Bellemarsh

My late husband left me with his Motobecane bike. He bought it new, somewhere in the mid to late 60's. A few years ago when the American Pickers show came on TV - they showed the pickers finding a Motobecane bike. They paid $1,000 and resold it for $5,000. Fat chance this bike I have is worth that!. I don't know where to look on the bike to find info ( model, make, serial # etc...) any help would be most appreciated.

Chombi

Can you post sime pictures up of the bike so we can give it a good look and tell you what we think its worth?
$5000 is very high for a Motobecane of any vintage. It will most likely have to have special provenance to hit that high a value. Who knows, could it be that your husband bought it off some famous pro racer and its some sort of special one-off racing bike made for him to compete on??
If I remember correctly, Mike Wolf, in that "Pickers" cable show, bought the Motobecane he found in a junkyard they were picking for around $200 (unless I missed the episode you are referring to) and the bike he got, if cleaned up/restored, looked to be valued at about 300 to 400 bucks at most. That kinda gives you an idea where most Motobecanes of that vintage and model typically sells for these days in good condition.
Pictures please......

Chombi

IthaDan 

Sorry to hear about your husband.

BlueDevil63 

I also think you may be mis-remembering the Pickers episode. They found a Motobecane Grand Record. Paid around $100-200 and maybe valued it at $500. There is no Motobecane I am aware of that would sell for $5000. Even $1000 would be very high and would only be achievable with a Team Champion or maybe a perfect original Le Champion. You really need to post pictures for us to help. If the model name is not fairly obvious on the top tube or down tube it is likely not in very good condition.

Chombi

Come to think of it, why would a bike like that Grand Record, just pop up in some out of the way junk yard in the boonies??....and it looks like it was in pretty good shape (and quite clean) except for the front wheel being taken off the fork.....
I'm wondering if that was really Mike Wolf's bike and he popped it in the show for some enhancement??...Who knows these days with all these "reality" shows....Just thinking...

Chombi

oddjob2

Maybe they heard of RandJawa's remarkable landfill and were up in THUNDER BAY, ONT?

howeeee

Mike bought the Motobecane Grand Record of which I had the exact bike for 50 bucks and sold it for 350... lol no wonder why people get the wrong idea about value,,they dont even know what they are watching on TV. They take a 50 to 350 profit and change it to 1000 to 5000 lmao

The bike is a wonderful bike with a 531 frame and campy drop outs and some other campy parts and a brooks saddle. The bike cost 450 brand new I wish I still had mine.

Vonruden

I just found one today at a garage sale, i bought if for the Brown Brooks saddle alone, I got home and noticed the Campy Nuovo Record Shifters, and derailluers and campy drop outs. bummer is the dent in the top tube and side tube where it must have fell over.

Chicago Al 

As you can see, BelleMarsh, there are lots of people here willing to help you identify and value the bike, but we need more info. PICTURES would be great, from the 'drive side' (with the chain) is best, details of the parts are also important.

If you can't do pictures, then tell us any names you see on the parts (derailleurs, wheels, brakes, seat, etc). And there is likely a name painted on the frame somewhere, 'Mirage' is the most likely but could be something else probably French-sounding: Grand Jubile, Grand Record, Grand Touring, maybe Nomade.

ksisler

I must of missed that episode...and I have watched them all...I believe even if for morid curiosity.

That said, even new, I doubt I have even seen a Moto worth the $5k price range (and I generally like Moto's and have several, including several classic tandems and a early Sprint Tour).

Generally speaking the Picker Shows are TV shows and are basically just entertainment for jaded masses, i.e., its reality TV. The prices they offer to pay for stuff is most times way overboard, nay bordering on stupid.

howeeee

I can only go by the price they pay for bikes,,and some motorcycles,,cause that is what I know;
I have never seen them pay too much for a bike or a motorcycle, they usually get a great deal.

Once he bought a 68 Triumph Bonneville motorcycle that spent most its life as a display and only had about 20 miles on it,,he bought the bike for 5 grand,,saying it was worth about 10. But I know a lot about that bike and it was worth 20 grand all day long in that condition.

They never over pay for bikes and motorcycles. Mike paid 50 bucks for the Motebecane and sold it for 350. Who knows where the poster came up with 5 grand