Sunday, May 24, 2015

Early 1980's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration
Bicycle After Restoration
May is mostly tune up month around here.  The temps start getting nice, the chill is gone, at least sometimes and things dry out which gets everyone thinking about there bike and a tune up.  That slows down restoration work a bit but between the tune ups I have been able to start work on this early 1980's Motobecane Grand Touring.  I place it in the early 1980's mainly on that a lot of the quirky things about a 1970's Motobecane are not here.

At first glance at the Motobecane Grand Touring I see a very understated but very classy bike under the grime and dullness.  The Grand Touring has some nice Rigida alloy wheels, center pull brakes that I prefer over the side pull brakes from the era and what I think is going to be a very nice paint color when polished.

The Motobecane is in descent starting shape, the paint is dull and has a few chips but I think it will polish beautifully.  I think all the alloy will polish beautifully and in the end the Motobecane will be a stunner.


Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Bicycle Before

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Bicycle Before
Handlebars

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Bicycle Before
Brake Levers

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Bicycle Before
Stem

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Bicycle Before
Head Badge

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Bicycle Before
Front Brake

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Bicycle Before
Fork Crown

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Bicycle Before
Front Wheel Hub

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Bicycle Before
Front Wheel Rim

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Bicycle Before
SR Stem

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Bicycle Before
Top Tube Decal

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Bicycle Before
Shift Levers

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Bicycle Before
Down Tube Decal

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Bicycle Before
Saddle

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Bicycle Before
Tubing Decal

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Bicycle Before
Crank

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Bicycle Before
Sun Tour Front Derailleur

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Bicycle Before
Bottom Bracket

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Bicycle Before
Pedals

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Bicycle Before
Cable Hanger

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Bicycle Before
Rear Brake

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Bicycle Before
Sun Tour Rear Derailleur

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Bicycle Before
Rear Wheel Hub
I really like the color of the frame, its kind of between a khaki green and a bronze.  I think its a cool understated color.  Not crazy bright but rather classy.  With the components striped from the frame I see the paint to be in okay shape.  There is a lot of dullness and some chips and scuffing but I still think it will polish very nice.


Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Frame Before

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Frame Before
Head Tube

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Frame Before
Head Tube

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Frame Before
Top Tube

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Frame Before
Down Tube

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Frame Before
Seat Lug

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Frame Before
Seat Lug

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Frame Before
Seat Tube

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Frame Before
Bottom Bracket

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Frame Before
Bottom Bracket

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Frame Before
Bottom Bracket

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Frame Before
Seat Lug

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Frame Before
Seat Stays

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Frame Before
Chain Stays

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Frame Before
Drop Outs

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Frame Before
Fork

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Frame Before
Fork Crown

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Frame Before
Fork Crown - Cool Black Accents

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Frame Before
Fork Blade

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Frame Before
Chrome Fork Drop Outs

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Frame Before
Fork Blade

I did a deep cleaning of the frame and started the polishing with a course grit to remove the scuffs and scratches.  With the course grit complete I worked threw a few finer grits.  I am thrilled with the results, the frame looks fantastic with mainly just a few spots of cable rub and where the cable brackets go.  The color is a really nice classy color and the black and gold accents are perfect!

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Frame Polished

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Frame Polished
Head Tube

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Frame Polished
Head Tube

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Frame Polished
Head Tube

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Frame Polished
Top Tube

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Frame Polished
Down Tube

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Frame Polished
Top Tube

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Frame Polished
Seat Lug

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Frame Polished
Bottom Bracket

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Frame Polished
Bottom Bracket

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Frame Polished
Bottom Bracket

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Frame Polished
Seat Stays

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Frame Polished
Chain Stays

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Frame Polished
Drop Outs
Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Frame Polished
Fork

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Frame Polished
Fork Crown

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Frame Polished
Fork Crown

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Frame Polished
Fork Chrome Drop Outs

The bottom bracket and headset went into the crock pot for cleaning and then polishing.  The pieces cleaned and polished beautifully, I am very pleased.  One of my favorite photos during a restoration is always the one of the polished headset and bottom bracket pieces, there is always such a big difference before and after.

