new bike "Premier Bebe"

markus

markus

Well-Known Member
#1
#1
I just went and picked this one up last night. From what I can tell its a 1973 Premier "BeBe" 50cc, uses the same style motor that is in Broncco tx-6's far as I can tell (I think they mineralli IIRC) The tx-6 I had was a screamer and these motors have a great 2 stroke sound to them.

I was having a little buyers remorse this morning as its pretty rough looking and I while it was a decent price it was no steal. But I'm a sucker for Italian mini cycles so I had to have it.

Anyway, feeling sort of like a chump for buying it a rolled it out of van this morning to have a better look. I threw some gas in it just to see what would happen Guy said it would run. I kicked it for while not having much luck Played with the tickler on the Dell (man that sounds wrong) and messed with the choke and still nothing. I was just about to say screw it and gave it another kick and it sputtered to life! took a couple of times and few seconds of choking/revving but it sits there and idles like a top, revs to the moon too. So now I don't feel so bad:smile:

Got some clutch cable issues, I dunno if its the rigged clutch cable or if the clutch is not engaging internally ( I hope its just the cable) but The clutch isn't functioning so no ride yet. Seems to go in the gear good while it was on the stand running though.

When I got done revving it up and waking the neibours I saw this behind it :smile: I guess I call this bike the "Valdez"



I think I could pull off some Benelli wheels with this bike, It has sort of that Harley x-90 look to it and those are the wheels (or simaliar) that they use from what I have seen.



There are 2 little clips on the chainguard, there is supposed to be an old school air pump there for the tires. If any of you have any old bikes sitting around with one of those long skinny tube air pumps on it, let me know!

Hard to say how well it will clean up as-is I'll post up some pics after a bath in the next few days




 
mardyn

mardyn

Member
#2
#2
Kinda' reminds me of a Hodaka Ace 100 I looked at a few months ago. Had not run in years, had good compression, but needed lots of TLC, dude wanted 500.00 cash.

I took a pass on it, just couldn't justify the time, effort, and money it would have taken to get it back into decent condition.

I don't think it was a bad deal... just not for me at the time. I woulda' had a bad case of that same buyer's remorse big time had I brought that one home.

mardyn
 
markus

markus

Well-Known Member
#4
#4
Less than 24 hours and I rode it! This afternoon I hit it with the pressure cleaner, dug out an old cable and cherry lever off one of the Rupps and stuck that one for the clutch lever. It still would no engage the clutch so I tore the side cover off to find milk (oil/water) and the clutch pack seriously stuck together. I tore it apart and did my best to clean everything up. Little bit of pitting on the steel sections of the basket and plates but luckily the rest of the internals were clean as a whistle and no shavings anywhere or anything like that. No gasket so I ghettoed that and put it back together.

the headlight switch is missing a piece so I rigged it to stay on internally, fired it up and took it for a spin! mind you the tires are flat, I didn't even bother to try and air them up yet as the front one the stem is cockeyed but she ran, pretty quick for flat tires too! Carb is getting touchy now that I ran some fuel through it and all the crap from the tank is draining down into the bowl :smile:

It looks better cleaned, That frame is actually silver under the Patina, Headlight and tail do work, brake light was either stuck on or not coming on, rear brake worked good no cable on the front.

I'm thinkin' maybe mini Cafe Racer if I decide to keep it. Some straight bars might look cool as its got the humped tank, lower seat and think it would look good with the forks that are one there too. Tank has some pinholes showing up so Its gonna have to be stripped and welded up so I gotta paint no matter what (at least the tank)

:thumbsup:
 
markus

markus

Well-Known Member
#6
#6
Here it is after a quick bath, did not realize how intricate the bottom section of the frame is as it was just a big glob of mud/grease Before.

I dug out a handlebar from one of my mountain bikes and stuck it on there just to kinda get a feel for how it would look with shorter/straight bars. I think It could pull it off, raise the headlight a touch maybe a bullet shell with speedo, some less aggressive tires, what do you guys think????




It'll be a kneebanger!!

 
Tom S.

Tom S.

#7
#7
How about a clubman bar or clip-ons? The fork tubes look pretty fat or a mini, perhaps 35mm? You should be able to find clip-ons in that size pretty easily, too. That would look great.
 
x-90 rider

x-90 rider

#8
#8
Hey Marcus - nice find

A lot of the Italian made bikes from the early 70s have matching or similar parts. The frame, front forks, swing arm, handlebars, fenders, and taillight, on your bike look similar to a Harley X-90 or a Shortster. The Benellis also have a lot of similar parts.
 
markus

markus

Well-Known Member
#9
#9
Tom, I looked a bit at the clubman and clip ons, I'll have to take some measurements and see if any of the clubmans fit fit on there without looking too big on the bike. The clip ons are probalby the way to go, bit pricey though:sadcrying4: Thanks for the ideas, I didn't know the wording for the bars, made life alot easier to search them out!


X-90 I hoping that a rear fender will be pretty universal to these style bikes this ones gotta small tear in it in a fairly visible place:doah:
 
mc916

mc916

New Member
#10
#10
Would you consider selling this bike? I had one whin i was a kid and have been looking for one. I would pay cash or i have a few Benelli Dynamo. Give me a call 716 982 7445 ask for mark

thanks
 
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