Raleigh Grifter
Raleigh Grifter :
The younger brother of the Chopper, the Grifter was the cool bike of the 80's. Like the Chopper, the Grifter was a chunky, heavy, cumbersome bike that felt more like a motorbike than a bicycle.
The most innovative thing about the Grifter was the gear shift which was incorporated in to the handle grips and was controlled with a twisting motion.
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RALEIGH BUDGIE, CHOPPER, GRIFTER, TOMAHAWK R NUT LOGO'S
£1.50
Bicycle > Raleigh
RALEIGH GRIFTER MK1 CHAIN WHEEL DONT MISS OUT EXCELLENT
£11.25
Bicycle > Raleigh
RALEIGH GRIFTER MADE IN ENGLAND STICKER
£1.50
Bicycle > Raleigh
RALEIGH CHOPPER PRISMATIC MK2 FRAME (GRIFTER ERA)
£25.00
Bicycle > Raleigh
RALEIGH GRIFTER - BLUE ESSEX PICK UP ONLY
£62.00
Cycling > Bikes
RALEIGH GRIFTER COMPLETE DECAL SET RED WHITE & BLUE
£6.90
Bicycle > Raleigh
RALEIGH TOMAHAWK, NOT CHOPPER OR GRIFTER.
£1.04
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Also remembered...
I had a Budgie - a bottle green one if I remember rightly. Where I was from you were either a Budgie / Tomahawk / Chopper kid, or a Boxer / Strika / Grifter kid. If I recall correctly, the Budgie only came equipped with one brake - front. It was the bike I learned to ride on, and I subsequently graduated to a Tomahawk when I was about 7 or 8. I couldn't wait until I was big enough for a Chopper, but by the time I was they had all but gone out of fashion and racing bikes were the thing to have. So I ended up going straight from my Tomahawk to a light blue Raleigh Arena (with no less than 5 gears!!) and never had the pleasure of owning a Chopper. Racing bikes seemed to be a realtively short-lived thing though - they certainly never enjoyed the longevity of the other Raleigh bikes - and within a few years were all but obsolete. The next big thing - which was massive at the time - was the "Son of the Grifter". The BMX, spawned by Raleigh's Burner which was ultra cool with its bright yellow mag wheels and contrasting blue frame. And pads. PADS!! They seemed so cool at the time. "Yeah, so I can, like, to table-tops and stuff cos if I crash out it won't hurt too much cos I've got pads on my bike". Those were the days...
...and do you remember these?
- R-R-R-Raw Power
- BMX bikes
- Miami Miss BMX Bike
- Raleigh Bluebird
- Raleigh Chippy
- Raleigh Alpha
- Raleigh Lizard
- Zipper Bike
- Za-Zooom
- Raleigh Arena
Comments
Of course, the only Grifter to be seen cruising around on was the Grifter XL - red and black (along with grey, essential colours for any 80's boys lifestyle accessories) and equipped with a more prominent parcel rack.. essential stuff for providing 'backies'. I looked the biz on mine... until it had its spokes buckled by Jonathon Bexon. Still, he never saw his Evil Kenevil dragster (with working parachute) again...
Lionel 15-Apr-2004, 04:19:20 PM
Ahh the Grifter, chunky tyres, chunkier seat(who on earth had a backside that big at age 10?) my younger brother had the Boxer(?) I think it was called. Obiously not as cool!
Simon Newby 01-Jun-2004, 10:51:19 AM
All my friends had blue and yellow BMX bikes... for some reason I got a silver Grifter. Thing was so heavy that I had to push it up hills and the gears stuck in top within a month or so. Nice nobbly tyres though.....
Bryan Anderson 13-Aug-2004, 03:42:51 PM
I remember Christmas Day 1978 when my brother and I got new bicycles of Father Christmas. I got a Raleigh Alpha really girly but my brother got a Raleigh Grifter and I was a little jealous because I would have much rather had a Grifter. One day I convinced him to let me take it out for a spin. It was a really solid bike and the handlebars were wide. Whilst I was riding it the brake cable snapped so I took it home and got into lots of trouble, I got the blame of course even though I only rode it the once - surely it wasn't my fault?
