78 MC5

[scooterdude]

Hey guys, I just got lucky and bought a '78 MC5 ( the same beautiful bike you guys were talking about in January on ebay). Man, you talk about some weird karma I saw that same bike at Larry Shope's house in july when I drove from South Carolina to Tulsa to pick up a couple jems I had already paid for. Asked him how much for the KTM, he told me it was already sold to a guy in nashville. Bummer. Last week sold a IT400 to a guy in Tenn. who said he would pick the bike up here to save on shipping, and lo and behold he pulls up with that beauty in the back of his truck. Totally weird and unexpected.
I must be "liv'in right" as they say. I need some help from you all knowing guru's if you got a minute. How many cc's of oil in case.Is it 80w like my jackpiner and does it drain out of the side,too? I need a history lesson also. Was this the first year to carry KTM on the tank? Any good,bad,or ugly's I need to watch out for?
Thanks again,
Jeff

 

[scooterdude]

I guess it would help if I told you it is a 400.
Jeff

 

[Mike Lenz]

The suspension was the weak link on the 78's. The forks were 38mm but did were not as smooth as the previous years 35mm. Hi point and terrycable made a kit or you can use the fluted dampening rods from a 80 or 81 model and use a spacer or longer top out spring to achieve the same travel.

 

[tlanders]

Mike, does Terrycable still make the kit? What specifically did the kit do? I just came across a '78 250 and am working on it. Teddy

 

[Chris Brown]

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

 

[tlanders]

Chris,
Did you get the springs from Rick D? How much were they? You didn't put the kit in like Mike was talking about? Thanks, Teddy

 

[Mike Lenz]

Teddy, The kits are not made anymore. I couldnt find any of them either and wound up buying a pair of 1980 forks and used those fork rods with a longer top out spring. They work very well.

 

[Chris Brown]

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.

 

[tlanders]

Chris,

I just looked at your bike's photo. It has a silver frame, that means it is a 1977 Penton MC5, not a 1978 KTM MC5 right? Or did you paint the frame silver and it was orange? Also, the forks are white and my 1978 KTM forks are orange like the frame. My tank decal is different and has the MC5 World Champ and GS6 European Champ info on it and it is a different color also. Your bike is beautiful and I wish I could afford it. Is it really a 1978 with the '78 frame that is different than the '77 frame? I believe the '77s had 9" travel front and rear and the '78s had 10"? What do you know about this? Your bike is so beautiful I may just paint my frame silver, forks white and put the KTM/Penton logo on the back of the seat since I have to recover it and call it a Penton. I really wanted a '77 MC5 so I could say it was a Penton, however, this bike came along at a VERY low price and I couldn't pass it up. Mine is a 250cc. Any info you or anyone else can supply would be appreciated.

Teddy

 

[tlanders]

Chris,

You mentioned rebuilding your Bing. What jetting did you end up with? The reason I ask is I rebuilt a '77 400 last summer and I am still not sure if I am jetted right. The bike runs great, it is hard to start cold as you mentioned and I have to tickle it, crank a couple times, then tickle it again to start it. My plug looks a little lean, but then I have never checked it the correct way. Also, my '78 has long accordian fork covers. Is this normal or an add on by somebody? Yours doesn't have these. THanks again for any info.

Teddy

 

[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

 

[tlanders]

Thanks Chris.