Hi Mark it's interesting to see the different bikes. I had only heard of the chopper so I've learned something completely new today. Many thanks and I look forward to the next video as always. Sarah 😊
I got a grifter for x-mas (thanks grandad) when they came out, was the greatest thing ever, felt like having a 4 wheel drive with turbo, was great fun, but, it was damn heavy, the toggle chain eventualy got bashed and you had to pull it into gear and push a nail through it, to hold it in gear lol, and the seat also fell apart, evryone had a big split in the rubber seat and the metal plate came through, good times though
The three gears were usually the first to go, a few pals had one and the gears lasted a day or 3 if you were lucky, after that it was stuck in 3rd gear
@@fasthracing I was always too tall for a Chopper although I liked the style. A friend had a GT Sprint with drop handlebars, a short seat and a metallic orange frame, but it had racing-bike style 5-gear derailleur gearing rather than hub gears. I've never seen another.
I too had an Orange commando, which was a tank compared to my previous, mudguardless, purple budgie. The latter had lovely volume in the rear tyre, perfect for landing evil knieval inspired jumps and wheelie-ing. Both were second hand and both were eclipsed by my new Super Tuff black gold burner age 10.
Had a Raleigh Chipper as a kid in the 70s.So rare to find these days.Also had a Raleigh Tuff Burner in the 80s(the Gold one with the Black Skyway wheels).For some reason Raleigh UK never did a 24 inch bmx Cruiser,only 20 inch bmx bikes.Raleigh USA did a 24 inch bmx (the R7000)as part of their bmx range.Raleigh did rerelease the Team,Tuff and Aero Burners not long ago in limited numbers,but they usually ended up on eBay selling for ridiculous prices!😾
@@antiquescentral I have an old issue of BMX ACTION magazine,the American BMX mag,and Raleigh USA released BMX bikes before Raleigh UK did.This magazine is from 1979,and features their team riders Toby Henderson and Jeff Bottema riding Raleigh Rampar bmx bikes.It’s strange that Raleigh,an English company from Nottingham,had their American side of things releasing bmx bikes in the States before they did it in the UK.I think Raleigh UK were pushing the Grifter in a big way at the time that as you’ve seen,bmx became so popular,the Burner range virtually made the Grifter obsolete.
@@antiquescentral I have a photo of myself sat on my brand new Raleigh Boxer on Christmas Day 1982 with my late Father stood beside me 😥 I now realise how hard working my Dad was to afford the bike for me then i was 8. Yes those decades have flown by. Thanks for the memories 😊👍
I just wish mobile phones had been a thing when I had my Chopper (as nobody believes me nowadays),got it for my 9th birthday,after every ride it was cleaned thoroughly..definitely one of a kind simply because I'm pretty sure nobody else had a 'sidecar' attached to it,made out of a real coffin (don't ask!),as if the bike itself wasn't already heavy enough,add a 7ft lump of wood weighing about 150lb or so you certainly sometimes had trouble braking in a hurry,especially down a steep hill,and don't get me started on steering it,quickly rectified that though by a friend of my fathers who was a motor mechanic and he attached some device to underside of coffin base which made it much easier AND safer ! Paired with a air horn (powered by gas canister) attached to handlebars with jubilee clip and a 'boom-box' attached to metal rack behind seat it was certainly a headturner no doubt..used to make fortune charging all my mates 10p trip 'round the block' fitting 2 in sidecar..which usually involved them jumping out on uphill stretch cause there was no chance with hills where I lived then. Sadly all my friends were getting road racing bikes and I followed but within days I wish I'd not traded in my beloved Chopper
I had a mongoose Californian crome frame , lilac skyway tuff 2’s, a lilac lay back seat, lilac handlebars with mushroom grips Sold it for £70 in 1988 wish I had it now. .
I had a Commando, surprised they didn't make the list🤔mine was bright orange and was quite a headturner mainly cos of the twistgrip gearchange which pre-dated that used on the Grifter...and like many other bikes of the time the seat split at the back😂My dad got it for my 10th birthday back in '77 and I remember going out for a 5 mile ride on it over Canvey Island in the morning...one of the best memories I have😊
Very surprised no mention of the Tomahawk, the true mini Chopper. I got one when they were first released, one of the originals with metal pull rod brakes. I have one in my garage now unrestored identical to my old one. I went from that to a metallic green MK1 Chopper which i thought was way cooler than the MK2. One of my friends had a Chopper Sprint and a couple years later another friend had one of the MK2 5 speed Choppers. Had a nasty accident on my MK1, the rounde gear knob was missing and for some reason i rode around an adventure playground with my eyes closed ( something i had a habit of doing ) and the inevitable happened when i rode into a log. Cue blood stain patch in the front of my trousers as i lay on the floor in agony.