Nicky Evans 10-Oct-2004, 07:47:30 PM
My friend had a Silver Grifter and he leant it to me whilst he went on holiday to Lloret De Mar (Costa del sol - very 70's). It was so heavy and difficult to control because of the stupid fat tyres and wide handlebars. I don't think I have crashed in to so many things ever, as I did in that 1 week!
Leslie Somogyi 18-Dec-2004, 08:58:51 PM
I can remember dumping my action man training tower in a flash, and tearing up and down our street,on my grifter xl. I felt like the bees knees on that bike. And at 31 years of age, I still have it in the loft at my mam and dads house in mint condition!!!
dave h 08-Jan-2005, 05:45:45 PM
My brother got my old cast offs, being younger than me,and not coming from a wealthy family meant that we had to improvise! so my dad sprayed my old raleigh boxer, and wrote to rally asking for new decals to place on the new black and red BOXER to look like my Grifter xl. I think the man at raleigh got a brilliant idea of my dad, because not long after christmas, lo and behold, what comes out in just about every bikeshop in hartlepool? the BOXER XL!!!! I still say to this day that my dad had the idea for the boxer xl.
dave h. 08-Jan-2005, 05:55:42 PM
My memory of my FIRST raleigh grifter was attending a local auction when i was a mere 5 years old, and spying a silver Grifter SE (MK2) i eventually sold it when i was 12. 9 years later i decided to purchase another and it turned out to be one and the same. That was when i set the Raleigh Grifter Owners Club up and collected a further 15 Grifters spanning all but one model ever made.
Ron Whitmill 10-Jan-2005, 05:50:33 PM
i remember the blisters on your thumb knuckels from the grips.and lifting the dam thing up steps,plus the nut crusher cross bar.and picking of the seat.
peter jackson 13-Jan-2005, 09:58:45 PM
I remember.... three sets of new forks from performing jumps at the local woods - and crashing, two new back tyres from skidding too much and (i'm sure there are a few of you who remeber this one) folding the plastic ends of the mudguards under so they would rub on the knobbly bits of the tyre to make motorbike noises - creating a cresent shaped bite into the plastic.
Martin LONDON 27-Jan-2005, 12:37:47 PM
i had my first grifter when i was 7 yrs old (1976) it was a brand new mk1 in metallic red,i have memories of it being a heavy bike but it was great for going fast and seeing how far you could skid for also bending the rear mudguard onto the tyre to make an engine kind of sound, what a great bike!! i washed and polished it religiously every weekend until it was stolen about a year later, i went on holiday to spain, with my grandparents, on my arrival back home there was another new red grifter waiting for me (another mk1) i was made up!!....this bike was also stolen from the house and alas had to make do with a second hand chopper after that (boo)...at 34 yrs of age...i have just aquired another grifter albeit in blue....but it is a mk1 and is in original condition, a few hours cleaning it up and it is almost like new....it does need a couple of tyres tho' as they have perished (old age)cant find any tho (yet)
paul 19-Feb-2005, 01:20:12 PM
I remember lusting after the Grifter after seeing it for the first time at a store called "Dion's" (in Joburg) -- and I finally got it. My first bike with gears. I rode that bike EVERYWHERE. I was the king of the road (and off). A few months later it was stolen out of our garage... but the felons were identified by some local landscapers and after some tricky policework, they were aprehended, but the bike was long-gone :-(
Andrew 26-Feb-2005, 05:02:09 PM
i remember falling off mine whilst giving my mate a seater. i couldn walk properly for a week after
russell stanley 27-Mar-2005, 06:06:21 PM
This looked like the later, much cooler BMX, except it weighed more than an articulated lorry! If memory serves they originally came in blue or red, but as the BMX came around in about 1981/82 they brought out a very 80s red and black one which was much lighter.
