RESTORATION of a RALEIGH CHOPPER 1973 - Classic Bike build
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- Опубліковано 23 сер 2024
- Classic restoration bike build of a Raleigh Chopper 1973
With so much history around this iconic little bike we wanted to do something special and fully restore one. We've had a few sitting around our workshop for a few months and found a few days in December to restore one and feature it here as a special classic restoration.
The Raleigh Chopper was originally built in the 1970s by the Raleigh Bicycle Company of Nottingham, England. Its unique design became a cultural icon. The design was influenced by dragsters, "chopped" motorcycles, beach buggies, and even chariots, as can be seen on the centre page of the 1969 Raleigh US catalogue.
Archive BBC footage from here:
www.bbc.co.uk/...
Want one? Get in touch:
www.joesbikes.c...
Check out the build pics on our instagram:
/ joesbikes
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Spec:
Frame - Raleigh Chopper MK2
Rims - Steel
Tyres - Raleigh red line
Gears - Sturmey Archer 3 speed Hub Gears
Shift Lever - Sturmey Archer Stick Shifter
Crankset - Raleigh
Bottom Bracket - Raleigh
Chain - Raleigh
Brakes - Raleigh
Handlebar - Chopper MK2
Grips - Raleigh
Headset - Steel race with ball bearings
Seatpost - Steel
Saddle - Chopper MK2
Pedals - Raleigh Chopper MK2 asmr
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Contact Us:
Email: Joe@signw.co.uk
Tel: 01909 531668
Website: Joesbikes.co.uk
#bikebuild #dreambuild #asmr
Great restoration, it looks like it just left the factory! I'll never forget Christmas morning 1978 coming downstairs to see my brand new Ultra Violet Raleigh Chopper in the middle of the living room. I've never even had a new car or anything else that evoked the same excitement.
Brilliant, I can remember that same feeling and there is nothing to beat it, cheers Joe.
I am 55 and Still have my 1973 red MK2 all original,still in my garden shed,will have some TLC soon.
Good work dude, keep it original, cheers Joe
I'm 53 and I remember the Raleigh GRIFTER and Raleigh commando
wow fantastic hes a very talented man always wanted a chopper when i was a child and still want one today and i am aged 58 now
maybe now is the time? :o)
Me too, same age as you 👍
Do it. Do it
@@markhunt8715 ;-)
I also had the Raleigh commando
When bikes were bikes, 1974 the best time of my life. Thank you mum and dad.
I love hearing comments like this, a very nice thing to say , cheers bro ;-)
That's a MK2 Chopper, I had the MK1 as a kid in red, got it for Christmas, it was my first bike. Cost my parents £35 from Halfords and I still remember them paying it up weekly and the payment book getting stamped. Wish I still had it. Pure nostalgia. :)
Very cool!
Got a red 1 for Xmas 1974,I was 8 and the happiest kid in the world,had it for years then didn't use it anymore,the hub had ceased and the scrap man took it,I bought another red 1 1976 model 8 years ago and I ride it on the canal towpath regular.
I had two Mk2 Choppers as hand me downs from my uncles.
Sold one for £40 in the mid 80's, gave the other away to a younger lad who had recovered from a serious illness.
Was then offered another Mk2 for free from a friend who (like myself) wanted Raleigh's new Burner BMX.
I turned that down too.
Another friend had the Tomahawk and a little lad who knocked around with us on a Budgie.
Riding together, we looked like the three stages of bike evolution 😅
Too young to appreciate the future desirability of this aesthetically classic design.
Nice ..that was mine first bike . I was in love with my first bike , used bike but I Love it...1985....nice memories....good 📸
Thanks for the comments. Glad you enjoyed the filn
Wow .. i lived in. RAF feltwell from 1970 to 1974 and had a black chopper, and my brother got a red and gold one for Christmas , I'm also 58 ... loved living there ..
Awesome, hope you enjoyed the video
@@JoesBikesUK i did . Thank you very much...
I had a chopper in 1978 , I was 11years old and watching this brought back so many memories ,great times, great restoration job it looked as good as new when it was finished, the man restoring this chopper made it look easy and also enjoyable, well done that man👍👍👍👍👍
Glad you enjoyed it
I started off with a Raleigh Boxer, then a Grifter. Later had a Chopper, then a Raleigh Bomber.
Then had 2 Raleigh Record Sprints and finally a Raleigh Max HT3 mountain bike.
Grifter was my favourite.
A great bike the grifter, cheers Joe.
I remember those bikes. I always wanted one but couldn't afford it. You did an excellent job of restoring it.
