say 'faurreaux 888 vitus' which im guessing has something to do with the metal used... other than that i have no other info. is this a cool bike? is it worth restoring? thanks...

Hey -- I think it's a cool bike; I've got one myself. Best advice is if you like it, and want to ride it, go for it.

Quite a few posters to this board will think it is a cool bike and is worth restoring. It is the best touring bike Motobecane was offering then.The 888 tubing is not Vitus' best quality tubing, but it is good stuff.

Restoring it will take time and probably get you up to your elbows searching for parts, etc... on ebay and in bike shops. But if you do restore it, it should provide you with a nice ride. Cheers.

Top of the moto line was the Le Champion and the Grand record models; your bike is in a tier of models below that. I'm not sure of the exact order, but there are several moto folks that habituate this board and will give more accurate info.

The first thing I would do with the bike is overhaul the bottom bracket, and ascertain it's in good shape. Look and see if it's marked 35x1 anywhere. This will mean the BB is Swiss threaded and may be hard to replace should it be worn and shot. Since this will be the hardest thing to find, I advise taking a look at it first. The headset may be French threaded, depending on vintage (if the BB is swiss, the HS is gonna be French. Confusing, I know). This is also hard to replace, but less so than the BB. I recently took apart a Grand touring; it had the French HS/Swiss BB combination.

Bike will be a fun rider, enjoy. Some info on the idosyncracies of French bikes which may be of aid:
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/velos.html

If that bike was new in the '80s, it's got an alloy Japanese cotterless Sugino crank and SR stem -- which is a good thing, in terms of maintenance. Prior to that, I believe the GTs had steel, cottered Nervar cranksets, like mid-range Raleighs.

And long about that time, the GTs fell into the mid-range, between the Mirage and Jubile.

I owned a '78 gt. I picked another up for my wife that eventually was stolen outside a bar in long beach, ca. I rode mine until the frame broke... I put a lot of miles on it. I have great memories of that bike and the places we went together. Is it monetarily valuable?... no. Is it worth restoring?... absolutely! Especially if you're gonna ride it!

Mr. Scape

...The first thing I would do with the bike is overhaul the bottom bracket, and ascertain it's in good shape. Look and see if it's marked 35x1 anywhere. This will mean the BB is Swiss threaded and may be hard to replace should it be worn and shot. ...]

Fair advice.

Slight correction - 35x1 is the nominal spec for BOTH French and Swiss BB's. The difference is in whether the fixed (drive-side) cup is right-hand thread (French) or left-hand thread (Swiss). French is not nearly so rare as Swiss, though Phil Wood can supply either for his $$BB, should it come to that.

A mid 1980s Motobecane Grand Touring was originally in the neighbourhood of $350 US, depending on the exact year. As already noted, there is not a lot of value in the bicycle, but it will make a nice ride. A clean-up and tune-up is probably in order, but it is unlikely that the investment in a proper restoration will be recovered.

The frame itself is nothing special, but should be strong, well built and nicely finished, if other Motebecanes of the era are any indication. The Vitus 888 is a good, but plain gauge tubeset. The stays are probably hi-tensile steel.

The components could be French or Japanese depending on the exact year. Motobecane did revert to European based components on some models in the 1980s. I have specs for mid-1980s Grand Touring models with Vitus 888/hi-tensile framesets. Components include the highly desirable Huret Duopar derailleurs and the very nice Stronglight 99 triple crankset. Brakes were the workhorse Weinmann 999 and hubs were Maillard Helicomatic.

While the Grand Touring was a nice touring model, it does not rank with better, mass produced touring bicycles of the era, such as the Miyata 1000 or Specialized Expidition, which cost several hundred dollars more. However, it should make a very nice commuter or day trip bicycle.

"Slight correction - 35x1 is the nominal spec for BOTH French and Swiss BB's. The difference is in whether the fixed (drive-side) cup is right-hand thread (French) or left-hand thread (Swiss). "

Absolutely true. Never run into a moto that wasn't swiss, tho they're probably out there.