Mandy 21-Dec-2005, 06:01:32 PM
i had the grifter xl, red & black, i was over the moon when i got this for xmas. it might have been on the heavy side but was my pride & joy for only 4 weeks when some one else decided they wanted it. the frame was found down a playing field, the price to get it rolling again was to high (so my mom & dad told me), so they replaced it with a mag burner for my b'day. i never told them but i would have prefered to have the xl back. and i still think about it today.
ROBERT 25-Dec-2005, 01:31:41 AM
The Grifter was class and officially the worlds heaviest bike! It was the 2 wheeled equivalent of a Volvo! So many kids my age couldn't grasp the gears peoperly, and you could often see hundreds of abandoned Grifters on the hill of Middlesbrough, but kids would leave them there - why? When the slip gear engaged, the bike would slow to a halt, and invariably, you would fall off. The bike was that heavy, you couldn't pick it back up, so you would leave it, go get your dad, and he would get it,at a struggle. Fantastic bikes!
steve hooton 07-Jan-2006, 02:01:58 AM
I had a Boxer, my cousin had a Grifter. He let me have a go on it. I crashed it.
Ian Thompson 09-Jan-2006, 12:54:45 AM
i?m Spanish but me and my family lived in Portsmouth during three years 80-83 due to my dads work. i never had a grifter (i alreay had a bike by then) but i fell in love the first time i saw it. Everytime i could i would ask someone else for a ride. True it was heavy, true it blistered your hands but it was still the bike to have. Now a days i?m even thinking on geting one. It will sure bring back the best of memories.
Juan Carlos Jaro 25-Feb-2006, 04:57:43 AM
I had a Grifter when i was 9 years old. I thought it was fantastic....That was until, I fell off it coming down a steep hill because it was to heavy to steer it and ended up putting my front teeth through my bottom lip!!!
Mark Ashby 28-Feb-2006, 10:00:42 PM
The red bikes with chunky wheels and big mud flaps which you would bend back so it would sound like a motorbike, Yeah right!
Jamie Barlow 06-Mar-2006, 01:22:05 PM
I am sure the little brother to the chopper was the Tomahawk. I know because I had one, as the little brother to a Chopper owner!! In fact I think the Tomahawk had a smaller variant called the Chipper (I think). I remember well my freinds getting their 1st Grifter. Nowhere near as good for giving 'backies' as the good old Chopper was!! But yes, that twist gear mechanism was slightly cooler from a kids perspective than the cross bar mounted gear stick of the Chopper. I looked at the new Chopper for my son. Where'd that gear stick go? Obviously health and safety got there first!
Graham Baker 07-Mar-2006, 04:09:06 PM
I had a Silver Grifter Deluxe, had many a great trip, also ran over my mates labrador and flew over the handlebars at the same time don't think either of us ran for over a week
Phil Mansell 10-Mar-2006, 08:26:04 PM
i had a grifter xl, i remember jumping over the old tin dustbins from a ramp made of bricks and some old boarding and bending the forks. my dad didnt see the funny side and took the bike off me and sold it.
tony (nottingham) 12-Mar-2006, 07:40:06 PM
had a grifter and a chopper, as an early learning spanner monket i grafted them together, and made a chifter,. chopper with a grifter front wheel, it handled like a bag of bricks, but it was a one of, till half the world started doing it
darren 21-Mar-2006, 11:19:42 PM
Don't think it was the younger brother of the chopper, the grifter and boxer were so called brothers, the chipper and chopper were so called brothers, with a step brother called a tomahawk, i had them all, and blended them together to make allkinds of inbreds And got plenty of bruises from them, as you do, or as you did should i say, the chopper was the best, especially when you create an inbread from the grifter, you got the perfect rat bike
knowlsey 21-Mar-2006, 11:24:30 PM
i thought i was getting 1 of these beautys for christmas 1 year when they first came out ...i got up all excited and rushed down stairs to find a vile fold up bike and my mum trying to tell me that the grifter was too dangerous? she used the same excuse for me not to have the blue and yellow roller boots my grandad bought me ,!!!!
kerry clarke 25-Mar-2006, 07:18:55 PM
I had a chopper when I was young, a black MK2 with the shiny graphics. A school mate had a silver Grifter and it was more manouverable than my tank of a Chopper. We went up to the waste ground, hammering about. We swapped bikes and the fat bloke broke my Choppers seat from its seat post. GRRR!!