Cheers Danny
As a 60's kid that was obsessed with owning a Chopper this was superb viewing, a real joy to watch Joe. I never did get that Chopper as a 6 year old but eventually bought my own used model some years later (in my teens) and made it look how I wanted it to (without the resources you have). One thing I didn't do, even as an inexperienced kid with limited equipment, was tighten wheel nuts with pump pliers . . . . . . what's that all about man? With the set up you have you should be using a socket set at least for that kind of task, it just makes sense for the safety and well being of your customers.
Hi Tony, nice to hear your story, we have had some great responses. Those Knipex pliers are not your average pump pliers, if you get chance to use some you will see why, better than a socket or spanner for these old nuts. Cheers Joe.
Amazing, well done. I had a first generation Raliegh Chopper as a kid, put many miles back and forth to school and on adventures around my home town, many happy memories. Thank you.
Very cool!
I had one Chopper in the early 70th. Just the same as this. Orange. I miss it. I am 58 now.
You're the perfect age for a new one then
Awesome, I had a mark 1 with the high back in the late seventies and could wheelie forever. The video took me straight back, brilliant
That’s great to hear
Oh no! You did red! I ordered the purple one like I had way back then! Seriously though - you've done an amazing restoration of a true classic - well done!
Thank you!
@@JoesBikesUK I still ride Raleigh to this day - best bikes ever!
Great video!
cheers dude
Thanks joe ..find memories right there
The most iconic bike of alltime. Nothing quite like it before or since. From 1973 to 1980. I lived on one of these.
I think you could be right, a great looking bike that brings all sorts of memories flooding back, what other bike does that? Cheers Joe.
Hello from Brazil. Congratulations on the excellent work. This bicycle model in Brazil was called Tigrão (Big Tiger) and it was the dream of children like me in 1973.
That’s so cool, thanks for the information
I would have given ANYTHING...to find a distributor near me in Connecticut to buy a Raleigh Chopper back in the 70s! I HAD the money from my paper routes and shoveling snow but no one sold them anywhere I could find and I DID try, believe it! lol
Oh no!
Child world in waterbury
Exactly the same as my old mk 2 chopper. Fantastic.! Great video.
Thanks Len!
What a great video and professional restoration on a bike i used to own as a boy.Thank you very much for this,it's taken me back to my boyhood day's...
Thanks David, pleased you enjoyed the film
Brought back some fond memories.
It's such a cool bike isn't it
I had fond memories too, watching a rich kid in our neighborhood riding one after school and while the rest of us other scallywags watching him having a whale of a time on his shiny red and chrome chopper. Cheers God!!
Freaking brilliant. Just sourcing all those replacement parts must've been a chore. I had a Spider (American version/knock-off of the Chopper) when I was a kid; had never heard of that style when I got it for my birthday. (And how cool were my parents??) Metal flake orange, racing slick in back, silly but way cool muscle car shifter on the top tube, the whole 8.23 meters. Seeing you bring this one back to life was a real joy. I hope some kid is riding it now.
Thanks Rob, I hope you liked it as much as we enjoyed putting it together, we have some more like this coming soon. I hope you liked our other videos too, please subscribe and help us spread the word, cheers Joe
When I was a boy my neighbour had one ... I could bike on it many times, loved it and this 3 speed gear, his bike was also orange, great work.
Great memories, thanks for watching, cheers Joe.
Great work rebuilding this bike. Had a MK1 back in third grade in 1970. A real step up from the Schwinns all the other kids had with the banana seat and monkey handle bars. I think one my favorite parts was the shifter, reminded me of the shifters in the muscle cars of the same time. Thanks for the trip down memory lane...
Awesome thanks for watching
Thank you for making this video! It was wonderful to see this. That was the bike I had when I lived in Germany when I was eight years old. I remember when I first saw it in the department store, and showed it to my mother. I got it for Christmas, and I had such wonderful adventures on it. I had recently seen the motorcycling film, 'On Any Sunday', and I dreamt of becoming a road racer, and I would repeatedly ride down a certain road that seemed to bank just a bit in the sweeping corner, and I would lean over as far as possible, trying to get my knee as close as to the ground as I could. Such wonderful memories! Sadly, my bike was stolen by the movers when we moved back to the US later that year.
Hi there, thanks for watching and sharing you memories. Sorry to hear it was stolen though, cheers. Joe.
This reminds me of my old Ross Apollo 5speed.
Your videos are great👍🏼
Thanks dude, really glad you like the videos, your kind words are encouraging, tune in tomorrow at 5:00pm when we reveal another beauty, cheers Joe.
