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I had a couple of those rims re-chromed, and along with some other pieces, like the pipe guard, etc, it was like $85. They looked great. I've had them do a couple of jobs for me. Nice people: Santa Ana Plating, Santa Ana, Calif.

Chris

 

Al had falks, I used one on a jackpiner and it was great. You might give him or Larry a call to see what they have. Rick Doughty probably has something that will fit too; that's vintage iron.
Chris Brown



Edited by - Chris Brown on 12/21/2002  10:32:35 PM

I used my old one as a pattern and sewed up a couple. I can do a couple more for you guys, possibly over the holiday break. If you're interested, let me know. I can send you dimensions to insure the fit, but I'm pretty sure the 76 is the same as the 77 and 78. They are a longer and taller seat than the earlier models.
Cost is $40 without stenciling. Choice of colors. Note my custom gray seat in the featured bikes section.
I thought Al Buehner had these?
Chris Brown

 

Damn it. I just wrote a whole long answer to your posts and then lost it at the end.

Synopsis:
Mine is a 78. It had ugly red frame and fork lowers. Still has the original Marzocchi fork wipers, no covers. The GS-6 probably had the bellows. Remember, the MC-5 was the MX version, the GS-6 the enduro.

Jetting: call the Bing agency, they can look up stock jetting numbers for you. I'm a couple of jets rich on the main, but I run some race gas in my fuel mix with a 50:1 oil ratio. My plug burns medium tan: perfect. You need to set up your jetting for your riding locale, average temps, and fuel mix.

I painted mine the colors of my choice as I was simply building a rider, not an original restoration. I had already done a few Pentons, and this one was a KTM anyway. It sure is fun to ride and gets a TON of attention where ever it goes. The tank had the decals you describe, but they didn't fit the molded in lines on the tank that were for the euro-spec paint scheme. I found one in an old motorcycle book with this style of paint line, so I did the custom airbrush scheme on it. Made the custom gray seat cover too.

I don't get to the site to often, so if you have urgent questions, post me personal email. On the other hand, I'm sure some of the readers enjoy the stories.
Later,
Chris

 

Ted,
Yes, I got springs from Rick, along with at last a grand in other parts as well. I think they were about $50. That and new seals was all I did to mine, they worked just fine. I remember they were Progressive springs, Harry Roeseller specials or something. At the time I didn't know much, guess I still don't!
BFN,
Chris
PS. Someone should buy my bike. It's just sitting there all pretty.

 

I have the white 400 in the featured section, and yes, it's still for sale. It's a 78 MC5. I bought it about 3 years ago and did a complete frame up restoration. It's still in excellent condition.
I put new springs in the marzocchi's, not sure of the rate though. They were spec'd for me by Rick Doughty. I've since added the WORKS shocks on the rear and the bike handles wonderfully.
They are very stable at high speed, but still corner well. I rode mine offroad for a couple of years and did not have trouble keeping up with modern bikes. It works you pretty good though.
I've run Spectro 80 or 85wt in the gear box, changing it every few rides. Yes, the plug on the right side is the drain, just lean the bike over to drain the last few ounces. 2 quarts works fine in it. It calls for 1300cc's, but a little extra doesn't hurt. This was the recommendation from Al Buehner and has worked fine for me. And I run Spectro 2-stroke oil with a couple of gallons of race gas with pump gas in a 5 gal can.
Get a carb rebuild kit (if you have the Bing) from the Bing Agency, it replaces the jet and slide needle, float needle, and cleans up the carburation. If it's jetted right it's a little hard to start cold because it runs so lean. But hot starts are easy one kick. The main thing is to tickle it and then pump the fork to get some fuel heading into the combustion chamber. Kick once or twice with some throttle, then start with throttle closed. Mine runs beautifully, burns the plug tan.
After 2 seasons I pulled the new jug off to inspect and de-carbon, and the rings were still in spec, and there was very little carbon.
Overall, I found it to be a wonderful bike to live with and very fun to ride. LOTS of power! I now ride a newer GasGas EC250 enduro.
Chris Brown

 

Price on the bike is $2,800.
Email me for more details if you wish.
BTW, there was almost $500 of parts put on it in the last few months. It is ride/race ready. I don't mess around, everything is top-notch.
Chris

 

Last call before I list this on the other sites.....
Chris

 

I don't know what Matt is selling (S&S) but it's hard to beat Buchanans. Send them a sample of each and the quantity and they will make them up for you. I've put on several sets and they are great.
He may be just ordering them from Buchanans anyway. BTW, Matt is a great guy to get parts from.
Chris Brown
78 MC5-400

 