Alecw35 25-Mar-2006, 07:20:51 PM
i swapped a 10 peed racer for a silver grifter and it was the best bike i ever had, put me on a hill with that bike and i could beat any bmx to the bottom. great bike.
john 05-Apr-2006, 08:51:04 AM
I had a grifter before i got the bomber, towards the end of its life it got stuck in 3rd gear which was a nitemare when your a bit cheeky like i was and older kids or parents were chasing you. Like the bomber i kept snapping the forks. Heavy bike but great
Andy Fairview 08-Apr-2006, 01:05:32 PM
I had a silver Striker (the one between the Grifter and the Boxer). Always wanted to graduate to a Grifter but my parents said I had to have a "proper" bike so got a 5 speed Raleigh Winner instead.
BulletTime 14-Apr-2006, 08:38:54 PM
i had one. they where ace ,solid,and hellish heavy
ian 15-Apr-2006, 04:40:42 PM
I remember finding a discarded one in a skip along with spare tyres, managed to replace everything except for the massive seat which was split, so wet a*se in the rain scenario.
Paul 16-Apr-2006, 08:43:49 PM
A GOOD BRITISH BIKE, ALTHOUGH THE STRIKER,BOXER,COMMANDO AND GRIFTER WERE NEVER QUITE AS COOL AS THE TOMAHAWK, CHIPPER AND OF COURSE THE MIGHTY CHOPPER.
GRAHAM - HARTLEPOOL 19-Apr-2006, 06:05:28 PM
We used to stip them down and use them for jumps etc. That was untill the metal at the bottom of the head stock cracked!!!! Also we used to take off the twist grip gears and use a spoke to hold the bike in second gear LOL. I also had a Tracker (only available in blue) which had front suspension :-) .......Cant find any info on these :-( Then of course BMX hit these shores :-)
Ian 01-Jul-2006, 12:22:43 PM
ive got a grifter for sale if anyone is interested!? i was actually just surfing the net to see if there was any interest in them when i came across this site so a bit of free advertising is needed i think. ok, so grifter... no idea the model but will find out. has been used once if its lucky so tires, stickers, seat everything brand new, even comes with origional spider webs cant get better than that. interested? email me- margaret.devaney@strath.ac.uk thanks
mgt 07-Jul-2006, 09:37:09 AM
I had a second hand raleigh grifter XL when I was 11 (I was in foster care at the time) and I was well delighted with it, in my head it was a great big black and red beast that needed taming and I was the master, yeah everyone laughed cos it was such a monstor of a bike, but I beat everyone in races on their bmx's cos of the 3 gears even at most jumps, my cousin had the chopper and nearly killed both of us on it, so the grifter is the better....HAIL TO THE KING BABY!!!!
The Tominator 13-Jul-2006, 11:11:31 AM
As a kid we weren't very well off and therefore I didn't get a Grifter but my mate David Scott and I lusted after them. Then one day in summer of 80 or 81 his Dad won the Pools and he was bought a spanking shiny silver mkII. He rubbed my nose in it ending our friendship and became a spoilt brat. I later got a new Raleigh Burner which was the coolest bike but his Dad was so tight he had to keep his Grifter. How I laughed............
