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Been after one of these for a while, most that turned up were either too far away or out my price range. Bit the bullet on Sunday and nipped down to Northumberland to pick this up It's totaly original, complete and unrestored, was stored in the original owners loft for 25 years It's pretty sound condition wise, frame has a bit of surface rust which i've treated with Kurust for now, back wheel needs straightened a bit, hubs, headset and bottom bracket bearings all need stripped and regreased, needs a new chain and a set of tyres too as the ones on it are cracked (probably the originals), will be fitting the proper red line tyres. Gear stick, gear indicator and the three speed rear hub work fine, plans for now are just to get it mechanicaly sorted and running fine, will respray and re-sticker it eventually (there is a Vauxhall colour pretty close to the Raleigh Ultra Violet) Have taken it for a blast up the street already, feels just as dangerous as the one i had in 1982
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72 Pontiac Firebird Formula 400. 95 BMW E34 525i Manual. 80 Lotus Elite, sold 86 Mk4 Escort RWD V8, sold
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Nice bike I'm a bot of a chopper Grifter nut so I have 6 grifters 1 chopper & 2 strikas
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awoo
Posted a lot
Posts: 1,506
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good original paint work and you want to respray it in vauxhall paint? why would you do that?
thats too good a bike to start "restoring" in that way/
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good original paint work and you want to respray it in vauxhall paint? why would you do that? thats too good a bike to start "restoring" in that way/ Paint looks a lot better in the pics than it does in the flesh, there is a lot of surface rust on the underside, chainguard and stand bracket. As i said the Vauxhall colour is a pretty good match (nearly identical) to the original colour so i'd be "restoring" it back to catalogue standard, if you Google Chopper restoration you will see plenty of examples of the Vauxhall colour being used
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72 Pontiac Firebird Formula 400. 95 BMW E34 525i Manual. 80 Lotus Elite, sold 86 Mk4 Escort RWD V8, sold
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Your ride, your choice.
However, would a bit of hand polishing not bring the paint back to life?
I am sure most real collector types would go for original than almost like....
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hkr91
South East
Posts: 562
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Always loved them!
Think I've got a Rayleigh Grifter still laying in the garden.
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MK2VR6
Posted a lot
Mk2 Golf GTi 90 Spec
Posts: 3,329
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Cool bike! I remember a mate's sister owned one years back - it was instictive to ensure your 'nads went nowhere near the gearstick handle, even if you were in the process of falling off. As for repainting it, personal opinion would be to leave it original. I owned an original '84 Mag Burner which wore its original, honest if slightly scruffy paint. I loved the patina, and the fact each scratch had a story to tell of its 28 year life. I still don't understand why a huge percentage of collectors of old school bikes repaint them and then lose the originality.
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You all may have swung me in favour of keeping the original paint now , will try a bit of T-cut and wax over the weekend, i also think it'll look a million times better when i get the new red line tyres on it
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72 Pontiac Firebird Formula 400. 95 BMW E34 525i Manual. 80 Lotus Elite, sold 86 Mk4 Escort RWD V8, sold
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Auto glym metal polish works wonders on the spokes
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Always loved them! Think I've got a Rayleigh Grifter still laying in the garden. Really if you do can you pm pics if its for sale ? Thanks
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Ive got a Mk1 is worse condition then that,was chatting to the guy who sells choppers at the VW show at sandown about it and he also said theres loads of restored ones but few originals about and he said to leave it unrestored but hey its your bike
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I had an orange Mk1, back in the day. Had it for xmas, think it was 73, could have been 74, long time ago. I remember it going in the skip, as you did!
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Ive got a Mk1 is worse condition then that,was chatting to the guy who sells choppers at the VW show at sandown about it and he also said theres loads of restored ones but few originals about and he said to leave it unrestored but hey its your bike That's swung it then, i'll keep the original paint , gave it a T-cut thismorning, got the Kurust off and it's looking a lot better, it's strictly a summer toy anyway so the rust ain't gonna get any worse.
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72 Pontiac Firebird Formula 400. 95 BMW E34 525i Manual. 80 Lotus Elite, sold 86 Mk4 Escort RWD V8, sold
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my mk 1 is orange too with the plain black decals its rusty but complete and seat and tyres are fine It was saved as it went over the wall at the local tip a few years back as a mate of mine used to work there
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