I got a personal email from Bob Flinchbaugh telling me to stop in here about my old Six Days.
Yes, that's the bike I did last year that Donny bought.
It came from George Erl at Up-Tite Racing in Santa Ana. He had it sitting in his store for many, many years. He told me a guy came in and offered it to him as it was going to be put out with the trash while they were clearing out the old house after his dad died. I don't have a lot more detail than that. I bought it (well, it is a Penton)for a pit bike and something for my wife and non-rider friends to ride. Once I started working on it I just got carried away and made it way too nice to let anyone ride it.
So I finished it up and was asked to part with it before I really wanted to let it go. Donny just couldn't do without it.
The green is a good match to the original. Since I've done so much painting over the years, I custom matched it. I had some Jackpiner blue left over, and some number plate yellow. Mixed together it makes green! BTW, prep is pretty extensive, a topic for another post.
The motor had a baked on black finish to the barrel and head, it looked like powder coating or something. It was obvious that the engine had never been taken apart, and after disassembing the entire bike it did prove to be a very low-time bike. So I just re-finished it in black, and bored it and put a new piston in. It was evident that that's the way it was when it was new. Heck, the thing even had the original tires on it. Whoever owned it just rode it 'till it died and then parked it.
It got pretty much new or re-finished everything. My only gripe was that it was an "A" motor with points. So it's not really a race bike. All the better to make it a display bike.
Email or post any questions.
Thanks for posting it BOM. I have two up there now!
Chris

 

The stock shock length is 13.5" If you are going to race AHRMA vintage class you will want a stock length shock. This has been explored thoroughly by many and almost always come up with WORKS Performance as the solution. They will set them up for your size and style of riding.
Happy Trails....
Chris Brown

 

I think we're not sure what you mean by a "bushing". If you're talking about the carb to intake spigot, you can use green-line fuel hose, like for a truck or marine gas tank. Your local auto parts jobber will have it.
If you're talking about the boot for the carb to airbox, Al has those repro.
Chris

 

From the pictures it appears to be what I call a "restorable core". This bike needs a LOT of work. Fun project for someone though.
Keep in mind you will spend between one and two thousand dollars or more on a restoration.
If it was for sale down the street I would offer no more than $500 for it.
JMHO.
Chris

 

There are just a few differences as the MC was the track bike, and the GS was the enduro. I didn't realize the GS had a high-breather frame. That's a new one on me.
I have the MC, it has an Acerbis airbox, it's open on top.

And the GS has a support bar over the rear fender for the extra wieght of the longer fender with light and plate on it.

Of course the lighting and speedo and it's drive and all that, brake switches etc. are on the GS.

However, as far as the motor, tranny, hubs, pipe, suspension, I believe they are the same. Mine had Bilstein shocks with a '78 date on them, so I don't know if they came on it new, or if someone put them on. I have heard of quite a few Marzocchi shocks used on the rear of some of them from that vintage. That could be a difference.

I also have since discovered that the side covers were different from 77 to 78. I guess I ended up getting 77 covers for mine; they were missing when I bought the bike. I had to fabricate lower mounting brackets to attache them to the bike. The mountin holes on the plate didn't quite line up.

I also did not realize the GS had a 17" rear wheel. I suspect that is not stock, however anything is possible.

Let us know if you have issues selecting parts.

Chris

 

Mike L,
On factory race teams, yes some do run at 32:1. My GasGas race tech says 32:1. Keep in mind racing and recreational trail riding are two different things. A few examples:
1. Honda recommends a top-end rebuild every 20 hours on a CR. But trailriders commonly report several hundred hours between rebuilds.
2. Racers rebuild their engines before each race. They are running extra oil to make sure they finish the race.
3. Many are sponsored by racing oil manufacturers and distributors, and will quote those ratios whether they are running them or not. The mfrs want you to use LOTS of their oil, it is how they make money.
4. Indy cars and Nascars run NEO and Amsoil synthetic lubricants in trannys and diffs, while advertising Shell or Union, or whatever on the side of the car.

This is a topic of debate in many, many forums and everyone has their opinion.
I have a friend that has won the Baja 500 5 times, and has been building race bikes since the early 70's. I tend to believe him when he makes a recommendation. For the old air cooled bikes the GS at 50:1 is fine. For the new water-cooled bikes a straight synthetic at 40:1 is recommended. Fuel quality and jetting are actually more important, and will determine the useful life of your motor.

In our trials bikes we run 50:1 up to 100:1. Those motors are mostly idling when they are running.
 
Mike O's point of the type of oil is a very good one. A pure racing synthetic does not need to have the same concentration as a plain mineral based 2 stroke oil. Go by the manufacturers suggested ratios. You will notice that GS has ratio recommendations based on type of riding.

Bottom line: gather information from those that know, make your own choices, and go out and have fun!
Chris Brown