@@antiquescentral By jumping off ramps when I was about seven (early 80s). Cracked the forks down the middle stem oddly. Went over the handle bars a few times too. We could only get hold off yellow forks so my dad painted them black.
Where's the Raleigh Strika. You had the Boxer, strika & Grifter along with the Budgie, Chipper & Chopper. The Grifter was a horrible hefty heavy slow riding bike bar a nice thick sponge seat till they split but so did the seats on the Chopper etc. I wonder what bike sales numbers are like from say 1970-80 compared to say 2010-2020 UK as roads are a lot more congested and dangerous for kids compared to the 70/80's era. You don't see many kids on bikes compared to our day back then.
Maybe but they were fast. I mean, REALLY fast. Raced one against a modern bike recently with my mate. I beat him. Let's just say he was impressed but also pi**ed off. Tuff Burner won.
@antiquescentral that's the one I went through budgie tomahawk in metallic gold then chopper the ln grifter xl I crashed the budgie into a brand new capri gxl when dad pushed me down the street when I first had it never explained brakes steering just got me up to speed whop on the bonnet of the capri owner of that was not happy
Raleigh chopper. Worst piece of junk I owned. So heavy it was like working out in a gym. Prepared kids for heavy manual labour. Down pits. In ship yards and building sites.
No mention of the strika! The mini grifter was way more popular than the budgie and the coaster brake was brilliant for skids😂
I had the budgie then the strika before my mongoose
Strika was wkd,my friend had a rare mag wheeled tomahawk very heavy with those metal mags x
Time will tell! Hopefully, you've subscribed and hit the notification bell so you don't miss the video! 😁👍🔔
Will check out the Mongoose? 😁👍
Sounds like there's a follow up video to be made featuring the bikes I missed off? 😁👍
Great vid, i had the Tomahawk as my first learner bike, then moved on to a Burner GS, those were the days.
Thanks much appreciated 😁. I'm planning a follow up video including the Tomahawk 👍
Hi Mark it's interesting to see the different bikes. I had only heard of the chopper so I've learned something completely new today. Many thanks and I look forward to the next video as always. Sarah 😊
Glad you enjoyed it Sarah! 😁👍
I got a grifter for x-mas (thanks grandad) when they came out, was the greatest thing ever, felt like having a 4 wheel drive with turbo, was great fun, but, it was damn heavy, the toggle chain eventualy got bashed and you had to pull it into gear and push a nail through it, to hold it in gear lol, and the seat also fell apart, evryone had a big split in the rubber seat and the metal plate came through, good times though
Great memories and a time we'll never forget for lots of reasons! 😁👍
You’re right about the Grifter, I think mine ended up as the anchor for the QE2! You never mentioned the Tomahawk.
It would definitely do the job! Yes, maybe the Tomahawk will be another video. Thanks for the suggestion 😁👍
The three gears were usually the first to go, a few pals had one and the gears lasted a day or 3 if you were lucky, after that it was stuck in 3rd gear
I got the Tomahawk handed down to me by an elder sister who got a Racer 😂
That must have been hard work getting up those hills! 🤣👍
I'm thinking about including the Tomahawk in an upcoming video 😁👍
Raleigh Chopper Sprint was my stead back in the day
Excellent choice! Not many of those around if I remember correctly? 😁👍
@@antiquescentral Yes they were quite rare back in the day. Mate of mine had a 5 speed Chopper which I was envious of.
@fasthracing Perhaps you mean "steed".
@@AHoundOnAHonda That's a fair comment and yes I did.
@@fasthracing I was always too tall for a Chopper although I liked the style. A friend had a GT Sprint with drop handlebars, a short seat and a metallic orange frame, but it had racing-bike style 5-gear derailleur gearing rather than hub gears. I've never seen another.
thanks for putting this together gosh the grifter is smaller than I remember I though it was a beast at the time! and your right one heavy machine!