I have Given a Thumbs up before even watching this😜
I had 2 Original Choppers around 1975 and 1976 one Red and one Blue and in my late 50’s now wishing I still had them both.The Newer Version 2.0 so to speak may have been a Remake but was still nowhere near as Retro as the Original.
I had a Raleigh grifter after that ( not a bad Bike) and then a 10 Speed Puch Free Spirit racer but the Chopper is still the one for me that will always be Raleigh’s legendary Bike.
Absolutely Loved this restore and with the Prices the Original Chopper is now here in the U.K. I wish I had bought 10 of them and stored them🙈
Fantastic. I had one just like that when I was 10. Always regretted selling it
There's a real following for them still
I had one from new I am 68 and will never sell it a mark 2 and looking good still
Ive got to start hitting the swap meets. I can never find complete, old school digs in that kind of shape. What a great bit of bones to start out with! FANTASTIC job 👏
eBay is your friend too.
Wow, that's very impressive indeed. Had a lemon coloured one back in the say. Loved it.
Glad you enjoyed it
I’m sure many had a similar experience, but Christmas morning I think 72-73, I woke up Christmas morning, and parked up in my bedroom on its side stand was a brand new mark 2 Red Chopper identical to this ! I was physically sick I was so excited ! I rode that bike around our estate in the freezing cold, couldn’t feel my hands and I didn’t care…….they had to drag me in for Christmas dinner ! I wasn’t expecting the bike; my Dad said we couldn’t afford one ……but I went on and on about it, dreaming……I have NEVER recreated the joy of getting that bike with any of the many motorcycles and cars since……..
Hi there, I never tire of hearing about the experiences people have had on bikes. Thanks for sharing this comment, I'm sure a lot of people have had similar things happen and will love to see it, cheers Joe.
I still have my chopper I would go on most weekends people would stop me all the time for a look of it great video
Awesome! thanks
Same thing with my 1982 MK1 Raleigh Tuff Burner. It always attracts attention. Took it out again today and someone stopped me, asked the usual questions and offered to buy it from me. I laughed! Not a chance! I love it too much.
Amazing work! U're a true artist!
Thank you! Cheers!
Got my mk 2 in 1975..57 now just bought another needs alot of work..cracking video
Love all the machines you have to make life easier ..great stuff ..
Cheers Paul ;-)
Awesome restoration on the chopper we never had chopper we’re we lived as kids we had grifters
Hi Paul, glad you enjoyed the video, we also did a three part Grifter restoration on our channel you may enjoy. We love the old bikes, such cool memories, cheers Joe.
Brilliant
Thanks
Wonderful to watch you work Joe. Lovely job and restoration. Thank you for sharing.
Owned a mk II as a kid; owns a mk I, and most recently a mk IV. Never rated nor therefore owned a mk III
My dream bike, when I have 10 years old
And now?
I must have been a spoiled brat, in 1971 I wanted a schwinn krate bike and I got this bike...I was upset because I wanted the 5 speed, and the chopper was only a 3 speed........what stupid kid I was. BTW, I destroyed it, which is what would of happened to the krate, had I gotten it. 😬, now they are all worth big $
@@mrrodgerspoliticalplaytime5663 They evoke such a lot of different memories, I hope you ended up enjoying your bike, cheers Joe.
@@JoesBikesUK I did, I loved it.....the memories are imprinted. I jumped that bike, I wheelied it, it really did have a good balance. Thanks Joe, your a treasure, keep up the great work.
Best bike and build video of 2020 Joe! Excellent job dude, I always wanted one of those 👍👍
Glad you liked it!
We lived in western Sydney, we made a cool chopper with a welder and extended front forks,..
That sounds cool
Good job Joé, magnifik.
cheers bro
Ha, I always wanted one too. Mum wouldn’t let me as she said they were too dangerous and that you could go through the handlebars when braking !
I’m 53 now 😁
Hi Jason, Good job we listen to our mum's, some lads who had choppers didn't get to 53 ;-) cheers Joe.
Always listen to mum 😁
19:29 The one shown In the Blue Peter clip Is the one I had, the Mk1 In Red, the one Joe just Restored, Is the Improved Mk2. The Mk2 was made safer, the seat was straitened (So You couldn't do wheelies) the handlebars were welded so You couldn't adjust them forward. The gear stick was changed from Round to the Gripper one seen hear for safer shifting. And Suspension on the back of the seat (Again to stop wheelies). If you are restoring one and You don't have the Stencil printer, You can get the original stencil's still. Nice work, would love another one, but would look strange on one at 63.
