No, bought this bike in the U.S.

Not sure if this is of much help Tmar...?

Hope my Moto will have some significant value for your database? It was not meant to be a C&V restoration at the time, but a desire to make it into my own version of a 'Team Champion' that was out of my reach when I was younger. I have posted this bike here a few times.

I bought this Motobecane Grand Record as a 'frame only' from a Motobecane Dealer in the late 70's & built it up on my own. Best I've come up with is that it's a '74 model. The owner, Pierre Cuisinot(sp) owned & operated Velo-Club Bikes in Belmont CA. He was a former French racer. The frame was hanging on the wall in his shop & I knew right away...I wanted it. Took my time gathering Campy parts for the build w/ a goal to build it up w/ a SR cmpnt group. I haven't really done too much since other than replace the Cinelli saddle w/ a Vetta , Brake Hoods & put on clipless Look pedals (have orig SR Campy pedals w/ Binda Straps).

I used mostly Campy parts except for the Edco Competition Headset, Modolo Anatomic Hoods. Stronglight Titanium BB Spindle. Bar & stem are Cinelli 1R, Old Crest 66-40 Bars, Leather stitched bar wrap. Campy Drop-bolt on rear brake. Silca Impero pump & Avocet 30 cyclometer.

Serial #'s are a bit blurred but best I came up w/ are 6717 rear dropout & 38984815 on BB shell. No other #'s on bike. Some of my fancy drill work on the shell, but hey, I was young! It really made the bike faster...lol! In doing it, the drill bit got jammed in there, broke & i could not get it out. I had to bring it back into Pierre's shop for help. You should've seen the look on his face. Plus, I did not know about Swiss BB threads either. I had it tightened it beyond belief trying to loosen it by going in the wrong direction. He had a helluva time getting it back out...doh.

Wheels: Campy Hubs, Mavic GP4 32h rims/DT DB spokes/Vittoria CG-CX Corsa tubulars. Pierre also built the wheels, plus another heavier set w/ Mavic MA2 36h rims.

Here's a Grand Sprint I picked up on cl recently. It seems similar to the orange one in this article, so I'm guessing it's around 1978.
1978 Motobecane Grand Sprint, C2 Vintage Road Bike Review

It has the original 27" wheels and has a 6-speed freewheel (when did 6-spd arrive?). Unfortunately, the seat-tube tubing sticker has come off, although the article says Vitus 172 for 1978. Unlike the article, my forks never had a tubing sticker. The shifters and derailleurs are Shimano, and the crank has the Motobecane decals.

It has a 52cm seat tube, but 57cm top tube (those crazy French!), so I'm thinking I can make this work for me. My ideal size is 56cm, but all my other 56's have equal seat and top tubes. If there's some reason a long seatpost will fubar the riding and fit geometry, please speak up before I do my usual full restoration and money sink (e.g. cables, pads, and in this case calipers, tires, wheels, seatpost, bars, leather saddle). I have restored many Peugeots, so I know what I'm getting into.

Can anyone help date this or give me any insight into the frame or anything other points of interest? Oh yeah, serial #55144

OK, I'm reworking what I believe to be a 1974 Motobecane Grand Touring (my father purchased it new in 1974). I've got some pics of different parts and components as well as the s/n from the BB (of course, it's even difficult to tell which way is up!). Hope this helps.

Weinmann 27"x1.25" wheels, Suntour V-GT Luxe derailleurs, DiaCompe/SuperCompe brakes, SR seat post, SR Apex cranks, Pivo bar and stem.

@T=Mar not sure if you are still doing this project but her goes, based on catalog research I believe this to be a 1978 Moto Grand Touring based on paint and components, the saddle is not stock and the wheels appear to be what would have come on the one step up Grand Jubilee but otherwise pretty much bone stock

Drive side

IMG_1093 by Ryan Surface, on Flickr

BB shell with serial #s

IMG_3422 by Ryan Surface, on Flickr

Headtube

IMG_3468 by Ryan Surface, on Flickr

Motobecane mixte framed bike in yellow. Nearly all parts have been replace to make date/identify by those pointless.
Mirage or Nomad? No model name anywhere to be seen. After looking at a 1974 catalog specs page on line, I conclude it's a Mirage. 1020 tubing, chrome fork ends, available in a mixte frame.
Poor paint. What looks like scum won't come off. rotting paint?

bottom bracket has 2 numbers.
"3"
and what looks like 1009 in an oval. hard to read.
left rear dropout has 1745101
inside the dropout 35717

upgrades to the bike include sealed bb, un-named alloy crank, shimano qr hubs with araya/ukai 27" rims, shimano r der, suntour lever and front der. Avocet seat, flat bars, sr stem. Has weinman brakes but are those original?

tuned it up today, in time for the local Bastille Day ride. (french bikes only si vous plaix)

photos.

I'm pretty certain you're correct about this being a Mirage. The chromed fork crown and socks exclude the Nomade. However the down tube logo script style, lower quality yellow paint and the large seat tube decal make it pre 1973 (1970-72). Starting in 1974 the catalog shows all U.S. import models with the smaller seat tube decal and the heavier down tube logo. Your bike matches the 1970-72 catalog.

Thanks.
A couple photos from the local Bastille Day ride.
Peugeot PX10 - Motobecane Mirage - Peugeot - and a Dunelt.



The Gitane owner survived but did not attend the ride. Viva la France.

Working on a Motobecane Grand Jubilé from -most probably- 1974/75. Reynolds 531 double butted, Campagnolo nuevo record derailleur (74), Weinmann 999 brakes, Pivo steering, Rigida wheels. Number on left rear pad is 2535917. It says A64216 on right rear pad (both Campagnolo). Will post pics later on.

coincidentally, I too have a (recently acquired) yellow Moto mixte. Probably earlier than the one above. The first digit of the ser# is very hard to read, but it may be "5", giving me a serial number of "5443092".

