outlash
also available in orange
- Location
- ice station zebra
Thanks for that, if you've got a time machine so I could go back 30 or so years and tell my mate, I'd be grateful.
Raleigh Grifter
- Thread starter Mark Lawless
- Start date
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Thanks for that, if you've got a time machine so I could go back 30 or so years and tell my mate, I'd be grateful.
mustang1
Legendary Member
- Location
- London, UK
My friend had a blue one and I had a red chopper. Don't know if the bikes were good or not but we had great times on them!
Saluki
World class procrastinator
- Location
- ...Norwich over the water.
My little sister had one of these, red one if I remember rightly.
My Dad had a bike shop, when he came out of the forces, and sold a lot of Raleighs and Puchs too
By the time that sis had one, it was too small for me as I had grown like a weed and was a good 5'5" or more and had been bought, the much hated Raleigh Twenty, cos that's a great bike for a 12 or 13 year old, is it not. She never rode it and it went to be a gift to an much older cousin's lad who loved it and tried to keep it in his bedroom.
My Dad had a bike shop, when he came out of the forces, and sold a lot of Raleighs and Puchs too
By the time that sis had one, it was too small for me as I had grown like a weed and was a good 5'5" or more and had been bought, the much hated Raleigh Twenty, cos that's a great bike for a 12 or 13 year old, is it not. She never rode it and it went to be a gift to an much older cousin's lad who loved it and tried to keep it in his bedroom.
cyberknight
As long as I breathe, I attack.
- Location
- Land of confusion
I had a choice of a "race " bike and a grifter , went for the grifter as i doubt you could do ramp jumps on a racer at the time
, mind you my nuts knew about when i mistimed the landing once.
mjr
Comfy armchair to one person & a plank to the next
- Location
- mostly Norfolk, sometimes Somerset
Sorry, I broke the time machine next week.
w00hoo_kent
One of the 64K
- Location
- Maidstone or Greenwich
The classic look for my mates with chopper style bikes was to have the seat bent like a banana from too many hard landings off of ramps.
mjr
Comfy armchair to one person & a plank to the next
- Location
- mostly Norfolk, sometimes Somerset
Amen! Is it because so many others were on Choppers or Boxers... and look at the rise on those Boxer bars!
OP
OP
Mark Lawless
Active Member
So, the Grifter I bought with very few details last weekend arrived today. It looked OK in the pictures (sample at top of page), and I bought it at what I consider to be reasonable money, although I knew the paint was either VERY faded or non original.
I've had a look over it, and there's good and bad, as you would expect.
First, the good points :
With the exception of the rear mud flap, it seems to be all there.
Brakes and gears appear to be working fine.
It was relatively cheap - I must ALWAYS bear this in mind.
Brake and gear cables still have their original ribbed outers, so one less thing to look for.
Frame and forks are straight.
Bad points so far are :
The bike has been hand painted in an awful light blue, however its original colour was red - I have still to work out exactly which red.
Chain wheel guard has a piece missing - must have broken off in transit. This is disappointing, as it was one of the plus points that this was intact.
Genuine Supagrip tyres appear to be unused, however there seems to be some light cracking - I'm not sure what to do about this.
Chrome on wheels and pedal stems a little rougher than I was hoping for - I'm not sure if this can be rubbed / polished out or not.
Anyway, it looks like there's no point messing about at the edges with this one. I'll make a full assessment of everything it needs, but I'll be stripping it completely, as I can't live with that paint. I think it would be best to get it bead blasted and painted either blue or red - I'm thinking Mk1 colours, as although not original, they are nicer than later shades.
Any and all advice from all of you who know what they are doing better than me (that'll be most people!) would be gratefully received. I'm going to take my time with it, so I can look for bargains which crop up occasionally, and do as much as I can myself - although I might go pro for the paint - we'll see.
Frame number is NL2115984, so it's an August 1982 bike - well into Mk2 production.
I've had a look over it, and there's good and bad, as you would expect.
First, the good points :
With the exception of the rear mud flap, it seems to be all there.
Brakes and gears appear to be working fine.
It was relatively cheap - I must ALWAYS bear this in mind.
Brake and gear cables still have their original ribbed outers, so one less thing to look for.
Frame and forks are straight.
Bad points so far are :
The bike has been hand painted in an awful light blue, however its original colour was red - I have still to work out exactly which red.
Chain wheel guard has a piece missing - must have broken off in transit. This is disappointing, as it was one of the plus points that this was intact.
Genuine Supagrip tyres appear to be unused, however there seems to be some light cracking - I'm not sure what to do about this.
Chrome on wheels and pedal stems a little rougher than I was hoping for - I'm not sure if this can be rubbed / polished out or not.
Anyway, it looks like there's no point messing about at the edges with this one. I'll make a full assessment of everything it needs, but I'll be stripping it completely, as I can't live with that paint. I think it would be best to get it bead blasted and painted either blue or red - I'm thinking Mk1 colours, as although not original, they are nicer than later shades.
Any and all advice from all of you who know what they are doing better than me (that'll be most people!) would be gratefully received. I'm going to take my time with it, so I can look for bargains which crop up occasionally, and do as much as I can myself - although I might go pro for the paint - we'll see.
Frame number is NL2115984, so it's an August 1982 bike - well into Mk2 production.
robsa
Veteran
- Location
- chesterfield
When your growing up you always had one lad who had the latest bike? well we had one , he was a bit daft too. Anyhoo he had a brand new grifter and was complaining about the brakes. I was the local go to kid regarding bikes so he came and asked me. Now I wasn't fond of this kid because he was spoilt, so I told him to pour 3 in 1 on his brake blocks and to test them by humping his bike up the slide on the park and riding it down with brakes on.
The aftermath was quite spectacular.
But not as spectacular as the argument with his dad and mine.
Ahhhh the 70s
The aftermath was quite spectacular.
But not as spectacular as the argument with his dad and mine.
Ahhhh the 70s
Andrew_Culture
Internet Marketing bod
- Location
- The People's Republic Of Suffolk.
I know I've posted this in another Grifter thread, but it is a fun photo!
Andrew_Culture
Internet Marketing bod
- Location
- The People's Republic Of Suffolk.
Oh! This is something of a revelation, I did wonder why on earth so many grifters had 'slip gear'. I suffered so many genital discourtesies thanks to slip gear that I was genuinely surprised when it turned out I didn't lose the ability to father children.
Andrew_Culture
Internet Marketing bod
- Location
- The People's Republic Of Suffolk.
Looking again at the length of the cables on my grifter I've remembered we used to make the thing stop by grabbing ALL the cables in my fist and yanking them really hard.
I would like to correct the 'we' in the previous sentence but I'm posting from my iPad and the 'long hold' needed to position the cursor will make it crash!
I would like to correct the 'we' in the previous sentence but I'm posting from my iPad and the 'long hold' needed to position the cursor will make it crash!