No you wouldn't, you need to get one! Thanks for all the info
I am 68 and still ride one had it from new a mark 2
I'm 58 and just bought one.... Yippee.!!!!
I owned a chopper when I was 12 years old and I want to get one now for my grandson who can help me to find one
Bits come up on eBay from time to time and there's a very active market on Facebook. We have a few we're finishing up here
@@JoesBikesUK Whats the name on Facebook
Do you remember the Raleigh GRIFTER or the Raleigh commando
@@almorgan68 I also had a black grifter plus the mk11 red chopper
Lucky lucky!
This Chopper would be a MK2. Awesome restoration.
Thank you.
Well done!
Thanks! Glad you liked the video
My parents got divorced and my mother convinced my father to buy one for my birthday. I still remember see it standing in the living room, wauw. So I kind of traded my father for a chopper, perhaps not the best deal but it could be worse, no chopper and no father.
Good bad story there! Hope you enjoyed the video, thanks for your story
Too piss poor to afford one, even if we had the money dad would never have spent that sort of cash buying one. Best to make friends with a kid in the neighborhood who had one and see if he could give us a go on the bike. Deprived childhood.
Me too. I used to dream about having one. Piss poor as well.
These were sold in Canada at the Eaton's Department Store and in their catalogue. Mainly as the Fastback XT-101. Very Cool!
We attached tank aerials to ours bought from the local army and navy store with a flag at the top. Certainly enjoyed mine.
Awesome love that
Great , well at least the paint is not lead based . Restoring a masterpiece is an learned art .
Cheers Joe
@@JoesBikesUK do you own the GRIFTER or the commando bikes
@@almorgan68 We have those too, watch this space ;-)
Hi Joe. Restoration is a work of art, congrats man. You did it again.
Thank you so much 👍
Really amazing Beautiful job 👌
I had one when I was a kid😍
Thank you! Cheers!
What amazing guy
Awesome 👏
Thanks 🤗
I had one in the 70s I had a problem with the 2 frame bars breaking and needing a weld done to the bike. I had two of them and had the same thing happen but I did love those chopper bikes.
Thanks for sharing
It was right below the seat where it had the welds break under the sissy bar.
Do you have a chopper bike for sale if yes how much for a decent one
What an amazing job you've done, very talented !! Great video !! Well done you...👍
Thank you! Cheers!
mk1 chopper was the best one.
firstly it had a round gear nob
secondly it had a longer seat so you could ride 2 up
and thirdly it had adjustable handelbars..i had a mk1 and loved that bike
100% agree
the only problem though with mk 1s is riding 2 up and the frame used to crack at the bottom lol, i think thats why you had the hockey sticks and a shorter seat on the mk 2. but yeah would love a mk 1
Very cool I have an original 1979 chopper but I might keep it original I bought the decals and everything.... might keep it original as even the tires still work even though they're all corroded, it's still rides good even though it's rusty.🤣
Sounds awesome, just iconic bikes
I reckon kids back in the 70s thought they were Harley Riders when they were riding them.
ha great bikes back then!!...most we got on one was 8 :))))
No way!!! That’s a challenge
I had the same spec of your restoration. All but the stickers mine were black.
Anyways,
Well done.
You brought me back to a young boy with your efforts.
Appreciate it.
They were memory making bikes for sure, thanks for watching, cheers Joe.
Back when your bell bottom jeans got stuck in the chain
Amazing 👍
cheers
The Chopper. Difficult to ride, dangerous, absolutely inefficient and, in some eyes, ugly. But everyone wanted one, the very definition today of an icon. What an excellent video.
Thank you for the nice comment, they were iconic for sure, cheers Joe.
Great video
Thanks Glen appreciate it
You should do a schwinn stingray chopper bike after
You've got me thinking now ;-)
Very good 👍
Thank you 👍
I was born a bit late for these, which meant I got a Raleigh GRIFTER!!Oh Yes!!😁
Perhaps we should do one of those next
man they were tough old bikes!.......and there was the Boxer
My little brother had a Grifter too, also a great bike and better to hit the woods than my chopper
Missing one thing: Hockey cards in the rear spokes using wooden clothes pins.
Ha ha. We talked about that as we finished it
@@JoesBikesUK That was the definition of cool.
We used ice lolly sticks, plenty strewn on the ground.
Amazing great work
Thank you! Cheers!
I always wanted a Raleigh Grifter.
An iconic bike for sure.
