jrleek

A few years back this 1962 Motobecane Grand Touring showed up in my parent's garage. My guess is that my brother left it behind when he moved out, since no one else remembers it. The poor thing has some frame damage, a ding next to the sifters, and aftermarket kickstand damage. None of us really need a bike right now, and this one obviously needs some work. How nice a bike is this? Does anyone have any opinions on what should be done with it? Would it be worth anything? Is it worth restoring?

Jim

francophile 

I'm biased, but yes, it's worth restoring. I feel like kickstand crush is almost inevitable on the lower-mid tier of bikes, that's the realm that offers up the best sub-$125 buys, I've just come to accept it - what I'm seeing there isn't atrocious, neither is the ding near the shifters.

Pedals and rear derailleur look like a Ford model A with 30" chrome wheels on it (totally out of place) as do the pedals, but that's a cheap fix. Where's the stem and bar?

Is that someone's name starting with an M etched into the bottom bracket shell?

If nothing else, I see a few parts on it that would probably net you $100 (combined) on eBay, and you could potentially sell the frame and fork locally for $30-$50 depending on your market.

Velocivixen

If you fixed it up would you ride it or would it be to sell? Not sure what you mean by "worth it". It's not going to garner you big money if you fix it up and sell it. However, if you want to get it rideable it would likely be straight forward. The quill stem that goes with that bike is hopefully nearby. French quills are 22.0 vs the common 22.2, so a regular quill won't fit into the steer tube.

I'd clean it, inspect and repack the bearings, new cables/housings, brake pads, tubes and tires for a start. Yes, that rear derailleur, from a timewise perspective, doesn't go on that bike.

Salamandrine 

That looks like an early 80's model. (80 or 81) I think the 1962 serial number is just a coincidence. Grand Touring was sort of an upper mid level bike in their line up. Worth fixing up? depends on you. Vitus frame so it's fundamentally got a good skeleton. It'd make a nice commuter or general purpose sport touring bike. It's not a ferrari, but it's like a nice old volvo.

Repeat: this is not a 1962 bike.

Vintage_Cyclist

What he said, with the exception that it is probably late 1970's, owing to the 5 speed cluster (assuming it's original).

bikemig 

It's not worth the time and effort to part the bike out on ebay. Even on craigslist the bike is not an easy sell since it lacks a handlebar and stem and is not in running shape. Someone who is into old bikes might be willing to pay a $100 or so for this bike. It has promise but it needs elbow grease and parts

Lascauxcaveman 

Absolutely not worth restoring, in the true sense of the word. However, if you can fix it up for riding around on with cheaply found parts; sure, why not? Is there a bike co-op not far from where you live? That'd be the place to start.

BigChief 

It depends...All Grand Touring models aren't the same. Different frame tubing, different components. Opinions about frame geometry are all over the place, but the Grand Touring suites me perfectly. With a Vitus 172 frame they weigh a respectable 25.5 pounds and it's hard to fault Sun Tour derailleurs. Not high end, not valuable, but A good bike IMO. I bought one new in 76 and ride it to this day.

Salamandrine 

We have sort of a warped view of vintage bikes now, because most of the ordinary ones have been thrown away. Back in the day, these would have been considered a pretty fancy high end bike by your average kid. I remember these selling for around $300 when I bought my first 'good' bike (a super mirage). Adjusted for inflation, this is somewhere around $1000 in today's money.

CuttersRidge

It's not really beat up that bad from the pictures I see; I don't see the ding next to the shifters but I assume it is there, only chips in the paint job. Yes, it looks like it could see better days again.

The bike may have had those Hutchinson rubberized imitation leather handlebars which show up, the handlebar and brake covers on ebay fairly frequently as on this bike, Early 1980s Motobecane team Champion Racing Bicycle , they came in, usually a black color, some reddish and whites too and are fairly nifty.

Motobecane stamped triple crank and what looks like a leather seat.

All in all, it looks good.

bikemig 

The bike is my size. I'd buy it to fix up if it showed up locally. It's a quality frame with some decent but certainly not collectible parts. That's why it's not a part out candidate. Selling it on craigslist is tough because it isn't ready to ride.

The Seller needs to decide whether he or she wants to sell it or fix it up and ride it.

If selling, these are the options:

In a larger city, I'd say take a shot at craigslist as a project for someone who want a cool older bike to work on. I'd ask $200 in a hot market for the bike as is. The price drops a lot in a smaller city or an area that is not a hot market. I know where I live (des moines), I'd say somewhere in the neighborhood of a $100 is about right (maybe a bit more) in as is condition (lacking a handlebar and stem).

Or the seller could join bike forums and sell the bike through the site (through the classic and vintage marketplace). The seller won't get top dollar but it only costs $10 to join and the bike will sell to a C&V enthusiast). Heck that bike is my size; I'd be tempted to pick it up if the price were right.

Ebay is the other choice.

The other alternative is that the seller could decide to fix up the bike and ride it. It's a nice bike and certainly worth restoring and fixing up.

cb400bill

Moved from C&V to C&V Appraisals with 3 day redirect.

wrk101

\

$50 max here in Hooverville and you would need to clean the dirt off first and take pictures outdoors. Projects get no to minimal response in my market. I may be the only buyer. Its going to take $100 in parts and consumables plus 4 to 6 hours, plus the usual negative surprises (stuck post or stem, worn out cones or bottom bracket, etc). If it is late 1970s, then the BB is likely Swiss. If so, I would be crossing my fingers it is serviceable.

Ebay is a PITA, you will have to strip it down completely, clean it all, take great pictures and be able to pack and ship at a low cost. Return on that work on an hourly rate would be around $2 per hour versus selling locally at $50 as a project.

jrleek

Thanks for the information everybody. I think you all have answered my questions pretty thoroughly. Here are some responses:

I should bring my tools, clean it up, and search around for parts next time I'm up at my parents. I was busy this time, so I just snapped some pictures to post here. I seem to recall some handle bars floating around somewhere. They might go to this bike.

1. It does have a leather seat, but it isn't in very good condition.
2. It's nice to hear that the damage isn't too big a deal.
3. Too bad it isn't actually a 1962 bike I guess, but I like bikes from this era.
4. My parents do live in a pretty large bike market, Northern California. So if my dad has time on his hands, maybe he could put it back together and sell it for a few bucks. I doubt he wants to.

So, given that it seems to be decent, but not really valuable, I think I'll just leave it for now, unless my parents are desperate to get rid of it, or someone else wants it. I'll test it out a bit next time I'm up, but probably won't really work on it until someone needs it. I imagine someone in the family will get a bike stolen or destroyed eventually. :|

francophile 

Alternate option: If you've got some time on your hands, pop by the local bike Co-op in your area and they likely have the parts, tools and know-how to help you get it road-worthy.