After buying this bike in July for my girlfriend, I let it collect dust for 6 months while I selfishly finished school and worked on other projects, but recently I decided to give it the attention that it deserves. It had been through two local owners before I bought it and by the time it fell into my hands, it had a new set of Michelin Gazelles, a Malossi Varplus and a Dellorto 14:12. Unfortunately, it also had a set of dried out crankshaft seals and bearings that made the motor sound like rollerblades on old blacktop.
I installed a new set of bearings and seals (two sets of seals, actually...whoops), took the Varplus to use on my daily rider (I replaced it with a 2 ball stock variator) and replaced the Dellorto with a 12mm Gurtner (because I really, really like them). Right now, its a little over geared running at 13/54 but the low end is still pretty decent and it tops out in the mid 30's. An 11 tooth front sprocket should wake it up a little more.
Cosmetically, this thing is dynamite. The paint is only scratched or nicked in a handful of spots, some of the chrome has some light pitting and unfortunately the right side tank decal is messed up but for being 38 years old, its condition is remarkable. It even has the original tool kit in the original bag.
Eventually I'll get the right sidecovers and decals for them. I've never concerned myself too much with going through a painstakingly anal restoration because that shit's for old dudes, but I'm willing to make an exception for a bike this nice.
More pictures on my Flickr.
What a lovely and less common example of French beauty. My first Moby had a users manual and the tool kit and I'm pretty sure I almost crashed when I saw the speedometer light up the first time at night.
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