1978 Blue Silver Motobecane Moby 50VLC (SOLD)

Sold for $1076.25 in 2017

Motobécane was a French manufacturer of bicycles, mopeds, motorcycles, and other small vehicles, established in 1923. “Motobécane” is a portmanteau made up of two colloquialisms stuck together. “Moto” is a slang word for motorcycle; “bécane” is slang for “bike.”  Motobécane introduced a moped, the Mobylette, in 1949; over the next 48 years, Motobécane manufactured 14 million Mobylettes.  Until the end of import in 1980, it was the number one selling moped brand in the United States!

In the United States their finest standard model was the last production year’s model featuring a CVT variated transmission, 30 mph cylinder, metallic paint, and luxury trim options.  You are in luck because that is what this particular moped (pretty much) is!
This 1978 Motobecane Moby 50VLC US Model featured Blue Silver Paint, variable (2-speed) transmission, 12V lights, 2.25×17 tires, solo seat, & 54973 Side mount AR2-12-873 carburetor.

The only difference between the 1978 VLC and the 1980 VLC was that the 1980 had a longer seat and a slightly more durable motor; so we took care of that for you by adding a long seat to this one and moving over a complete running motor from a 1980 VLC… WOW, pretty cool eh!?!?!

These wonderful bikes really only have one weak point, which is the poor quality 12mm GURTNER carburetor.  Good for you, we replaced that with a reliable, tunable, larger 15mm Dellorto SHA carb.  Not only is it better, but the increased air flow gets you a few more MPH!

Beyond that, we gave this moped a full tune up, replaced all of the “ware items” such as the tires, tubes, both chains, grips, spark plug, fuel line, fuel valve, etc, and polished it up.

The 1980 Motobecane 50VLC was $739 USD, which is $2,152.49 in today’s dollars?!?!?  We are offering this moped and its Candy Red counterpart for half that, so why not grab both?

All vehicles purchased online must be picked up from our flagship store on Michigan Avenue within one week of online payment.  If you live in the metro Detroit area but don’t have a way to get your new whip home, we can have out our fun and friendly staff deliver it right to your front door! (Full priced purchases only.)

National shipping is available for RESTORED MOPEDS, E-Bikes, and/or Electric Scooters.  National shipping can be arranged through U-Ship at the buyer’s expense. We expect it to be $200-$300 depending on location.

NEW Tomos mopeds and  nopeds are available for in store purchase ONLY.