We were all smaller back then. Happy days 😁👍
I too had an Orange commando, which was a tank compared to my previous, mudguardless, purple budgie. The latter had lovely volume in the rear tyre, perfect for landing evil knieval inspired jumps and wheelie-ing. Both were second hand and both were eclipsed by my new Super Tuff black gold burner age 10.
Had a Raleigh Chipper as a kid in the 70s.So rare to find these days.Also had a Raleigh Tuff Burner in the 80s(the Gold one with the Black Skyway wheels).For some reason Raleigh UK never did a 24 inch bmx Cruiser,only 20 inch bmx bikes.Raleigh USA did a 24 inch bmx (the R7000)as part of their bmx range.Raleigh did rerelease the Team,Tuff and Aero Burners not long ago in limited numbers,but they usually ended up on eBay selling for ridiculous prices!😾
I wonder why the US & UK had different specs?
@@antiquescentral I have an old issue of BMX ACTION magazine,the American BMX mag,and Raleigh USA released BMX bikes before Raleigh UK did.This magazine is from 1979,and features their team riders Toby Henderson and Jeff Bottema riding Raleigh Rampar bmx bikes.It’s strange that Raleigh,an English company from Nottingham,had their American side of things releasing bmx bikes in the States before they did it in the UK.I think Raleigh UK were pushing the Grifter in a big way at the time that as you’ve seen,bmx became so popular,the Burner range virtually made the Grifter obsolete.
Great video
Thanks for your feedback, much appreciated 😁👍
My mate had a grifter I was so jealous.This was the best of all of them.
Yes, the Grifter was incredibly popular for good reason! 😁👍
I had loads of bmxs when I was younger 😊
Did you keep any? 😁👍
@@antiquescentral no
Enjoyed the video, i had a yellow Raleigh Boxer for Christmas in the early 1980's and later a chrome Raleigh Burner 😁
Thanks for your feedback. Can't believe it's 30 years ago! 😁👍
@@antiquescentral I have a photo of myself sat on my brand new Raleigh Boxer on Christmas Day 1982 with my late Father stood beside me 😥 I now realise how hard working my Dad was to afford the bike for me then i was 8. Yes those decades have flown by. Thanks for the memories 😊👍
A special memory indeed! 😁👍
I just wish mobile phones had been a thing when I had my Chopper (as nobody believes me nowadays),got it for my 9th birthday,after every ride it was cleaned thoroughly..definitely one of a kind simply because I'm pretty sure nobody else had a 'sidecar' attached to it,made out of a real coffin (don't ask!),as if the bike itself wasn't already heavy enough,add a 7ft lump of wood weighing about 150lb or so you certainly sometimes had trouble braking in a hurry,especially down a steep hill,and don't get me started on steering it,quickly rectified that though by a friend of my fathers who was a motor mechanic and he attached some device to underside of coffin base which made it much easier AND safer ! Paired with a air horn (powered by gas canister) attached to handlebars with jubilee clip and a 'boom-box' attached to metal rack behind seat it was certainly a headturner no doubt..used to make fortune charging all my mates 10p trip 'round the block' fitting 2 in sidecar..which usually involved them jumping out on uphill stretch cause there was no chance with hills where I lived then. Sadly all my friends were getting road racing bikes and I followed but within days I wish I'd not traded in my beloved Chopper
I can't believe it wasn't featured on the front of the local paper! 🤣👍😁
I had a mongoose Californian crome frame , lilac skyway tuff 2’s, a lilac lay back seat, lilac handlebars with mushroom grips
Sold it for £70 in 1988
wish I had it now. .
I bet you do, sounds fantastic! 😁👍
Just found your channel its brill!!
Thanks Stephen, I appreciate your feedback. Makes it all worthwhile 😁👍
👍@@antiquescentral
I had a Commando, surprised they didn't make the list🤔mine was bright orange and was quite a headturner mainly cos of the twistgrip gearchange which pre-dated that used on the Grifter...and like many other bikes of the time the seat split at the back😂My dad got it for my 10th birthday back in '77 and I remember going out for a 5 mile ride on it over Canvey Island in the morning...one of the best memories I have😊
I think the Commando and the Tomahawk may well feature in another video? 😁👍
Very surprised no mention of the Tomahawk, the true mini Chopper. I got one when they were first released, one of the originals with metal pull rod brakes. I have one in my garage now unrestored identical to my old one. I went from that to a metallic green MK1 Chopper which i thought was way cooler than the MK2. One of my friends had a Chopper Sprint and a couple years later another friend had one of the MK2 5 speed Choppers. Had a nasty accident on my MK1, the rounde gear knob was missing and for some reason i rode around an adventure playground with my eyes closed ( something i had a habit of doing ) and the inevitable happened when i rode into a log. Cue blood stain patch in the front of my trousers as i lay on the floor in agony.
