Chopper Parts!

[bikeman66]

This is probably a long shot, but as the answers to most cycling related questions seem to be answered comprehensively by the knowledgeable folk on here, I figured it was worth a punt!

I am in the early stages of restoring a 1972 Raleigh Chopper and would appreciate any advice or tips on where I might be able to source genuine or reproduction parts.

It's pretty well intact, but I definitely need to find a new gear indicator window trim. The gear lever is still present, but if it all comes as one part then that is fine.

Thanks in advance for any information you may be able to dig up.

 

[steve50]

Is this what you mean, http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Raleigh-C...SUL-sticker-/321813174893?hash=item4aed8f5a6d

Another one, http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/RALEIGH-C...RO-ORIGINAL-/262075717011?hash=item3d04ee1593

 

[bikeman66]

Is this what you mean, http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Raleigh-C...SUL-sticker-/321813174893?hash=item4aed8f5a6d

Another one, http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/RALEIGH-C...RO-ORIGINAL-/262075717011?hash=item3d04ee1593

Haha! Yeah. Great find Steve50. It's the whole trim piece in the second link I'm after! £55 for a small-ish piece of plastic??? I can see this project getting expensive! Ah well.........what the Mrs doesn't know won't hurt her I suppose.

 

[EltonFrog]

Haha! Yeah. Great find Steve50. It's the whole trim piece in the second link I'm after! £55 for a small-ish piece of plastic??? I can see this project getting expensive! Ah well.........what the Mrs doesn't know won't hurt her I suppose.

I'd be interested to see the progress of the restoration of your chopper ( Oooh matron) any chance of you posting photos and reports here?

I restored an old Dawes Kingpin a couple of years ago, it got very expensive and I became obsessed with it for about six months. I even bought one whole bike just to get the correct head badge! It was good fun though.

 

[bikeman66]

I'd be interested to see the progress of the restoration of your chopper ( Oooh matron) any chance of you posting photos and reports here?

I restored an old Dawes Kingpin a couple of years ago, it got very expensive and I became obsessed with it for about six months. I even bought one whole bike just to get the correct head badge! It was good fun though.

Sure CarlP. I'll put some pictures up later of the Chopper in it's current form (i.e complete but tatty) and then more as things progress. I've had it about 10 years now, having paid £5 for it to a man who was just about to throw it away at the local tip.

All the other commitments of work, family, coaching at a local sport club, etc etc mean it has pretty much just sat in the garage since I got it, but I now have a bit more time.......and the inclination to start getting it sorted out. May be a lengthy process, but watch this space!

 

[FrankCrank]

....+1 for some piccies please - just cos I had one meself around that time. Great fun bikes, felt like a superstar riding the thing round the neighbourhood.

Shame parts are so expensive, but guess there are so few surviving - supply and demand type thing.........

 

[bikeman66]

Sure CarlP. I'll put some pictures up later of the Chopper in it's current form (i.e complete but tatty) and then more as things progress. I've had it about 10 years now, having paid £5 for it to a man who was just about to throw it away at the local tip.

All the other commitments of work, family, coaching at a local sport club, etc etc mean it has pretty much just sat in the garage since I got it, but I now have a bit more time.......and the inclination to start getting it sorted out. May be a lengthy process, but watch this space!

Well CarlP and FrankCrank, here it is!

Thought I had more pictures of it on the laptop, but they must be on the PC. I'll dig them out and put some up soon. As you can see, it's pretty well intact. There's a dent in the rear mudguard, which I'll have to take advice on whether it is feasible to get this out without it being too visible when it is re-chromed. Some of the parts are seized together, most notably where the rear seat stanchions enter the frame, but apart from that, it's not too bad for 43 years old.

 

[steve50]

Looks good with the current patina, will look even better when you have restored it.

 

[EltonFrog]

My fave of the colours. A bargain for a fiver.

 

[FrankCrank]

...for a fiver that's a real bargain - no way I'd ever get that lucky! Mine was a sort of terracotta colour.

Had this crazy idea of building a scaled up adult-sized version in stainless, just for the fun of it, and my own amusement.............maybe one day.....

 

[BEHMOTH66]

I had a red one loved it. Paint wise I'd use a good stoving enamel tough, glossy and durable

 

[martint235]

Isn't that the gear stick from a "racing" chopper or did they share them eventually?

 

[bikeman66]

...for a fiver that's a real bargain - no way I'd ever get that lucky! Mine was a sort of terracotta colour.

Had this crazy idea of building a scaled up adult-sized version in stainless, just for the fun of it, and my own amusement.............maybe one day.....

Ah, but remember that was a fiver about 10 years ago, so when you factor in inflation, it probably cost me about two years wages (said in a starry-eyed, nostalgic voice)!! It was THE classic case of being in the right place at the right time. Even better, was the fact that I didn't have any money on me at the time, and the guy actually waited at the tip for me to nip home and grab a fiver (about a 20 minute return trip). Either he didn't know, or he didn't seem to care that Chopper's were just starting to change hands for a lot more than I paid him for it. He was happy to get five quid for what was basically junk to him, and I was happy to take ownership of one of the most iconic, if not practical, bikes around.

Liking the sound of a bespoke stainless Chopper.

 

[bikeman66]

Isn't that the gear stick from a "racing" chopper or did they share them eventually?

I'm led to understand that the gear stick is one of the ways you can narrow down what Mk it is. Seem to remember the one I owned as a kid had the car type gear knob. Another way of ageing a Chopper is that there is a date stamp on the three speed Sturmey Archer gear hub, which reads 72 on mine. Possible the wheel might not be original I guess, but it looks about the same condition as the rest of the bike, and I'd be willing to bet not too many people got involved with upgrading Chopper wheel sets!

 

[FrankCrank]

....I'm pretty sure I got my chopper in '71, and it had the other type of gear knob too - maybe a transition happened around this time.

Spotted a couple of them in Thailand, one very recently up in Chiang Mai, and another a while back not so far from home. They're so rare nowadays that you really get a shock seeing one so far afield......