The 1st picture is what a restored one of these looks like. As I noted in another post, I had wanted one of these for a while and made similar looking thing out of bike and moped parts. I am living in Holland right now and saw a classified ad for a Motobecane frame for 100 euros (135$) Motobecane mostly built nice bicycles and mopeds, but they did used to make motorcycles. I was shocked when I saw the picture (2nd picture) A powder coated frame, forks, 2 gas tanks, and handle bars. These bike were a sales success in Europe in the '20s, but out of date when it was built: Motobecane used belt-rim drive until 1925, Harley and Indian stopped doing so more than 10 years before. The front suspension was also out of date. The result for me is that when done, the bike will look even older than it is, basically like a 100 year old motorcycle. I think I can finish the whole project for under $2,000. What would it cost to own a 1st generation motorcycle in the States? likely more than $2,000. I am trying to use period parts, but not original to that make and model. This will keep me on budget, increase parts availability, and make a faster bike. An MB1 came with a 175cc 2 stroke. I bought a 260cc 2 stroke from a 1920's Favor (another French brand) it needed a new bearing. I have a brass Villiers carb, and an old Bing carb, I'm not sure which to use. And an old Ruthardt magneto. In Holland there are a lot of cargo bicycle type machines, and some use very heavy duty 26" wheels. I got some of those rims, 2 inches wide, and 10 gauge spokes. I got one NOS 26x2.25 motorcycle tire, and am looking for another. I widened a pedal crank from a Mobyette. I just got 2 old Motobecane leather saddles this week and a belt rim pulley. No pics of those yet. The main missing part is an exhaust. The Favor engine uses dual 38mm pipes. I would like to use my lathe to scale-up a Mobylette clutch/starter clutch set up, but I may just use a simple drive pulley until I get that done. It's slow finding metal for machining in Holland. I'm also working on another pedal start Motobecane: a 1936 b1v2.
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Someone elses restored mb1.jpg65.8 KB · Views: 3,329
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1925 motobecane.JPG60.1 KB · Views: 2,580
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motor2.jpg65.1 KB · Views: 2,394
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Motor next to av7.jpg55 KB · Views: 2,384
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motor3.jpg37.2 KB · Views: 2,258
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early and late mb1 tanks.jpg53.3 KB · Views: 2,246
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$_12.JPG28.2 KB · Views: 2,242
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CAM00394.jpg85 KB · Views: 2,466