Raleigh Grifter

[Mark Lawless]

Do any of you remember the Raleigh Grifter?

Raleigh introduced this rugged, pre-BMX bike back in 1976. Not as famous or valuable as it's illustrious forebear, the Raleigh Chopper, it was a better bike if you actually wanted to ride it, and it looked a bit like a motocross bike of the time, with its chunky Supagrip tyres, wide bars and the twist grip three speed gear setup.

I had one for Christmas in 1977, and I remember it fondly. I didn't treat it very well though, so it didn't survive past 1983 or so, unfortunately.

I've been looking for a half decent one to lightly restore over the past year or so. The problem with a lot of them is that I live in Inverness, so need things sent to me - and most sellers want hassle free cash on collection, which is fair enough - wrapping bikes is a pain! Otherwise, some bikes were too far gone - if you need to replace the saddle, bars, chainwheel and tyres, for example, that'll cost you £130 plus P&P to start. Other bikes were as new ones at £250 - £550!! I didn't really want to pay that.

Last week though, my persistence paid off, and I won a bike on Ebay. It does need a seat, which I have in hand, but the rest is all good. Looks like it's been either painted or powder coated, as the colour isn't original, but I'm happy to sort that out myself. There's a Grifter specific forum, which I've found brilliant so far, and has educated me on a few things it would have cost me money and time to discover myself - http://raleighgrifter.proboards.com/ - Well worth a look if you have - or would like to have - a Grifter.

So here it is! Pic is just nicked from Ebay, but I'll post more when the bike arrives.

 

[w00hoo_kent]

Had one, probably in '78 or '79. It was a red one when they only came in two colours (Red or Blue?) at some point I think I brush painted it gold and I presume it went to the tip at some point.

Mine had those style lights on it which ate batteries and barely glowed in the dark. I'm guessing the one you've bought is a later one, I don't remember the mudguards being that long, we pop riveted (actually probably bolted) extra on the end of mine.

Have fun working on it, would love to know if it still feels like it weighs a tonne.

 

[Mark Lawless]

Had one, probably in '78 or '79. It was a red one when they only came in two colours (Red or Blue?) at some point I think I brush painted it gold and I presume it went to the tip at some point.

Mine had those style lights on it which ate batteries and barely glowed in the dark. I'm guessing the one you've bought is a later one, I don't remember the mudguards being that long, we pop riveted (actually probably bolted) extra on the end of mine.

Have fun working on it, would love to know if it still feels like it weighs a tonne.

HaHa!! I brush painted mine black, with some gold flake mixed into the paint!! It also went to the skip - I can't remember exactly when it fell off the radar though.

Yes, lights were pants. I'll leave these on as they are period accessories. I have some rechargeable batteries the right size which I bought for a radio a while ago, so I'll use those.

My original bike also had the short rear mudguard. These were only fitted to the early Mk1 Grifters. This bike is a Mk2. I'm hoping to convert it to Mk1 spec - if I can find a short rear mudguard - and I need a mudflap too, both items proving challenging to find so far, but the feelers are out.

As for weight - these weigh 35 Kilos - ridiculous for what is essentially a children's bike! In later years, before the Grifter was dropped in 1983 in favour of BMX bikes such as the Burner, it had a different saddle, BMX handlebars and the like, but it was always to heavy to be a serious contender for a stunt bike.

 

[Drago]

Dreadful machines.

We loved them!

 

[Milkfloat]

I had one. First it was the Budgie, then a Boxer and finally the Grifter. All were hand me downs, but it shows we had brand loyalty.

 

[ianrauk]

Had the darker slate blue one.
Went to that from a yellow Chopper.

Loved it.

 

[ianrauk]

Had one, probably in '78 or '79. It was a red one when they only came in two colours (Red or Blue?)

Nope, had a small range of colours, Red, 2 different Blues (light and dark), Silver & Black

 

[shouldbeinbed]

Big old heavy hector of a bike & more show than substance.

I preferred my little racer to my bro's grifter

 

[Mugshot]

The lights look awesome!
(Yes, yes I know they were shoot, I had them too, but right there on that, they look awesome.)

 

[w00hoo_kent]

Nope, had a small range of colours, Red, 2 different Blues (light and dark), Silver & Black

Always? I could have sworn there were only two colour options when mine was bought. Maybe it was just what they had in the shop. Mine was definitely a MK1 and may have been older than I thought, although I'd be surprised if I'd been bought one at 7. It was new, I guess I might have got in in January '78 for my birthday. I remember the MK2 coming out and pining after the black one with the red highlights, even though I was fully aware from owning a MK1 that they were shoot bikes.

 

[mjr]

I had one. Silver. First ride, I put it into a rose bush. It took a heck of a lot of abuse and kept on ticking (literally - SA hub). How many hub-gear bikes had a spoke protector? It needed it!

Looks like someone's fitted a trigger shifter to the one pictured here...

 

[Fab Foodie]

Great bike, never had one but used to ride a mates. Much more fun over rough ground than our old 3 speed gas-pipe specials. A bike truly ahead of it's time ....

 

[Hacienda71]

My mate had one. Rode it a few times. Three speed sturmey archer with a twist grip gear change. Went out to live in Australia and BMX had taken off in a big way. The difference in weight between a Grifter and a high spec Redline BMX was pretty big. All happy memories though.

 

[MontyVeda]

My 'BMX' was a Grifter frame & forks with BMX everything else... it certainly turned heads at Pontins

 

[andyfraser]

I had a red one. Mine must've been a Mk1. I remember them only being available in red and blue at the time and remember my mum's catalogue only having those two colours. I also remember the black ones coming later but not the other colours. I had mine for at least five years before it was replaced with a Winner. I managed to break the gears and spent a couple of years stuck in top gear. Happy days.