Rory 07-Sep-2006, 03:04:34 PM
the grifter and i dated for a while but it was nothing serious, it all ended when i found out that the grifter didnt want children, was a fan of ZZ top and had the collected works of william shakespeare thrown into a river as a childhood prank.
dann 18-Sep-2006, 08:55:06 PM
I had two griffters over the years, although I had them in the early 90's just before my move on to BMX.. I always saw them as Raleigh's first toe dip into the market before releaseing the awesome burners.. I had like 3 burners over the first half of the 90's too.. the odd griffter part used to migrate when a Red R nut was neded.. bling bling ;-)
Dr. Bobby Love 21-Sep-2006, 02:01:28 PM
I had a Grifter mk2 silver with a yellow electronic horn on Christmas 1982 but apart from being the coolest bike ever it was incredibly tough. I used to leave it in the drive after school and my dad complained that if he saw my bike in the driveway again he would run it over and well he did I was having my tea when I heard him come in the drive and hit my bike it sailed through the air ending up on the far end of the garden undamaged but my old mans car bumper was dented ha ha loved that bike.
Mrd 24-Sep-2006, 04:15:46 AM
my friend had a raleigh burner and he used to give me a frontie , ( where you sat on the v handlebars) , we were coming back with fish and chips one day , sadly his handlebars slipped , i went under the front wheel and his mum ended up with tyre tracks across her fish and chips , when she asked whay we just went red and laughed , i now got me a grifter at 36
steve 30-Sep-2006, 06:27:01 PM
ok so its not a grifter story but it is still funny none the less i had a mate in the 80,s who decided to paint his sisters bike , but to paint it with a model paint brush , when he had finished the job i asked him why he had painted a black line on the front tyre , to which he replied , its a speedo , the faster it goes round the faster i am going , so off we went at a pace , and sadly he was so engrossed looking at his new make shift speedo he ran into a wall and wrecked the bike , laugh , i though my pants would never dry !!!!!!!!
steve 01-Oct-2006, 01:16:03 AM
when the grifter first came out nearly half the estate had one so you can imagine the bike gangs that rode around. My best mate who is dead now, sadly, used to peddle the bike while i sat on the cross bar sideon, we would race down the hill and at the bottom was a ramp were the hill ended and we would fly through the air like eddie the eagle edwards. Its a shame they dont make them anymore, why cant they bring them back like they have done with the Chopper
lee tyrer 30-Oct-2006, 10:49:07 AM
oh NOOOOO you cant do that , its sacrilege they are a rapidly appreciating classic that are now coming out of the shadows of the chopper , personally i hated the fact that Raleigh bought back the chopper and i really hope they don't do the same with the wonderful GRIFTER . ps: these are my views only and should not be taken as too serious
steve 31-Oct-2006, 11:57:41 AM
I started out with a blue Boxer before graduating to a silver and black Grifter, it was the first thing I bought with my savings and it cost around ?80. I loved the bike to bits adding various bits like mirrors etc. I then moved on to a Super Burner but still kept the Grifter for my paper round because it had a stand. I ended up selling it to a mate, he ruined it by spraying it blue :-( I loved that bike, I was the only one in the village to own a silver and black one, everyone elses was red or blue.
Lee D 26-Nov-2006, 10:35:33 AM
had a brand new mk1 steel blue grifter for my 12th birthday in 1977. was the best bike i ever owned and that included a brand new chopper in black with prismatic stickers! 30 years later just bought a grifter on e-bay in immaculate condition and its a mk1 in steel blue. memories are made of this.
col 09-Jan-2007, 02:23:43 PM
i had a silver grifter, with black and red transfers. it was a beautiful crafted machine with 3 shift gears on handlebars(i think red blue and yellow). my best mate at the time had one too, we used to build jumps to ride them off, only problem was they were heavy and if you came off them in mid-air you and bike would crash and burn.
