Joel,
Because of the size, it's likely to have gone to a buyer in Japan. The Japanese collectors' passion for French items knows no bounds.
Two years ago black and red Motobecane Grand Records were going for $800-$875 on eBay which seemed a little outrageous at the time. I got outbid on Motos like this one at least 3 times that year.
Earlier this year one of these frames went for ~$1400 - $1600 (for a bare frame!)??? That started the feeding frenzy!
This one that just sold on eBay, has been nicely cleaned up but little things like the gold pin striping isn't as nice as I've seen on most Motos from that era.
I always liked the black and red Motos. After missing out on a number of them in 2007 (one by $0.01) I finally lucked out and got my black and red Moto. It's a rare 1971 Le Champion with Campy derailleurs and hubs, Stronglight 93 cranks and Universal 61 brakes plus 3TTT bars and stem. It has Prugnat type 'S'lugs rather than Nervex but I can live with that! :-)
The other nice thing, it came with Campy Nuovo Tipo hubs with the kidney shaped cutouts like Record hubs rather than the round holes that were standard on NT hubs.
Chas. Colerich Oakland, CA USA
Via Bicycle wrote:
> ebay auction-
> http://ebay.com/
> or item #180430263984
>
> just a stock 1970s Moto. nothing special. it is clean, and has been
> cleaned. but there is nothing special about it? we have 2 here at the
> shop right now.
> I was shocked when I saw it on Ebay at $900, but even more atontished at $1500+.
>
> Funny seeing "more desirable" bikes sell for a lot less. I am kind of
> weary to put a couplejack taylors on Ebay now, seeing that there is
> more demand for bike boom era mass produced bikes, then custom or
> semicustom bikes. Let me comb the rafters for Gitanes and the like.
>
> joel flood
> philadelphia, PA