You can use the phil rings on a (no longer made, but available) shimano UN72 BB. Far cheaper alternative than the phil, if you desire.

okay, i looked over the bike - the crankset is by motobecane, amd looks to be in good shape. the derailers are suntour, and the hubs are mallards. the wheels need to be trued, and i think someone messed with the hole for the valve to make them larger to accomodate the bigger size. does that mean i have to replace the rims? im not going to restore it - im just going to make it a rider. i took off the back brake and front derailer. i want the front gear fixed as i never change it on any bike ive ridden. i think ill take it to the local indie bike shop and have it tuned up and whatnot.

Ride it, I think you will like it. These bikes were designed to accept racks and fenders. They were deliberately built a bit sturdier & with a longer wheelbase so they could be loaded up with panniers (bags) and ridden comfortably for long distances. Because of this, they make great commuter bikes. The Moto Grand Touring has a pretty lively ride for a touring bike. Mine is about the same vintage as yours but it has the triple Stronglight crank. I also have a Centurion Pro Tour and a Specialized Expedition Touring bike. For the time, that Moto gave a lot of bang for the buck. Don

Mine is about the same vintage as yours but it has the triple Stronglight crank. Don

Could you post a pic of yours?... if it's not too much bother. I would be curious to see what it looks like. As I mentioned in my previous post, I broke my gt frame in 87 or 88. Motobecane wasn't doing business in the US (that's what I understood at the time) but the lbs where I purchased it originally arranged for a replacement... but it wasn't a gt. When did they quit making the gt?

I'll try to get a few in the next few days, meantime check out the brakes on my Gran Tour. None of my bike friends in Olympia have ever seen this brakeset on any other bike before & the LBS used to sell Moto's.

Boy, that is different. I've never seen it before either.

The Weinnman brakes usually had a date code stamped on the back
of the calipers, either in mmyy format or YY in the middle of a circle with
a pointer towards the month (think clock).
I would suspect its late 80's but that's based on gut feel etc.
I couldn't find any brake that looked like that. Be interesting
to find out what it is. I agree with mswantak it is interesting!
Marty

I'll try to get a few in the next few days, meantime check out the brakes on my Gran Tour. None of my bike friends in Olympia have ever seen this brakeset on any other bike before & the LBS used to sell Moto's.

Very interesting... how do they work? The French are still putting c-pulls on bikes. I have a thing for mafac racers. Someone told me that Rivendell is putting Weinnman c-pull brakes on one of their new models. That seems crazy in today's market... but maybe it will allow me to come out of the c-pull lovers closet.

The bike is no good. Not worth the space it takes up. Give me your address and I'll come take it off your hands. :)

Isits is a tightwad; I'll take the Moto off your hands and leave you a Free Spirit 3-speed to use. :D

Isits is a tightwad; I'll take the Moto off your hands and leave you a Free Spirit 3-speed to use. :D

Well, I'll up the ante and toss in a Columbia Tourist 5-speed, WITH fenders! :lol:

John D.

Here you go Noah. Those brakes work pretty well, at least as good as the more common Weinmann 999 Centerpulls.

Check out the Stronglight crank: 36-47-52 & it has a 14-34 freewheel. Rode it to work this morning.

Well, I'll up the ante and toss in a Columbia Tourist 5-speed, WITH fenders! :lol:

John D.

Yeah, you laugh now, Philistine. :mad:

I'll see your columbia and up 1 browning 10 speed.

Damn thats a nice bike.

marty

Check out the Stronglight crank: 36-47-52 & it has a 14-34 freewheel. Rode it to work this morning.

Thanks for taking the time to post the pics. The crank is certainly a big improvement over my old '78 gt. Very sweet... a perfect commuting bike. Do you know what year?

Yeah, you laugh now, Philistine. :mad:

Well, you're lucky I didn't take that headbadge from it before I gave it to you....... :p

Year of that Grand Touring is unknown. There is a serial # on underside of bottom bracket "8363U" so perhaps it's a 1983. The raised plastic "Motobecane" glued onto the top tube is something else I haven't seen on other Moto's. It's kind of tacky now that the gold paint is all worn off, but I didn't try to remove it as it might damage the paint.