I knew a guy who worked at the Raleigh factory in Nottingham in the late 80s. He looked after one of the warehouses. He was told by his boss that all the Choppers, Chippers, Tomahawks, Budgies, Grifters Strikers and Boxers, were all to be cut up and recycled. He reckons there were around 2000 bikes.
Sad, but no one was buying them.
That's a sad tale, glad some people kept their old one's. thanks for telling us that, it adds to the story that keeps these old bikes alive. I hope you enjoy our video's and please spread the word. We have a Grifter build coming soon, cheers Joe
@@JoesBikesUK Look forward to it.
I'm currently deliberating - and have done for several years - whether to restore my Mk2. It's a 1979 red model. It's rideable with everything original (except the front-wheel inner tube and SA gear chain). It needs stripping, re-spray, re-chroming, new saddle strap (stretched), gear indicator cover. I did want to have everything powder coated matt black, a stealth Chopper if you will. I also know a lady who is an enameller and thought about have my initials put in enamel in the seat post bolt.
It's the time and space to do all this though.
@@octaviussludberry9016 time is our enemy at times, look forward to seeing it done cheers Joe.
Still have mine.. exact same
I grew up (some say I haven't) with a 5-speed derailleur, tall sissy bar, trashed it riding in the desert. Got a Mk1 about 40 years ago, been hanging from the rafters until this month. So the chrome fenders, wheels and parts are just wire-brushed?
my brother had one of them , In australia they were called the Fireball
I have a scruffy old mark 1 at the back of the shed, wonder if it is worth digging out?
DEFINATELY
To think I cut up two of these bikes for tubing few weeks ago LOL Great job!
Oh no! They fetch good money these days, Cheers Joe
You skipped over the wheel shining process! Did you strip them down to polish them, and did you strip and service the rear hub too?
Hi Craig, the rear hub was working ok, We did a full rebuild on the wheel but the film would have been too long to show everything, I hope you enjoyed it, Cheers Joe.
Fabulous restoration, back in the day it was either a Grifter or Chopper, or in my case neither 😢. Given the current prices on EBay unlikely I would own either anytime soon 😂.
Increíble, hermosa,
Yo tenía una muy similar
Impresionante, esperamos que hayas disfrutado del video.
Hola.....yo tuve una usada en color amarilla.en el Año 1985.. en ese tiempo yo tenia 9 añios ...pero yo feliz con mi primer bicicleta alla en Nicaragua,. Tiempos de guerra
@@adrianhidalgo9699 ¡gran historia!
Yeaaaaaa
Ei
Hi, great resto. Can i asked the paint code you used instead of the original infra rdd?
The mustard colored chopper my brother had one only one i ever saw mine was yep red
We get to hear some great stories about choppers, I hope you subscribe and watch some of our other films too, cheers Joe
Great video and very enjoyable to see the transformation! If you don’t mind me asking, what was the tool you used to shine up the fenders? Cheers
Beautiful job mate but please wear a mask when your spraying there's not much room for an oxygen bottle on the back of that when your pedaling it around 👍👍
Will do bro, cheers Joe
@@JoesBikesUK no worries brother.. You take care
@@adeh503 You too Ade
would it be possible to get the stencil anywhere to be printed out?
Raleigh should release a larger chopper with an electric motor,
I think that would be great ;-)
I can't believe in the mid late 70s, early 80s, we started to rip what we called sissy seats off these bikes. Now they're collectors pieces.
Yes they go for good money ;-)
Got a mk11 at home that needs some bits and a complete restoration. Lovely winter project but I am not sure how much it’s worth when done and therefore how much to put into it. Any ideas? UK based.
If you look on Facebook there's some good forums, they will probably be able to help
Great work! Any restoration done to the drive train (e.g. chain, gearbox internals)? Looks like the old chain is re-used. Was it intentional or was it just impossible to find a replacement?
Hi Joseph, glad you likes it, didn't need the gears sorting as they were ok, I chose to put the original chain back on after a bit of a clean but I may replace it soon, cheers Joe.
I'm looking to restore a tomahawk but unsure of the correct type of red paint, what was used on this one if you wouldn't mind helping an enthusiast
Hi Kyle, the Raleigh Chopper owners club would be the best one's to ask, the have way more knowledge than me on stuff like that. Alternatively if you can get a paint code there are companies that can mix it for you and put it ina rattle can for you, I hope this helps, cheers Joe
I had a Chipper,, lol
cool!
Always envied my friends. Always wanted one unfortunately I now ride carbon bikes. Now im 54 and too tall for the chopper
No way... perfect height!
Wow
;-)