Winter Project - April 2023
1978 Motobecane 50V Mobylette built in France.
My next door neighbors husband bought this used moped back in 2003 and left it sit in his garage for the last 20 years untouched. He had a debilitating stroke about 15 years ago and fast forward to Fall 2022 his wife wanted to get rid of it and I offered to take it.
Initial inspection showed no spark but the engine spun freely, the empty gas tank interior was covered in surface rust, both tires were dry rotted and flat but I recognized the potential for a rebuild.
After a complete tear down including the 50cc 1 1/2 hp two stroke engine, I slowly cleaned all the pitting on the chrome parts, chemically removed the rust inside the gas tank, de-greased the frame and polished the original paint back to a high luster. Rebuilt the engine with new gaskets, bearings and rings. Added a new Dellorato carb and manifold. Replaced all the control cables and bought new tires and tubes (just had to go with the wide whites) any damaged fasteners were replaced with new.
After everything was fully reassembled, last week I fired it up and took my first ride. What a blast hitting a whopping 25mph ;-)
Winter Project - April 2023
1978 Motobecane 50V Mobylette built in France.
My next door neighbors husband bought this used moped back in 2003 and left it sit in his garage for the last 20 years untouched. He had a debilitating stroke about 15 years ago and fast forward to Fall 2022 his wife wanted to get rid of it and I offered to take it.
Initial inspection showed no spark but the engine spun freely, the empty gas tank interior was covered in surface rust, both tires were dry rotted and flat but I recognized the potential for a rebuild.
After a complete tear down including the 50cc 1 1/2 hp two stroke engine, I slowly cleaned all the pitting on the chrome parts, chemically removed the rust inside the gas tank, de-greased the frame and polished the original paint back to a high luster. Rebuilt the engine with new gaskets, bearings and rings. Added a new Dellorato carb and manifold. Replaced all the control cables and bought new tires and tubes (just had to go with the wide whites) any damaged fasteners were replaced with new.
After everything was fully reassembled, last week I fired it up and took my first ride. What a blast hitting a whopping 25mph ;-)