motobecane serial numbers
 

Could some one please help me i.d. this motobecane please?
I can't provide pics at this time, but the numbers on the bottom bracket are:
3019 in an oval along one edge,
1965 across the top(?)
1280 61 under that, and 58703 02 underneath that.
these numbers are stamped very poorly, so the two bottom rows have a couple of guesses.
If i thought it was as new as a 1982, I would say it is a randonee, but it seems older.
Could it actually be a 1965?
thanks for your help.

I tried to locate numbers for MB. There seems to be no code, just random numbers. Try a visual from catalogs.
http://bulgier.net/pics/bike/Catalogs/

From what I understand, 1970 was the first year of US imports.

I haven't a clue. Here's the serial from my 1978 Team Champion. I can't make head nor tails out of it.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3343/...e77db12e_z.jpg

Thanks guys!
Any one else have any info?

Yes...serial numbers on Motos are useless. My TC has the same serial as another in CA.

Is there any way to find out what year it is at least?
It has cantilever brakes and the only others like that would be a 1982 randonee.
But those supposedly have straight gauge tubing and this seems to be butted.
Maybe thats what it is, but i would like to know.
Isn't T-Mar the local Moto expert?

Oh yes, It's been rattle canned, so no clues there!

Do you know anything about the provenance of the bike? Motos can be tricky because certain models were exported to the US, and the European models are often different. Sometimes a lot different and sometimes just a little. Frequently someone posts a thread similar to yours and it seems to me few of them are answered definitively, and that's for bikes that haven't been rattle-canned. It might be helpful if you post any details you have like seat tube diameter, BB threading, dropout brand, etc. I'm not saying it would help me, but it might help someone. And pictures, of course, wouldn't hurt - detail shots of the lugs, BB shell, brake bridge, fork crown, etc.

By the way, are you sure it's a Motobecane, and how do you know?

The 1982 catalog scans posted above by ftwelder show the 1982 Randonee spec'd with Dia Compe centerpulls.

By the way, are you sure it's a Motobecane, and how do you know?

It still has the moto head badge.

The 1982 catalog scans posted above by ftwelder show the 1982 Randonee spec'd with Dia Compe centerpulls.

I've seen pictures on google images of a 1982 randonee with cantilevers, so the catalog pics confused me even more.
I will try to borrow a camera and get some photos.

Be sure to include a pic of the headbadge. That will help narrow down the era.

I second the uselessness of moto serial numbers. I'm thinking of having bike shop stamp in an ID for me.

Velobase.com has catalog scans. 70's - 80's for Motobecanes

If anyone has a chance at bringing order to the chaos that is (apparently) Motobecane serial numbers, it's the very orderly (and Canadian, but I repeat myself) T-Mar.

Everyone with a Moto should get him the number.

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...obecane+serial