Make sure you've subscribed and hit the notification bell for future videos, including one that has the Tomahawk in it 😁👍
Cool times man !
Definitely! Brought it all back, making the video. I'm glad I did it 😁👍
I had a Yamaha BYZ 401, sold the handlebar crash pad cover to a guy in Australia for £350 a few years ago, one to look out for.
Will look it up! 😁👍
Great vid but you've missed one of the best pre BMX bikes made by Raliegh.The Commando.Well balanced and top for jumping.Hard to find now.
Hi Anthony. Thanks for the info, I will look up the Commando for a future video. 😁👍
Cracked the forks on my boxer xl.
How did you manage that! 😵
@@antiquescentral By jumping off ramps when I was about seven (early 80s). Cracked the forks down the middle stem oddly. Went over the handle bars a few times too. We could only get hold off yellow forks so my dad painted them black.
I had the raleigh tomahawk, the boxer , griter an a burner..
Tomahawk included in a future video 😁👍
Tuff Burner. Enough said!
I had a chrome Burner that I completely rebuilt and fitted with white 5 spoke mags.
Swapped it for a SNES 😄
I hope you took some photos! 😁👍
@@antiquescentral - Unfortunately not.
It was the early 90s and I was too busy riding 😄
No mobile phones was a different world.
That's very true! 😁👍
Today, just one of those Skyway Mags are worth more than the SNES. You got robbed.
@@Kit_Bear - They weren’t Skyways 😄
Snapped a grifter in 3 piece's so they wasn't unbreakable but I still loved hit
Great for learning wheelies and giving your girlfriend a backy home 😂❤
Which bike did you have? 😁👍
@@antiquescentral boxer then few years later blue chopper , I swapped it for a red grifter with mate I found it better for jumps and wheelies 🚲👍
Where's the Raleigh Strika. You had the Boxer, strika & Grifter along with the Budgie, Chipper & Chopper. The Grifter was a horrible hefty heavy slow riding bike bar a nice thick sponge seat till they split but so did the seats on the Chopper etc. I wonder what bike sales numbers are like from say 1970-80 compared to say 2010-2020 UK as roads are a lot more congested and dangerous for kids compared to the 70/80's era. You don't see many kids on bikes compared to our day back then.
Yes, I think the Strika, Commando and Tomahawk may well feature in another video coming up. Up to date sales figures would be interesting 😁👍
The lower spec burners were well heavy
Weighed a tonne! 😁👍
Maybe but they were fast. I mean, REALLY fast. Raced one against a modern bike recently with my mate. I beat him. Let's just say he was impressed but also pi**ed off. Tuff Burner won.
Only one i recognized was the chopper. we didnt have all those other ones here.
Where approximately are you based? If you subscribed I will add your location to our digital subscriber list at the end of the videos 😁👍
@@antiquescentral New Zealand
But where's the legendary STRIKA 😢 ..
What was the Raleigh one think it was a quasar like a grifter with cladding
The vektor
Star Wars inspired!
@antiquescentral that's the one I went through budgie tomahawk in metallic gold then chopper the ln grifter xl I crashed the budgie into a brand new capri gxl when dad pushed me down the street when I first had it never explained brakes steering just got me up to speed whop on the bonnet of the capri owner of that was not happy
😵🤣👍
Hi any one remember the Raleigh bomber 😂
where's the commando ? n Tomahawk ?
Time will tell! Hopefully, you've subscribed and hit the notification bell so you don't miss the video! 😁👍🔔
It's about time the grifter was re- released....
Great idea! I wonder if they're considering it? 😁👍
@@antiquescentral I think they would have an issue with reproducing the foam seat and handlebar foam...
Quite possibly. Would there be a modern alternative they could use? 😁
Tomahawk ????
Been mentioned a few times. I might feature it in a future follow-up video with the Strika and the Commando? 😁👍
Raleigh chopper. Worst piece of junk I owned. So heavy it was like working out in a gym. Prepared kids for heavy manual labour. Down pits. In ship yards and building sites.
You're a fan of the Chopper then 🤣😁👍