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Headset & Bottom Bracket
Before

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Headset & Bottom Bracket
Polished

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration
Pressing Headset Cups

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Headset Bearings - Packed

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration
Headset - Complete

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Bottom Bracket Bearings
Packed

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration
Bottom Bracket - Complete

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Headset & Bottom Bracket
Complete

The handlebars had a lot of staining from the old cloth handlebar tape.  That is okay though, I cleaned the handlebars and polished the visable area.  I do not polish the handlebar area that will be under the tape, there is not need to remove the slightest bit of material in the polishing process.  I love the logos stamped into the handlebars.

The stem is a nice SR, I like very much the fit of the stem bolts, they ft in nice and smooth.  Both the stem and handlebars polished very nice and installed look amazing, I am happy with the results.


Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Stem & Handlebars
Before

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Handlebars
 Before

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Stem - Before

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Stem
Exploded

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Stem - Polished

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Stem - Complete

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Handlebars
Polished

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Handlebars
Polished

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Stem & Handlebars
Complete

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Stem & Handlebars
Complete

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration
Stem & Handlebars - Complete

The brake levers are pretty standard Die-Comp levers with the suicide handle.  The upright braking position is nice to have on a sport touring bike,  The levers cleaned nicely and after some work I was able to remove the old brake cables that where frozen in place.  The levers polished extremely nice and I am happy with the results.

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Brake Levers
Before

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Brake Levers
Polished

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Brake Levers
Complete

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Brake Levers
Complete

The next thing I did was install the seat post.  The Selle Italia saddle that was on the Motobecane will stay.  It is just a cool saddle and its a little rough but really not bad at all.  It deserves to stay.

The seat post cleaned and polished just beautifully but I will say I do not like this seat post, it is not an easy post to install a saddle on or adjust, or maybe it is that way for just me.  The seat post does look great installed.

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Seat Post
& Saddle - Before

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Seat Post
Exploded

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Seat Post
Polished

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration
Seat Post - Installed

I like the looks of the crank a lot.  It just has a very nice shape and a classic style.  The crank does have a textured finish that does not look the best and polished on the powered polishing wheels.  However I do polish all the small crank hardware on the polishing wheels.  I cleaned the crank and then started the hand polishing process.  It took a while by hand but the crank really polished nice, I love the look and I really like the look against the paint color.

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Crank - Before

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Crank
Exploded

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Crank
Polished

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Crank - Complete

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration
Crank - Installed
The derailleurs are what I call standard bullet proof Sun Tour derailleur.  They are simple and just work well and are very durable.  I cleaned all the derailleur pieces and both derailleurs polished very nice.  This rear derailleur style when polished is one of my favorite looks and this derailleur did not disappoint one bit!

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Front Derailleur
Before

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Front Derailleur
Exploded

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Front Derailleur
Complete

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Front Derailleur
Installed

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Rear Derailleur
Before

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Rear Derailleur
Exploded

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Rear Derailleur
Polished

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Rear Derailleur
Complete

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Rear Derailleur
Installed

I like the classic center pull brakes.  They work well, a lot better then the side pull brakes from the era and they look fantastic restored!  These center pull brakes turned out really nice and with the new brake pads will work great too.  They sure look nice against the polished paint.

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Brake Calipers
Before

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Brake Calipers
Exploded

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Brake Calipers
Polished

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Brake Calipers
Complete

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration
Front Brake Caliper - Installed

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration
Rear Brake Caliper - Installed

Last things to do on the main boy components is the shift levers and all the cable stops.  The shift levers are not the prettiest levers ever made but the Sun Tour Power Shift levers are some of the best functioning levers ever.  I rode these levers for years and love them.

All the cable brackets, stops and hangers are what really makes for a nice restoration.  If all of the brackets where not polished they would stand out like a soar thumb but polished they add so much.


Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Shift Levers
& Brackets - Before

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Rear Brake Cable
Clamps - Before

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Shift Levers
Polished

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Shift Levers
Installed

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Cable Bracket
Polished

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Brake Cable Clamps
Polished

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Main Body Components
Complete

The wheels are really nice Rigida wheels, I like them a lot.  They have double walled alloy rims and the cool Rigida decal.  The wheels where in a little bit of a rough state to start.  The front rims has some corrosion staining that did not completely polish out but still looks fantastic polished.  

Somehow I forgot to take before photos of the rear wheel.  The wheels really came out nice, the hubs look great polished, the rims really look great polished and the wheels are true and spin forever.  I love this stuff!