simon peters 12-Jan-2007, 04:52:26 AM
hi people i have just bought myself another grifter , it is a 1981 grifter xl so that takes my complete tally of bikes to 6 complete and four part bikes oooh you just cant get enough of em
steve edwards 30-Jan-2007, 09:35:16 PM
hi, i'm Antonio from Portugal and i had a Grifter XL that my father, a truck driver, brought me from UK in 1987. I just LOVED that bike and had for 10 years until some b*****d stole it from my garage.. what a sad day.. Does anyone has or knows where i can buy a Grifter XL? Is there a place online or local store where i can find one? Please reply to eucurto@gmail.com Thanks
antonio luis 16-Mar-2007, 11:57:53 AM
I had a red grifter (even though I asked for blue) for christmas not sure of the year, late 70's early 80's. I couldn't have asked for anything better. It was great to ride. I remember the thick black foam between the handle bars, the gears on the right handle, the thick sturdy frame, & wheels. I had it for about 8 years. I left it in the back garden as I was in the process of cleaning it up. I got home from my grandparents house to find my dad had given it to the 'Rag & Bone' man... I was gutted.
Stormy Wray 29-Mar-2007, 08:44:09 PM
i had a red grifter in 83,i changed the wheels for bmx mags and had a back peddle brake .i do believe i had the coolest grifter on my estate! it was great for jumps and wheelies!,im 35 now,but im thinking of getting one off of ebay.just for old times sake.x
gaz187 05-Apr-2007, 01:21:28 PM
I rode my mates grifter, heavy but so was my 10 speed, for some unknown reason i found it easier to ride up hill than my 10 speed racer.
marcus 07-Apr-2007, 05:05:19 AM
Yes. I had a Raleght Grifter in the early 80's. I brought it of a friend and it was used and abused a lot, but i had lots of fun with it. Everyone on the block had a bmx's but me and another friend had red grifters. The only problems i had with the bike was, when you turned sharpley around a corner, the gears would change on the handlebar if you held on too tightly, so i took the gears off mine and it was stuck in first gear. It was slow at first but i got hang of it. This made my muscles in my legs very strong. The last time i seen it, is when i borrowed it to a friend and he said someone stole it from his front garden. Yeh right! Yes it was a heavy and chunky bike but i love it.
whyne B NW10 22-Apr-2007, 01:41:30 PM
While me and my friends always had BMX's, my best friends brother had a Grifter. We would build ramps in the street for doing jumps - unfotunately, due to the Grifter being so ridiculously heavy, he would get the most pathetic amount of air off the ramps - making us laugh. The Grifter was really slow off the mark compaired to our lighter BMX's, but once he got it up to speed it really flew due to the extra gears. Around the time the Ford Sierra RS Cosworth was one of the best cars around, so he decided to paint the words "Cosworth" up the side of the Grifter in white paint and would proceeded to ride around making "engine noises" - LOL!
Hexen 28-Apr-2007, 11:08:13 AM
does anyone remember the raleigh scorpion Big,silver,three gears on the handlebars,and weighted a ton
fran 15-Jun-2007, 02:31:15 PM
possibly the best memory of my childhood was getting my blue grifter for christmas,my jaw dropped and the tears came as i saw it standing there on christmas morning ... and yes they were better than choppers ...possibly the biggest argument of the 70's.My parents would say i hope you appreciate it,well now i do more than ever as i know how hard they had to work back then to afford it ,priceless memories and even more priceless parents - steve - t sunderland
troupey02 10-Jul-2007, 01:21:44 PM
my memmory of my grifter mk1.it was a light blue one from halfords Dartford.I only had it 2 weeks when i feel off because it was wet and those nobbly tyres and bent the pedal arm in so it wouldent go round.I use to do loads of ramp jumps on it. the front of the frame where the forks go in mushroomed out so the head stock use to go all loose.rear mudgaurd always got ripped off.seat split.always snapping toggle chain because putting it on floor.in the end it had chopper tyres.hand painted frame.cowhorn handle bars a 3 speed selector on bottom crossbar.front forks from a chopper whitch were cut and welded to fit the grifter wheel whitch my dad done for me.and when the gears wasent set up propley you use to whack your nees on handle bars or fall off.
swr 15-Jul-2007, 09:34:36 PM
i now own seven grifters , and love em all , got the xl , the stars and striopes , the super , the blaze blue , i restore them and belong to the grifter forum on the tinternet
steve edwards 24-Jul-2007, 09:53:00 PM
personaly the only good thing about the grifter was spare parts for the raleigh chopper really the raleigh commando was the bike that took over the chopper.
