Retro Cycleness

Sold this last year to fund some car mods. I miss it, however I wasn't using it. There's no point hanging on to something if you don't use it, no matter how much you are attached:

While in 1979 at the Nicholas School, my classmates kept their lecture about Tout Ankh Amun or the Tibetan dwarf hamster,my lecture was about the Raleigh Chopper MK2. More than Logic, cause if you ever put your hands at the wheel of the chopper MK2 you walked away with enthusiasm and tears of joy and happyness. And it stumbled our headmaster Miss Smit. She had never seen a class which had breathlessly listened for 4.5 hours. That day all of the benefits of this fine piece of cycling extravaganza were discussed.
And now, almost 40 years later, I can still elaborate on the Raleigh chopper Mk2 for hours . Take the gearbox/switch mechanism. While in the 70's many schoolchildren were delighted with such a ramshackle three gear sticky thing on their handlebars , in the center console of the chopper sat this piece of state-of-the-art technology by Sturmey Archer . This perfectly executed design would not detonate even today in a by Ermenegildo Zegna dressed Maserati Ghibli.

Another eyecatcher is the long saddle. Showing a trick of the Raleigh engineers With this little sticker on the frame. "This bicycle is not constructed to carry passengers". Thanks to this one little sticker, you could curse word off all of your pimpled and flax mustaches provided fobbed friends who were literally begging to hitch a ride. However, a huge range of neighbourhood girls has proven that you certainly could sit behind the driver. The most beautiful girl on the block held me in a headlock for 3 days. So damn tight ,even mister Myagi would be proud! Purely to hitch a ride on the back of my bright orange chopper. The bike of dreams.

That certain attraction to the opposite sex had probably to do with the material the frame was constructed of. Not just metal. Not just steel. And certainly no rust-rebounding-stuff-that-Quantum-bikes these days are made of. No, this bike is constructed from a material that is best described as an alloy of stainless and babe-magnet! Thanks to this bike I now know how Cristiano Ronaldo must feel. Or Harry Styles, the former lead singer of One Direction.
But as professional footbal player you have to train hard every day and as a boybandmember your being trained for months to do some intricate dance steps by heart. With a Raleigh chopper Mk2 on your side you just radiate next to it! Or at least you radiate you knew the owner. Yes ,that often sufficient enough to get the necessary female attention!

In what condition i kept my bike? Let me put it this way, it is easier to find a cross-eyed duck with a perfectly fittied dentures capable to croak the national anthem backwards than you would find a second copy of the MK2 in this condition in my hometown. My father's brother , my uncle ,used to be an airline pilot for KLM. Every time he flew to America, he brought five-liter jars of Turtle Wax along for us kids to polish and polish. Hours and hours of meticulously applying followed.

Are there are any drawbacks on the Raleigh Mk2? No! Yes! Well .. n .. .Yes. 1 disadvantage is there to be. If you ride this chopper, you realize what freedom means. And I mean REAL freedom. The freedom Dennis Hopper and Peter Fonda experienced in the movie Easy Rider. Because of this, there is a strong possibility that the former owners of Raleigh choppers in old age will become a member of a motorcycle club like the Hells Angels, No Surrender, Bandidos or Satudarah. But let's be honest; how bad is that really? Ans how annoying can it be. A 50 kg lighter me and 25 years younger girlfriend on a Harley Davidson touring around over countries roads. It is certainly better than being at a standstill in the mornings traffic. All together in our Daihatsu Pipo or Joke with Nissan , and on the passenger seat a lunchbox full of bites by SWMBO. So yes, go ahead and tell me; is this a disadvantage or maybe an extra advantage?

Anyway, if your like me and you are 40 years older now then it is obviously a bit sad to go cruising the chopper along the hot spots in our hometown. ... At least, thats wat SWMBO thinks. And since I have no sons, it was time to make someone else happy with my Raleigh. I still regret the day.....

Just sold my last Chopper sucks being grown up and having to sell toys to pay for people I don't likes Xmas presents but there ya go...

It went 3 years ago mate, offer I couldn't refuse. Had a couple since but as of now I just have my mk3 Chopper. Have to get something old and curse word next year, I don't feel complete unless what I'm riding rattles, clangs and there's an imminent chance of failure

Hey , want the nummer of my ex wife ? 😀