The bike is coming along, it now has wheels.  I ordered some wheels from a local bike shop owner a month ago and got frustrated that they had not arrived yet, so yesterday I ordered a set of Weinmann track wheels from JensonUSA dot com.  The wheelset was on sale for 109 dollars, and with shipping and tax it came up to 136 dollars.  I paid for 4 day shipping and the wheels were at my house 23 hours later!  FedEx decided to move them fast for whatever reason.  With a 18 tooth freewheel, rim tape and chain from Herb Bauer, a set of Soma Everwear tires from Chris at Tower Velo, and puncture-resistant tubes from Performance Bike’s going-out-of-buisness sale, the Motobecane is ready to roll.  No brakes yet, however.  There is still a lot more to do, but here’s what it looks like now:

I’m up to 282 dollars total on the whole thing so far, including paint, the new stuff and buying the bike in the first place.

The red stripe on the wheels matches the paint color somewhat, it’s not perfect but not too far off.  Red stripe wheels like the indy cars are using this year yeee haw.

I still have to get the seat recovered or get a new seat, buff the paint off the lugs more thoroughly, put on a clear coat, add some brakes or buy a fixed sprocket, paint the center of the crank arms and the chain gaurd, and put on some bar tape.