New to the Forums! Looking to Re-Restore my Moto Beta Bebe Premier!

NPVR6

New Member
#1
My Dad Bought this bike for his brother some 30 years ago for his birthday, and his brother didn't want it!!
So it sat in my garage until I was about 10 when my dad and my brother pulled it out and started using it. It was now a candy apple red from the original lime green. So they painted it purple :confused: and did a horrible restoration on it.

Now I pulled it out today, about 8 years later. All i remember is my brother blew the clutch in it. I know the clutch grabs, but it slips. I'm hoping its not the gears..
The bike will definitely start and run, but i remember i messed up the carb a little bit back then, maybe some polishing and adjusting inside it will change the binding problems.
I think it also needs a new coil... unless we put a new one in but i don't think so.
By now it probably needs brakes.
And I would like to put new rings in it and a head gasket, but i can't until i find a parts source which may be impossible with this Italian beauty.

The motor always ran strong, the brakes always worked, but I know this thing is going to need parts.

I'm going to send the frame out for a sandblasting and powdercoating as soon as I get it apart. And I have a home powder coater in my basement that works perfectly!! So I am going to do all the smaller parts that can fit in the oven that I use.

I am going to get pictures up of the bike this afternoon, but hopefully you guys can point me in the right direction of getting parts and help with anything else.
 

markus

Well-Known Member
#2
Domi Racer has a probably the most extensive in parts for the Premiers. I have not ordered any parts for mine yet from them. they were nice enough to send me some copies of an exploded parts diagram they had so I can figure out what parts are what in their listings.
I have had mine about a year and religiously watch ebay for parts and bikes. Seen one bike go up and one side cover and thats about it:thumbdown: Very scarce bike.
If you are going to restore keep in touch with me, I was told that Domi did have repro tank decals at one time and were currently out. Thinking if we gang up on them they may make a few for us :thumbsup:

Heres mine, it will be undergoing a full custom/resto hopefully soon. These bikes are really rare and pretty fast, but have no following. so Instead of restoring to stock I'm going to try and make a mini cafe racer out of it:eek:ut:
 

NPVR6

New Member
#3
It's good to know that another member has the same bike so we can conquer this machine together haha.
I took the motor off of it tonight so I could get the oil out of it and checkout the clutch, it definitely looks like its going to be a pain in the butt to get off but I think if i hit it with some heat the bolt holding the clutch in will eventually come off.
My frame is in good condition, there are a few dings here and there that I will pop out and a few spots that need to be welded but thats okay because I have a welder and can do it perfectly. But besides for that, I am going to get the frame sandblasted, and I am definitely going to contact the company you just told me about so I can get the parts together I am going to need.

I hope i can get a headgasket and new bolts so I can powdercoat the jug and cylinder head.

Like you said though I am sure none of these parts will pop up on ebay, but I just want to buy what i need not a parts bike because id rather buy other things, this is just a fun rebuild! And a way of showing my dad and brother up really good because I am the only one that can use the powdercoater and the welder really well.

Here are a few pics of the bike, I think I am missing the tailight and the chain guard.
 

markus

Well-Known Member
#4
Very cool, yours is an early version (around 70-72) Mine is a '73 last year with the updated forks etc.. I Like your forks better, they have a more vintage look. The "Yankee boss" bikes use very similar parts on the front to yours and "Northeast cycle" just recently posted that they have a good supply of NOS stuff for them, some parts may work for the Premier.

Domi does have the chainguards listed, The Taillight may be difficult but they are a typical CEV taillight same as many others, The tag bracket I think is a little different than others though but probably doable (I have a Benelli one that real close). They don't have the tire pump that mounted to the chainguard though:doah: I have been kinda looking for something that might work, I have seem one that would probably work but it was too pricey to take a chance on.

I'm pretty sure they have a pretty good supply of engine parts for these. I think these are standard Mineralli engines if I'm not mistaken, or at least very close. When I got mine the clutch was frozen, the disks were all fused together. I took a little doing but I was able to get it all apart and cleaned up and reassembled and I ran the engine after many years of sitting around. It actually runs beautiful-smokes like chimney though! Mine has the typical 3rd gear slip. Its the most usable gear on these style bikes and right now I'm not sure what wears but it will randomly pop out of that gear. I had another Mineralli 50cc engined mini that did the same exact thing.

I apologize in advance for the quality of this, Luckily I printed this off a little website that was dedicated to these bikes before it disappeared. this gives you the part#'s for the 50cc 4speed



I can't make my scanner mesh with my computer so I had to just a take a pic, I can email it to you it may come out bigger and more legible that way if needed.
 
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NPVR6

New Member
#5
Thats a good printout you have, I think I need to get some carburetor parts, the float bowl inside is shot and it binds up really badly, I am going try to polish all the parts that are gouged up to get them to flow better.

I hope it all works out, but I will PM you with my email address if you wouldnt mind trying to send me the enlargements!
 
#6
Hey guys I have been working on the bike! So far its completely stripped and I have picked up a sand blaster with some media and I am waiting for it to get above 20 degrees outside so I can blast the frame.

I am powdercoating it flat black with random gloss black accents and gloss white handlebars!

I have the motor torn down and I need a new clutch and a piston and a ring along with some new gaskets.

