Raleigh grifter restoration

[slk 32]

595Heaven said:

I did the mudguard trick, and had one of those sirens. I also had a Sanyo speedometer for even more added weight

Haha..I had an exact one of those speedos..as I recall it was run from a plastic wheel which actually rubbed against the tyre sidewall..not sure I ever got out of the green though!

[595Heaven]

slk 32 said:

Haha..I had an exact one of those speedos..as I recall it was run from a plastic wheel which actually rubbed against the tyre sidewall..not sure I ever got out of the green though!

I remember getting up to 30mph a couple of times. No helmet, no worries

[Tin Hat]

slk 32 said:

Simes205 said:

Wow....I never had one but many friends did.
Almost all had worn out mudguards to imitate the sound of the IC engine!

Not forgetting the playing card / wooden clothes peg in the spoke!

Or, if you were really posh...

I think that to this day, that is my favourite thing that I have ever owned

[anonymous-user]

Tin Hat said:

slk 32 said:

Simes205 said:

Wow....I never had one but many friends did.
Almost all had worn out mudguards to imitate the sound of the IC engine!

Not forgetting the playing card / wooden clothes peg in the spoke!

Or, if you were really posh...

I think that to this day, that is my favourite thing that I have ever owned

I had that too it was awesome.

[splodge s4]

Those horns are cool, had one on the Chopper

[RC1807]

You balanced it well with the mahoosive ER light on the back, too

[Cowhornbars72]

And I’m not sure the difference between a mk1 grifter and an mk2?

[anonymous-user]

splodge s4 said:

Those horns are cool, had one on the Chopper

I’m sure many of us can remember that gear shifter and think that photo looks amazing.

Can you imagine specialized or islabikes making a kids bike like that now.

[rustyuk]

El stovey said:

splodge s4 said:

Those horns are cool, had one on the Chopper

I’m sure many of us can remember that gear shifter and think that photo looks amazing.

Can you imagine specialized or islabikes making a kids bike like that now.

I think growing up bikes were my favourite thing. I spent all my paper-round money on bikes and spent all my time fixing or riding them.

In a way I'm glad home games consoles were so rubbish.

[splodge s4]

Just found all the pics of the Mk1 Grifter I restored, think I paid £45 for the bike & sold it a few years later for £150

As it was when i picked it up

[anonymous-user]

Looking at photos, some seem to have longer rear mudguards?

Like this.



I’m pretty sure mine had shorter rear mudguards like the other photos.

[ben5575]

I had one of these:

[anonymous-user]

ben5575 said:

I had one of these:

Fancy pants.

[Simes205]

ben5575 said:

I had one of these:

Run out edition XL.
Burners were taking over.

[Cowhornbars72]

El stovey said:

I’m sure many of us can remember that gear shifter and think that photo looks amazing.

Can you imagine specialized or islabikes making a kids bike like that now.

Great restore job looks amazing

[CoupeKid]

35kg for a Grifter must be a joke. I had one as a kid and it wasn't that heavy. 35 lbs perhaps.

I used to bomb around the local woods on it and didn't break the frame or even buckle the wheels. Happy days.

[slk 32]

CoupeKid said:

35kg for a Grifter must be a joke. I had one as a kid and it wasn't that heavy. 35 lbs perhaps.

I used to bomb around the local woods on it and didn't break the frame or even buckle the wheels. Happy days.

I'm intrigued now...

At first I thought 35kg was too heavy, I initially thought too that it must be an error and it must be 35lb which would be about 16kg.

My Boardman hybrid is about 11.5kg and it did feel the grifter was more than 50% heavier, however I'm 40 years older than when my brother had a grifter so then 16kg would have felt a lot heavier.

Someone here must have one we can weigh?

[105.4]

SydneyBridge said:

Did it have the 3 speed sturmey archer hub gears (excuse spelling..)

I had a tomhawk (little brother of chopper) and can remember the colour and weight of a friends Grifter

I had a Tomohawk followed by a black Raleigh Striker.

Happy days

[dudleybloke]

As a kid I had....
Oversized trike that was made from scaffold tubes filled with lead with whitewall tyres.
Budgie.
Boxer.
Tomahawk.
Chopper.
Random chrome bitsa BMX.
Lizard.
Activator.

Grifters were OK if the gears worked.

[smifffymoto]

As kids we all had Raleigh,they were everywhere.Those of us in our late 40’s and 50’s can all relate to this thread,with some envy. It takes me back to summer holidays,leave the house in the morning and Mum telling me to be back for tea,building ramps and jumps,riding to the woods to build a den,days just enjoying being a child with no pressure.