Made In Nottingham #1 The Raleigh Chopper
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 23 ม.ค. 2021
- First of a short series (I'm slightly restricted on filming due to lockdown).
The Raleigh Chopper was a design classic of its time.
Everyone wanted one - I still do now.
I still can't afford one, but you can buy a 1/12 scale model here
amzn.to/45K6bxv
Watch out for the special archived footage towards the end. Val, Peter and John have their thoughts on the Chopper
Enjoy, subscribe and like.
Comments always appreciated.
Words & Production (and some videos)
Paul Turton
Photos / Videos
From various Facebook groups
Intro/Outro Music
'Passion For Life'' 10 second & full version
Jay Man - OurMusicBox
/ ourmusicbox
Excellent and you nailed it when you said adults of 50 and 60 smile when they see a Chopper, I always do and I'm 60. My friend Kevin had a red one back in the days and he lent it to me once, wao, I felt like Jackie Stewart (Formula 1 Champion) and James Bond. I never understood the gear system and had problems changing them. Father Christmas brought as a yellow Chipper in 1969 which came with us to Venezuela in 1971, the only one that ever existed in this country and people were amazed. My father has it in his house as a modern sculpture. P.S. I really loved to see Valery, John and Peter again, they were excellent. Bidi Baxter, Blue Peter's producer posted me to Venezuela in the mid seventies a Blue Peter pin, 2 Blue Peter badges and a letter signed by him, unfortunately they were lost in the years, although one badge may exist as I gave it as a present to James Judd (now Sir James Judd) when he came to Caracas in 1980 to direct the Philharmonic or Symphonic Orchestra of Venezuela.
I got one as a combined Christmas and birthday present. It was too expensive for my parents to assign it to one landmark celebration. Got it for my 11th birthday in 1972. I was excited beyond belief. It was for the princely sum of £35 from the local Co-op a Mk1 in Horizon Blue. It was the ultimate cruiser bike for me. Wasn't about getting around fast.
Great video as ever Paul i got mine for Christmas 1971 and still have it to this day!.
Nice one Paul, certainly brings back memories. My dad worked at Raleight, so each of us kids had a bike, me, I had the chopper, my brother the Racer and little brother a Grifter and lol, all the spares parts you can imagine
Most comfortable bike I ever had!
My dad never had a chopper but he was quick to get me one instead
Thanks for this fantastic video. I never owned one either, closest I got was cycling on a friend’s. As a child in the late 70s I used to dream about owning one.
I got my purple one for my 13th birthday my little brother had the yellow. two up was always the rule and boy did we put them through their peace's We were the only one's in our group who had them and yes the others took every opportunity to ride them. Had to do quite a few repairs to them due to how hard we rode them new tyres and on occasion wheels back mounts for the seat, bearings, cranks, pedals, chains and gear change link
I bought an orange mk 1 when they first came on sale from Sissons bike and record store in Hucknall , cost about thirty three pounds, I rode it to Nottingham city center and back ,wow ! Talk about turn heads . Not the easiest thing to ride but a ten out of ten for novelty value, can’t remember what became of it, conventional bikes, slot car racing and girls took precedence! (Not in that order )
Yep, I wanted one too, (my best mate had a purple mark II) but mum said NO, they're dangerous! I ended up with a Raleigh Commando which was a nice bike with twistgrip gear change. But the bloody seat was sooo painful to ya undercarriage! Nice vid Paul.
Always wanted one. I don't think we could afford Raleigh's until I was working and able to contribute, at which point I was into racing bikes. Great vid.
It was actually the humble Raleigh 20 that kept the company going not the chopper.
Hello from Brazil. This design in hear have the name Tigrão ( big tiger) and every kid like me wants one. sweet child times.
l don't think there was a boy who didn't want a Chopper, me, l ended up with a RSW MK ll. Dam awful bike that weighed a ton. l remember my always practical father trying to sell me the virtues of the saddlebag that was held in place over the rear mudguard.
Slow!!! Paul, i'll have you know, my purple Chopper achieved 45MPH on the downhill leg of the (still under construction ) Clifton Bridge flyover. Pretty sure it was a World record at the time, certainly felt like it.