I'm guessing this is an early to mid 70's. The cranks are similar but the Dia-Compe brakes and RD (Suntour Vx) are newer than any of the 7-8 Peugeots I've restored. Any ideas? I'm going to do a complete tear down and mount better wheels and parts on it for someone.

I have a 1976 or Gran Jubile' mixte that is sitting in the "wings" waiting for me to clean up. It has Campy Record hubs and Mavic wheels with first generation Cyclone FD/RD. Suntour power shifters. I am a long legged guy , so I haven't been too motivated to fool with it . It is a very nice bike though. I paid $120 for it years ago.

I have a Grand Record as well. Some of the components are the same as what you have and some are not. What's really got me curious is the font used on the down tube for "Motobecane" logo. There seems to be very few like this. Are these older then the bikes with the traditional font/logo?

Yes, I think you can safely assume that font is older than the typical font from the mid 70's. If I recall, my research led me to believe the font changed in either 73 or 74, but my memory isn't what it used to be.

Thanks for the info. Do you have any info on when production of the line began? Was it in the 60s?

My quick and probably not perfect analysis of Motobecane (Grand Records mostly) serial numbers.

I only used these 2 threads for this analysis:
Show your Motobecane Grand Record
Motobecane Serial Number Database

1970 to 1975 Most on the rear dropouts.
The model number with year is usually on driver side inside dropout.
Example:
64316 is Model 64 or 6416 (Grand Record), The third number 3 designates a frame build year of 1973,

Model 62 or 6216 Grand Touring
Model 63 or 6316 Le Champion
Model 64 or 6416 Grand Record
Model 65 or 6516 Mirage
Model 93 or 9316 Grand Jubile

The serial number is on outside of non drive side dropout. Seems to be a sequential number that might have started at 1000000 for all Motobecane models.

The serial number might not always get stamped when the frame model number/year is stamped.
(one example I found: Grand Record with 64116/1250892 (Frame built in 1971) but serial number later than Grand Record with 64216/1238406 (Frame built in 1972)

Looks like around 1976 Motobecane started using Month/Year stamps on underside of bottom bracket shell.


Thank you T-Mar for all the serial number databases you have started and figured out

another Grand Touring. Yellow shows all the chips, scrapes and rust so well.
Serial number is 1923405
Inside BOTH rear dropouts 64716
A73 on the outside of the left dropout. (There are other numbers on the lugs and dropouts that I would think are frame angles.)
Two city bicycle license stickers the older is 1972-1973 the newer is dated 1981-1982.
sorry, no full bike photo. Started parting it out before I took photos.
Not in the photos: Weinman center pull brakes, Suntor shifter and derailleurs (date codes of OJ 1972-0ct and OK 1972-Nov - thank you vintage-trek.com ), Stronglight 49D crankset. Lyotard alloy flat pedals. Normandy hubs, alloy rims, Pivo alloy stem & alloy bars.
The frame certainly does NOT live up to the "Grand" name that I'd normally associate with the far nicer Grand Record. I'd say it's the same frame as a Nomad or Mirage. 1020 tubing, sheet metal lugs and stamped dropouts. Same basic frame as the entry level but some upscale parts. (reminds me of the Raleigh "Super" Record or the Raleigh "Super" Gran(d) Prix from the same era)

I'd put this as a 1973 model despite the model number decoding to 1977 as suggested in the post just before this one and the late season Suntour parts. No idea when Motobecane switched production vs model years. The parts match the catalog specs for 1973. There were quality lowering changes in 1974 specs. Could the 3rd digit indicate a frame size or frame style? I have a Mirage Mixte that is 35717 (posted above)

PS, the frame is way to big for me. If you want it, let me know. Could be a fun single speed/fixie project.

Motobecane Grand Jubilé, s/n 2775838. Components suggest '75.



Any idea what this stamp on the fork end means?

As requested, I've taken pics of all the numbers\codes I could see. I originally posted in the 'What's it worth?' forum. So any help with that would also be appreciated. Cheers all.

Ooh! That pump is so cool. Where can I get that French Flag pump? Thanks!

Hi, I’m new to the biking world and I’m trying to figure out the year and model of a Motobecane bike that I recently purchased at a Thriftstore. I’m looking to restore it. Any help or guidance on year and model would be very much appreciated! I need to know what I’m working with in case I need replacement parts. So thank you for any future help or guidance from everyone!

You could have a look around this site. Otherwise, you will have to provide some info for us to go on. Or better yet, get your post count up over 10 so you can post pictures.

Thanks. I am working on getting the 10 posts done so that I can post pictures. That’s a hard obligation to fill.

Welcome to the forums. You don't need know the year and model for replacement parts, as very few bicycle use proprietary parts. You can get all the information you need for compatible replacements by examining the existing parts. The year and model are more of a "nice to know".

Having said that, I'm seeing a pre-1974 head badge, mixte style frame stamped dropouts, stem mounted shift levers, Weinmann centre-pull brakes, Huret 700 front derailleur, steel cottered crankarms, steel rims and large flange aluminum hubs with a nutted axle. Statistically, it is probably no earlier than boom era, so the leading candidate would be a 1971-1972 Motobecane Mirage.

Photo assist....

2998854
504
609

Finally got my 10 posts done so here are the pics. I’m trying to figure out the year and model of this bike. I poured through most of the online catalogues I could find, but to no avail. I’d like to point out the location of the shifter knobs(?), they are at the end of the handlebar. I have not seen this in the catalogs. I’m looking to restore the bike so, it would be nice to know year, model, and value of the restored bike. Any info would be wonderful. Thank you!