downhilllister
Active member
Blood sweat and tears to work for the cash to buy this back in the day. And i cannot remember what happened to the bike when i stopped riding it. Most likely rust in the ground i would say.
Three gears. Internal inside the hub.What did the throttle in the middle do?
That's the gear shifter mate.3 Speed.What did the throttle in the middle do?
Got to be a nerd to have a chopper mate.They doubled up as climbing frames.
my mate road his down a steep grass hill and crashed. He bent up both handle bars which considering their design wasn't a surprise.
Not my actual bike, but the same.Blood sweat and tears to work for the cash to buy this back in the day. And i cannot remember what happened to the bike when i stopped riding it. Most likely rust in the ground i would say.
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A very good mate of mine restores those Chopper bikes... they're worth a lot of money if restored correctly according to collectors. Below is a pic he sent me of his one - he orders 'new old original' parts from the UK specialist clubs and auction places. I believe he's working on a second one... authentic parts are getting harder to get.Blood sweat and tears to work for the cash to buy this back in the day. And i cannot remember what happened to the bike when i stopped riding it. Most likely rust in the ground i would say.
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Just looking at it - yeah, poorly designed mechanically and so they broke easily. Handling was pretty bad too. Apparently they were banned at some point because they posed a serious hazard... not to mention that central T-shifter being a widow-maker! ?They doubled up as climbing frames.
my mate road his down a steep grass hill and crashed. He bent up both handle bars which considering their design wasn't a surprise.
See the dog-leg bend in the rear stay?Looks more of a challenge not to wheelie on them.
Didnt they feel very backwards tippy with the seat as high and far back over the wheel?
The seat stay and the chain stay isn't triangulated... instead they form a trapezoid. So a heavy enough load pushing up against the rear axle just eventually folded the rear end.See the dog-leg bend in the rear stay?
That was added to later models to push the rear wheel further out as a safety feature, because the originals had straight rear stays, and hospitals in the UK were full of kids who'd smacked the back of their heads after their Chopper had flipped out from under them..!
We still used to jump them, though: my record was clearing five of my mates who were lying on the ground just past the rickety timber ramp we'd built...
Was it banned in NZ? Wasn't banned in the UK - in fact Raleigh was putting Limited Edition runs out as recently as 2017.I think the Chopper bike got banned
lol. Nerd is a term of endearment for those of us who are social artistic. and being attracted to not the norm things. our talents lie in other places. We are not seen by the main stream. check out this book case, Has an end of life built in.lolA very good mate of mine restores those Chopper bikes... they're worth a lot of money if restored correctly according to collectors. Below is a pic he sent me of his one - he orders 'new old original' parts from the UK specialist clubs and auction places. I believe he's working on a second one... authentic parts are getting harder to get.
Him and his son are both respectable DH racers... so I wouldn't exactly call him a 'nerd.'
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Think from memory that t shifter tried to make me sterile more than one time. and im shore the front wheel would turn under if to much turning was involved.still cannot remember what i did with that bike when moving on to a bigger one.Just looking at it - yeah, poorly designed mechanically and so they broke easily. Handling was pretty bad too. Apparently they were banned at some point because they posed a serious hazard... not to mention that central T-shifter being a widow-maker! ?
Not sure at all. must do some research on thatWas it banned in NZ? Wasn't banned in the UK - in fact Raleigh was putting Limited Edition runs out as recently as 2017.
Back in those days i was glazy eyed with the look and never gave the practical any thought. It must have damaged me in some way.as i cannot remember what i did with the bike. Dam age has an effect on the memory, Have fun when young, for as long as you can. Couse some day someone will be changing our adult dippers, lolThe seat stay and the chain stay isn't triangulated... instead they form a trapezoid. So a heavy enough load pushing up against the rear axle just eventually folded the rear end.
All this is making me reminisce...
I think the Chopper bike got banned roughly at the same time they banned those large half-kilo "Lawn Darts" that can impale un-co children... by splitting their own heads if they missed their designated ground target. The bike was designed during an era when you could also buy woodwork etching hot-irons with cost-saving foot-long short power leads, so when plugged at the wall socket - it would sit and glow red-hot directly under flammable thin fabric window drapes. Power outlets were always nearby windows in those days. I don't recall my first ever bike to have brakes that actually worked... I just slowed down best I could and headed towards a wall if I really wanted to stop.
I think the designers and engineers at the time were instructed by the government to 'cull the herd' by getting rid of undesirable DNA... I'm happy to have survived... but only just!
Yeh, would like all my old bikes/cars. M/bikes in a garage. Could visit them and snort the nostalgia.I would like a few of them in my garage.......to sell.
My friend (who collects them) told me it was banned... but apparently not from what I can gather from a quick internet search. Tall sissy bars were banned in the USA in 1971 so the Chopper Bike only got sold with a low back rest over there. I found an archive BBC TV footage from Dunedin, NZ where it was deemed as a 'dangerous toy' back in 1974 but saw no other reference that it was banned - but this may have been the source why people believed it was. They may have just been pulled out from stores to avoid disputes but then the fad faded when overtaken by the latest BMX craze.Was it banned in NZ? Wasn't banned in the UK - in fact Raleigh was putting Limited Edition runs out as recently as 2017.
My brother had a dragster at the same time .Looked like a bigger version of the chopper, but cannot remember if it handled similar,My friend (who collects them) told me it was banned... but apparently not from what I can gather from a quick internet search. Tall sissy bars were banned in the USA in 1971 so the Chopper Bike only got sold with a low back rest over there. I found an archive BBC TV footage from Dunedin, NZ where it was deemed as a 'dangerous toy' back in 1974 but saw no other reference that it was banned - but this may have been the source why people believed it was. They may have just been pulled out from stores to avoid disputes but then the fad faded when overtaken by the latest BMX craze.
Blood sweat and tears to work for the cash to buy this back in the day. And i cannot remember what happened to the bike when i stopped riding it. Most likely rust in the ground i would say.
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I was actually typing about it when your post went in!I can’t believe no one has mentioned the high speed wobble yet.
Once up to a speed only achievable on steep hills, the front wheel would start to oscillate. It was non recoverable.
My mother has a school photo of my blotchy face where the scabs had finally come off.
Ummm aren't all bike people nerds. They need bikes to get away from the football players .A very good mate of mine restores those Chopper bikes... they're worth a lot of money if restored correctly according to collectors. Below is a pic he sent me of his one - he orders 'new old original' parts from the UK specialist clubs and auction places. I believe he's working on a second one... authentic parts are getting harder to get.
Him and his son are both respectable DH racers... so I wouldn't exactly call him a 'nerd.'
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I can’t believe no one has mentioned the high speed wobble yet.
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