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Raleigh Chopper Owners Club
Your Stories
This e-mail was sent to us from a Chopper fan in Canada.
(As with all the E-mails sent to us, we do NOT
publish the senders name or e-mail address)
Hi Mark
well here's my story, back in 1974 my uncle
bought me this bad ass bike for 24$ Canadian(12 pounds).
I had no clue what he was talking about
until I saw it on the back of his car, it was a red 10 speed Chopper with the
awsome sissy bar in the back. He took it off his Datsun 210 and showed me what
it was made for....wheelies! My mother was freaking out and I was happier than
a pig in shit.
I enjoyed the beast for 2 years, being the
coolest kid in the neighbourhood, until I painted the thing silver with a
spray can and the Bike Gods punished me for such sacrilege and sent their
Angels of darkness to steal bike.
Fast forward 20 years later, I was
reading Bicycling Magazine when out of the past I see a picture and article
about a Raleigh Chopper. The bug caught me and I just had to find another
one. I went looking but all I found
was a basket case Mk2, and the guy was asking a kings ransom for it. The price
and karma not being right, I passed on the offer. After 3 years of endless
search, has I'm about to give up, I see this faded but complete burnt Orange 3
speed Chopper on top of a pile of bike wrecks ready for garbage pick-up day.
My hands shaking I rang the doorbell and told the lady who answered I was
ready to buy the thing off her. She told me to just take it, it was going in
the garbage anyways... Good things come to those who wait.
I fixed the bike so it could run and rode it
for 2 years before thinking about restoring it. When the time came, I decided
to restore the bike has a custom. My goal was to have a cool ride and to RIDE
it. Hence the gold paint job, this thing does not sit under glass. I ride it
with the local lowrider bike club and the kids get a real kick out of it. My
kids will inherit this bike has I have no intentions of ever selling it.
Best Regards