A rusted, dilapidated Chopper bike made by Raleigh in the 1970's, brought brothers; Glenn and Andrew to the barn. Once one of the most coveted Christmas presents of the 1960s and 70s, this nostalgic blast from the past needed a complete overhaul. Given to them as a Christmas present in December, 1975 after their parents were able to buy it by taking on extra jobs. Yet again, it was very used and in very poor condition. The original chrome plating had all but gone and was very pitted and seemed to be beyond a re-chrome. The saddle had a huge rip, with a piece missing and the front tyre had long gone. Glenn and Andrew thought it had long gone to the tip, but they re-discovered the bicycle in the basement of their mothers home. 

Me and Dom got to work on dismantling the it and most of the parts came off the frame with ease, but the handlebars proved to be stuck and needed lots of oil and effort to free them. The other part which proved a problem was the sissy chrome bar which goes over the back of the seat. Renowned for being a problem to remove, this was stuck firmly and took about 3 hours to remove with gentle coaxing and oil. We had planned to try and save the original paintwork, but as the chroming was so poor, a decision was made to re-paint the frame and forks to match to the chromed parts which were quickly sent to the platers. Dom set to on the frame and forks with new paint and decals. 

Once the frame was ready, I then rebuilt the entire bike when the re-chromed parts returned. New tyres and tubes were fitted to the re-built wheels and I managed to save the original spokes. The Iconic gear change lever was also rebuilt along with the brake callipers with new brake blocks and new cables were fitted throughout. The finishing touch was fitting back the original grips to the re-chromed handlebars. The end result was a full restoration; and it was an absolute delight to see Glenn and Andrews' faces when they got to unwrap the bike.