Here are some pics
 

markus

Well-Known Member
#7
Good deal!!! A new years resolution is to pull my Bebe out of the shed and start on it. My motivation has been terrible, I'm gonna try going at some of these bikes in a new way, of course they may all just end up in pieces in storage bins instead of complete bikes though! :doah:

I'm planning on black too, In fact one of the reasons to tear it down is I have another bike in pieces that needs to be done in black so I am going to dump all the pieces at the powdercoater at once in hopes of maybe getting decent deal.
 
#8
That's cool. Here's Dad's, He said he thinks it's a keeper, for him to say that, he really likes it. He got some paper work and break downs on the bike and carb. Actually it covers all Dellorto Carbs. If you give me the number I can scan that for you guys. I brought it home to scan the UA19 stuff for the Rupp Guys. There is a place in Ohio for parts I'm assuming there in business still? But they cover Vintage Italian stuff:
"Domi Racer" # 513-871-1678
 

markus

Well-Known Member
#9
Randy definitely scan that stuff that you have when you get time, The domi site has all the listings of the parts they have, but if you don't know the part # you can easily get lost as the descriptions are not that good. I have been going by an exploded view poster (with part numbers) that Domi has in there files, They were kind enough to scan it for me in pieces but its got a couple of cut off areas.

These are very well made bikes, I don't know how the automatic will perform but the 4 speed is pretty quick and has some decent power, and mine needs rings something fierce!

I'm not sure if Domi has any of the early fork parts ( I know they list the late model like mine still) I think that the Yankee Boss bikes forks might be the same though, and northeast cycle has been listing some NOS stuff on ebay etc..

Hope we can keep this thread somewhat active, the guy that did have dedicated site for these I guess lost interest as it no longer online,
 
#10
Hope we can keep this thread somewhat active, the guy that did have dedicated site for these I guess lost interest as it no longer online,
You where probably the only member so he gave up:doah:
No, theres got to be a few out there. What carb is it, do you know? Dads is automatic but it has a manual clutch? Is it a single speed or is it like a syncromesh<--SPL? Bug? I didn't look at it real close. His owners Manual was in the tool kit and it is crumbling apart. He cant unroll it. But he got some other info and parts along with it.
 

markus

Well-Known Member
#11
You where probably the only member so he gave up:doah:
No, theres got to be a few out there. What carb is it, do you know? Dads is automatic but it has a manual clutch? Is it a single speed or is it like a syncromesh<--SPL? Bug? I didn't look at it real close. His owners Manual was in the tool kit and it is crumbling apart. He cant unroll it. But he got some other info and parts along with it.
Ha, actually his website was stagnant well before I bought my bebe, He had a few bebe's though and there was some usable info on there.

The carb is a Dell ME 16 BS I don't know about the autos and how they functioned. I would not want one if you can't wind it up, These mineralli style motors have a killer sound and ramp up pretty quick. Had the same style motor on the Broncco, They sound like a race bike:punk:
 
#12
I don't have it? I'll make sure Dad gave me everything he had? What I have only covers the bowl feed carbs. What I have covers the UA, UB and SS1.
I scanned the UA one. It dose you absolutely no good for this bike but I want to have something to show for my effort:doah:
 
#14
Wow you Guys have really impressed me with your knowledge and even the fact that you have Bebe bikes haha!
I just started my carb a few days ago and so far I have polished the entire inside with 600 grit sand paper to smooth out the inside. I have definitely cleaned out tons of grit from all of the needles and crevices. I also found that there is sand marks on the plunger that moves up and down with the throttle cable so I am goin to smooth it out and polish it on my buffer.
I also started sandblasting the frame and I found that the black beauty I am using is a little aggressive and is making the frame very rough. But the flat black might look really good with it. But I may also smooth it over with a quick sanding or with a finer sand. I am using the black beauty because there are three coats of paint on the bike and it is even having to take some time to blast off the original primer.
I am going to go through the parts website and start ordering what I need so I can get this closer to finished. I'm going to post my parts list later in the week so you guys can see what I am looking for.
 
#15
You got to watch on vintage slide carbs, that they slide good. Alot of guys where wiped out on the Triumphs with Amal carbs, even when they where new. You don't want to take much off or they will suck air and lean out. There are company's sleeving them now. But it looks like your on top of it:smile:
 
#16
Hey guys Im making moves!

I got the frame and tank back from the powder coater this week and I am moving onto buying the parts for the motor to get it back together. I have been reading the reference numbers from the prinouts you guys loaded up. I am having some troubles figuring out which parts i need.

I am looking to get a new piston and rings.
Gaskets for:
center crank case
and the left side of the crank case where the chain goes in.
also the right side where the clutch is
base gasket for cylinder
head gasket

3 clutch disks

clutch and throttle cable
also the brake cable for the rear foot break

also brake pads
and a rear tire.
 
#19
No Way the axle is perfect, its 42 inches wide and it rides great, it grips really well when turning and still kicks out if i hammer it.
 

mc916

New Member
#20
I just bought this bike. It is a 1970 four speed. It rund great and is fast for a little bike. I had one when i was a kid and loved it. I am planning to do a complete resto on it. The one i had bake the must have been a 73 because it had modern looking forks. I would like to find a set for this bike.



 
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