As well as my MK1 Cavalier i'm also a keen bicycle restorer.
Over the years i've rebuilt a Vektar, Moulton and even a Sinclair C5.
It was a visit to the Beaulieu Autojumble in May 15 that it started my obsession, for £8 i bought a wreck of a Mk2 Grifter that i thought would be a fun project to restore. Something different from cars, this was nut and bolt rebuild and once done another was sourced then another........
BEFORE
AFTER
I fancied a BMX but not the usual kind, i wanted something different and it was a chance glance one evening that i spotted on Ebay another Mk2 Grifter that was rough but had started to be BMX'd
That'll be a good base so a £30 bid secured it and once home i stripped it down
BEFORE
I built this one around the seat, i bought this for a Fixie project but it never happened so as i love the look and colur of it i decided to use it for this.
The chrome was re-plated, the frame blasted and painted Ford Copper Pulse along with the bar clamp and chain guard. The decals are one offs. I wanted it to look like a bike Raleigh could have built, a kind of final version of the Grifter before the BMX proper took over......and i love this.
AFTER, i even painted a skate/ BMX helmet to match.
Once that was finished and hanging on my garage wall i decided that the bike i'd wanted as a kid was going to be my next project. The Raleigh Bomber.
my folks couldn't afford to buy me one as a kid and i'd always liked the look of these so a good look was made in the ads,eventually a few months later and one turned up 18 miles from me.
It's an early version, a January 1982 Mk1 Bomber in the only colour that a Bomber CAN be, Black with the Bomber decals.
This was £55 and was rough, it has been roughly put together after a 'rebuild' but it was an early one and i knew that i could bring it back.
So yet again i fully stripped this down, chromework was sent off for refurbing, the paint was blasted and redone by myself, decals are reproductions and the tyres are as near to the originals and came from the States.
This is also a sweet ride and has been riden a few miles since it was finished in March,it's so smooth.
BEFORE
AFTER
And there we are, though i'm sure there's wall room for another bike.....we'll see.
Over the years i've rebuilt a Vektar, Moulton and even a Sinclair C5.
It was a visit to the Beaulieu Autojumble in May 15 that it started my obsession, for £8 i bought a wreck of a Mk2 Grifter that i thought would be a fun project to restore. Something different from cars, this was nut and bolt rebuild and once done another was sourced then another........
BEFORE
AFTER
I fancied a BMX but not the usual kind, i wanted something different and it was a chance glance one evening that i spotted on Ebay another Mk2 Grifter that was rough but had started to be BMX'd
That'll be a good base so a £30 bid secured it and once home i stripped it down
BEFORE
I built this one around the seat, i bought this for a Fixie project but it never happened so as i love the look and colur of it i decided to use it for this.
The chrome was re-plated, the frame blasted and painted Ford Copper Pulse along with the bar clamp and chain guard. The decals are one offs. I wanted it to look like a bike Raleigh could have built, a kind of final version of the Grifter before the BMX proper took over......and i love this.
AFTER, i even painted a skate/ BMX helmet to match.
Once that was finished and hanging on my garage wall i decided that the bike i'd wanted as a kid was going to be my next project. The Raleigh Bomber.
my folks couldn't afford to buy me one as a kid and i'd always liked the look of these so a good look was made in the ads,eventually a few months later and one turned up 18 miles from me.
It's an early version, a January 1982 Mk1 Bomber in the only colour that a Bomber CAN be, Black with the Bomber decals.
This was £55 and was rough, it has been roughly put together after a 'rebuild' but it was an early one and i knew that i could bring it back.
So yet again i fully stripped this down, chromework was sent off for refurbing, the paint was blasted and redone by myself, decals are reproductions and the tyres are as near to the originals and came from the States.
This is also a sweet ride and has been riden a few miles since it was finished in March,it's so smooth.
BEFORE
AFTER
And there we are, though i'm sure there's wall room for another bike.....we'll see.