:P:P:P
jake bonnici 15-Aug-2007, 02:42:12 PM
Which berk thought the Grifter was the Choppers smaller brother? The Chipper and Tomahawk were the Choppers siblings, the Grifter had the Boxer.... I Remember Xmas '79, the first and only new bike I ever had, an original blue Grifter (they only came in blue and red to start with) and despite numerous attemts to kill it, I never managed, same forks, same tyres (you could do a wicked 180 on a Grifter) and a peice of p*ss to wheelie, though most of the posts are correct, you needed arms like an ape for the bars....
wolfman7421 08-Sep-2007, 12:40:38 AM
Oh man, I wasn't allowed a Grifter 'cos I was too small, but I got the Striker with peddle back brake. How cool was that. I could wheelie it for miles and then do the longest skids in the world. It was Silver, it was the 70's, life was great.
Mattpatt 25-Sep-2007, 05:43:56 AM
Ah, the fable old grifter, mine's a super grifter in black and gold with only one gear working at the moment.
I have owned the bike for the past 8 years and is a very reliable well made bike with a weight close to that of the Honda C90 (or so im told as i,ve only ever riden the cb100 so i'll take there word for it!)
I have had many adventures on the grifter including long journeys of 15 miles + and a spot of mountain biking which nearly ended in disaster when i was ascending down a step hill picking up speeds close to about 30mph!!!.
Then all of a sudden as i jumped a small bump and landed the handle bars came lose and i lost control.
By a quick response i managed to stop the weighty grifter by jamming all the brakes on!
SO A WORD OF ADVISE DON'T GO MOUNTAIN BIKING WITH THE GRIFTER!!!
I still says shes the best bike i ever rode nothing compares for sure comfort and build quality!
shelby1471 04-Oct-2007, 07:39:47 PM
still got a grifter, red mk1, i love it!!! hard to find parts these days but worth the time and money, remember as a kid always banging me bits on the crossbar when the yellow gear slipped! ouch!
jon 10-Jan-2008, 11:07:09 PM
Still remember the day I came home and there she was... the ORIGINAL steel blue with union flag. I was the proud owner of the iconic Raleigh Grifter. My first girlfriend (loved her), not bad for 8, and being allowed to skive from the boring evening mosque class that day was a bonus. Spent several summers on my Grifter, and took real care of it. Tried all the stunts, jumps and simulated motor sounds but could never master the wheelie (it was a heavy bike). 'Slip gear' and bruised knees came as standard.
Naved
Naved Siddiqi 04-Oct-2008, 07:32:45 AM
yes i remember tht bike tht i get for xmas! but it was heavy to ride it and aslo the seat make me uncomfortable cos of foam!!! it very popular in these hey day of grifter!!!
steven large 17-Oct-2008, 09:20:54 AM
Check out the grifter forum for all your grifting memories
steve edwards 23-Nov-2008, 09:50:24 PM
I had a Raleigh Grifter bike in blue, found a forum about them www.thegrifterstop.com pictures of bikes on there just like I had!
70smad 01-Feb-2009, 07:50:33 PM
ihad grifter for xmas 1978 my dad bought it for me it was red metalic with the short mudguards, i rode it everywhere till my older brother canibalised it for parts.
zombie 08-Mar-2009, 07:07:31 PM
Had the ?mk2? - the bright blue one rather than the original with metallic paint finish. Always thought of it as the BMX's older, overweight but reliable big brother, but devastated that my Dad wouldn't let me add mag wheels and chip off the foam crossbar to add a BMX crush pad. Despite the weight it held it's own with wheelies and jumps and the massive padded saddle was a bonus if you fell off the back, basically bouncing the bike away from you. Used to fold the plastic bit on the end of the mudguard onto the wheel to simulate a motorbike sound, much better that the playing card and close-peg maethod.
davest 26-Jun-2009, 03:15:57 PM