fahrrad streber

I just picked up a Motobecane Grand Touring that is in beautiful condition, but I'm new to vintage cycles and don't know much about Motos, so I have a few questions. The bike is too small for me, 19.5" I believe, but it looks great, and when the woman said, "I just put it in the closet under the stairs and forgot it was there" I figured it was worth snagging.

I looked through old catalogs and believe this to be a 1975 Grand Touring 19.5" men's 1020 steel frame, silver blue color.




It has the 1020 steel sticker on the seattube and in two separate lines on the bottom bracket it has the numbers:
2999723
504
And on the left rear dropout maybe has the numbers: 054 (very faint)

It has Suntour downtube shifters, a Suntour v-gt luxe rear derailleur, and Suntour comp-v front derailleur. The wheels are Weinmann with the original Michelin front tire; Weinmann 610 center pull brakes, and a Sella Italia suede saddle.

So I'm wondering if I have the year correct, any input would help!

And the biggest question is should I try to make it more rideable (new cables, cork bartape, modern tires etc.) or should I leave as is (clean and polish) and try to find a Motobecane fan?

Cheers,
Daniel

beech333

I'd just clean and polish. It doesn't look particularly valuable, but I'm sure some Motobecane fans will chime in shortly.

wrk101

Its a lower end model. If you want to ride it, I would do the maintenance you described and enjoy it. If you want to sell locally, you probably will need to do some of that basic maintenance so that it is "ready to ride".

Looks like it will clean up really well!

skyrider

I picked one up the exact same in mint condition last week. There was a few post on Motos last week. Do a search. It rides better than I expected and looks really sharp, its a solid ride. It has a nice headbadge, made in france decal, nice lugs with detailing with a pleasant ride,and a 70s vintage, should get you a decent price which you parlay into a bike that fits. Dont put any money into it, just do the maintenance. I would ride it until, I found a bike that fits. good luck.

fahrrad streber

Thanks for the input guys. I just stripped it down and will clean it up tomorrow. I'm thinking the "ready to ride" option sounds the best.

Average 70s and 80s ready to ride bikes are going for ~$150 on Nashville CL. Is $150 a fair price for it, should I list it higher, list on ebay...thoughts?