Just for posterity, the little odometer on the front wheel was at 2436 miles.  Cool to know. 

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration
Front Wheel - Before

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Front Wheel Hub
Before

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Front Wheel Rim
Before

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Front Wheel Hub
Old Grease

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Front Wheel Hub
Polished

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Wheel Axle Pieces
Ready

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Front Wheel
Bearings Packed

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration
New Tires & Tubes

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration
Front Wheel Complete

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Rear Wheel Hub
Old Grease

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Rear Wheel Hub
Polished

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Rear Wheel Bearings
Packed

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration
Rear Wheel Complete

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Wheels Complete

Its now time to wire the Grand Tour and install the handlebar tape.  I think the Ice Grey cable housings and black handlebar tape are the way to go on the Motobecane.  The Motobecane really looks good with the handlebar tape installed and the cables run.

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - New Bits & Pieces

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Bicycle Wired

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Bicycle Wired

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Bicycle Wired

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Handlebar Tape
Installed
 Last thing is the pedals, pedals take a beating and these pedals have taken a beating but they still spin really smooth so I am going to try to save them.  I cleaned the pedals and started the hand polishing.  The pedals cleaned really nice and polished pretty good considering how they started.  They spin extremely smooth and look pretty good installed.

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Pedals
Before

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Pedals
Complete

That completes the Motobecane.  It was raining at the time of completion today so tomorrow I will test ride the Motobecane and take the final photos.  The Mototbecane looks great on the stand.

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Bicycle
Complete
I was able to test ride the Motobecane this morning, after a few adjustments I am shocked by the ride, very nimble, very fast and smooth, I was not expecting that at all!  I figured the Motobecane would be more on the heavy side for the era which is not a bad thing because the heavier bikes from the era ride like Cadillacs.  The Motobecane rode more like a sports car.

Another surprise was the brakes, I don't know if it was the weather or what but they worked so well I almost flipped it on the first brake test, amazing.

I am extremley pleased with the Motobecane Grand Touring, it rides like lighting and feels great.  The best part might be its understated classy looks, its a snake in the grass.

When I was carrying the Motobecane around and riding it it felt a lot lighter then I was thinking so when I was done with the test ride I decided to weigh it.  The Motobecane comes in at 25 lbs 1 oz, very very respectably for steel and the era, very cool!.

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration
25 lbs 13 Oz

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Bicycle Complete

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Bicycle Complete

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Bicycle Complete
Front

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Bicycle Complete
Handlebars

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Bicycle Complete
Handlebars

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Bicycle Complete
Head Badge

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Bicycle Complete
Front Brake

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Bicycle Complete
Front Wheel Hub

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Bicycle Complete
Stem

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Bicycle Complete
Head Tube

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Bicycle Complete
Shift Levers

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Bicycle Complete
Front Half

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Bicycle Complete
Top Tube

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Bicycle Complete
Down Tube

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Bicycle Complete
Seat Tube

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Bicycle Complete
Bottom Bracket

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Bicycle Complete
Crank

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Bicycle Complete
Front Derailleur

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Bicycle Complete
Rear Derailleur

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Bicycle Complete
Saddle

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Bicycle Complete
Rear Brake

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Bicycle Complete
Rear Wheel Hub

Early 80's Motobecane Grand Touring Restoration - Bicycle Complete
Rear

Thank You!
John Z.

3 comments:

  1. I have this exact model from a few year earlier -77 or 78 - in the same color scheme, even the Vitus tubing decal on seat tube has worn the same! (http://ryansrebuilds.blogspot.com/2014_05_01_archive.html) I bought it a year ago after looking for one for years and plan do to the complete tear down this summer. Very cool to see yours go through your process and come out beautifully as usual.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I have two of this model- Motobecane Grand Touring from very early 80's. On one, I did a tour from California to Massachusetts in 1995. On the other, I did Alaska to Florida in 2008 and an 8,000 mile All-48-US-States tour in 2014. I love this bike. It fits me well and rides like a dream. I will never tour on any other. Currently restoring both to do RAGBRAI with my nephew this summer. Thank you for showing your restoration in such great detail.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Amazing! How many hours did you spend on this restoration and what kind of polishing tools do you use?

    ReplyDelete