It's only an ANTIQUE once!
I've been watching for classic bikes on eBay and Craigslist for over 5 years. With the exception of professionally restored top name collector marques (Masi, Hetchins, Singer and so on) most bikes and frames with original paint have brought more money than repainted ones, even fairly rusted examples!
A refinished Chippendale is just another chair!
The recommendation that most classic bike painters make is to ride the bike for a while to see if you like it before spending a lot of money on having it repainted.
After repainting most bikes/frames loose some of their original value.
I use the 5 foot test... Will the average person notice a few chips and scratches or touch-up work from 5 feet away? A bare frame usually looks worse than a built up bike. Once you install some shiny components they usually distract the viewers eye.
Some folks familiar with classic bikes overlook some patina while others who like concours examples would notice the "flaws".
Myself, I tend to not ride bikes that are too pretty for fear of getting them scratched or dirty. I've run out of space for wall hangers!
I'm not into ground up restorations so I avoid rust buckets! I look for frames or bikes with a little patina that I can either live with or touch-up.
Another thing to consider, a freshly painted frame with ratty chrome or well worn components stands out like a sore thumb. If you are assembling a bare frame, mint looking components can cost a lot more.
Colors, it's hard to date an early Motobecane Le Champion without the original components. I've seen early 70s Le Champions in blue flamboyant with white lugs (one of these just sold on eBay), turquoise flamboyant with cream colored lugs and the less common black with red lugs.
The black and red ones were supposed to have been a special order brought in by the importer Ben Lawee in 1972. Silver with black trim Le Champions were probably from 1973.
During the bike boom, there was no sense of FIFO inventory management (First In First Out). Bikes could have sat in the factory, the importer's warehouse or a bike shop for up to several years, especially in the less popular sizes. So, the date of original purchase is no marker of when it was built.
In 1974 a new style Le Champion was introduced. They had the same frame as the top of the line Team Champion/Champion Team models except they were lilac instead of BIC orange and had chrome socks on the fork blades. The Team Champion/Champion in the 1974 Motobecane catalog has chrome socks too.
The biggest differentiation between the 1974 models and the previous years were the use of a Fischer fork crown instead of a Wagner chevron top crown and the angle cut treatment of the fork blades and rear stays where they attach to the dropouts. These latter bikes also have a different treatment on the seat stay caps than most of the earlier frames.
Most Le Champions made between 1974 and 1976 were lilac color but some were silver.
Touching up silver paint can be difficult because it tends to turn flat when it dries. I've tried automotive touch-up paint but it turned flat too. As Devon Warner suggested, nail polish may be a good solution.
Here's a link to a compilation of Le Champion pictures that I originally put together for my own use.
NOTE: only 4 of the bikes/frames are mine, the black and red 1972, the two lilac 1974-75 frames and the silver 1977 frame.
http://www.flickr.com/
Chas. Colerich Oakland, CA USA
pavel ladonnikov wrote:
> Hello CR,
>
> I just bought a silver 72 Le Champion frame. It is in good shape for
> its age, but it does have some paint chips, scratches, etc. Looks good
> from about 10 feet away; and definitely looks good for having the
> original paint.
>
> Do you all think that I should bother with a repaint, or just leave it
> alone? I have had a frame powdercoated before by Maas Bros in
> Livermore CA, and have been fairly happy. However, it does not look as
> smooth as a coat of paint, though probably more durable. I can
> powdercoat it or have it sprayed. If I do either of these, I need
> decals. Although these are fairly readily available from cyclomondo, I
> think it would then have to be clear coated.
>
> What are your opinions?
>
> While we're at it, can someone point me to a source where I could see
> what the original offered colors were?
>
> -Pavel Ladonnikov
> San Jose, CA
>
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