Rare bike showcase: Raleigh Grifter GS

[@richardmattocks]

Seeing that silver Grifter brought back memories. Christmas morning, there it was in the middle of the lounge. Same Speedo, same lights. Ahhh. So many happy times.

[@roxfoot]

Same , the front torch was about 4 stone.

[@ruggernutter03]

@@roxfoot I did not have the speedo but a siren system with a speaker installed. Just great stuff!

[@MichaelWilde.pushbikegraddad]

Ah, the good old Grifter, got one for Christmas in 1978, cherry red Mk 1, loved that bike, wish I had one now, great video thanks for sharing

[@livesportsvideo03]

My mum used to run a Kays and Littlewoods catalogue so imagine my suprise one Xmas morning waking up to find Santa had delivered myself the Grifter and my sister a silver Striker. After many hours of fun the gear chain snapped and they were a little bit pricey. It was frustrating as you went around in third gear all the time, and for tiny legs it was exhausting. So after noticing there was a thread on the gear chain, it turned out to be the same thread on a wheel spoke, don't know how I noticed that. With plenty of wheels in our local stream, you had an seemingly unlimited supply. Substitue the spoke for the chain and voila, pull the spoke out until you were in the right gear and bend it over 90 degress. If then you were being chased or needed more speed, you would unwind the spoke wth your foot and lived to tell the tale. I had the horizon blue Grifter I think it was with sparkly decals. Also remember putting a plastic bag on the seat so it wouldn't get wet, as boy did it suck up water like a sponge. Halcian days.

[@thepowerstation2702]

Thank you 🙏 so much much for this video. As a kid I used to have the Grifter GS. ✌️

[@leeedwards9043]

brilliant mate. I found a raliegh grifter in a skip and restored it 😁it's now my pride and joy and a talking point every time we ride out. I don't know how we could ride them for miles being so heavy 🤣and how we managed to have children the amount of time the gear slipped and sent your knackers in to the cross bar🤣🤣

[@jamowallace]

They also did a Strika GS, in red and black, very cool

[@lg_believe333]

I’m 51 now so, I remember fondly the Raleigh Grifter. Wondering will Raleigh remake the Grifter after remaking the Chopper? I like the Grifter in Silver or Blue. I remember also those EverReady lights which had huge batteries inside, but are those working? or are they just for show, presuming, sourcing the original batteries will be difficult. The pedometer looks amazing with the mileage counter. I couldn’t afford a Raleigh Grifter or Chopper back then but it’s nice to reminisce. 🇬🇧

[@patrickcarney4222]

Just for information, the Raleigh Grifter in silver was never produced as a SE ( special edition ) it was only the Raleigh Chopper that had the SE tag as it was for the Queens silver jubilee in 1977, only chopper to have mag wheels.

[@Mandydoesdomes-nx7kc]

The se is nothing to do with the jubilee

[@lanehogger1532]

Thanks for this. I had a gs from new Xmas 83. I hacked around everywhere on it. Sold it in 1990 when I got a Raleigh Mustang mountain bike.

[@andrewrogers4341]

Another great video Bobby K well done

[@bobbykbikes]

Thank you Andrew :)

[@Mulberry2000]

i saw these as kid (53) but were too expensive to buy, but they were damaged heavy for kids. The chopper was my favourite bike till i was 16 then i got a lovely tour bike

[@KThxsBy]

Very nice bikes, good info on the decals never really thought about it like that, I guess it does show originality. Any tips on getting a good colour match on touch up paint work bobby? Finding it really hard, may need to take some parts to a car sprayer but worried about the cost. Cheers.

[@ruggernutter03]

Silver SE...just a sec, I am still dreaming...I got it for Christmas in the late 70s and I was the only kid in town with this silver edition. This was in Germany, mind you. I was the envy of every class-mate back then. I explained to them how the gears worked, let them ride it, but got angry every time cause they just shifted it without thinking and I had to reajust them every time. Until I refused them a ride. When I moved out of my parents place I had it stored in their garage but mum always said I needed to come and fetch it Me, being the lazy bugger, kept stalling until she decided to call it quits and put it on the curbside. I love m mum dearly, but this is the only time I extremely disliked her. Still looking for it...

[@gaz6739]

Another great video mate! Was wondering when you was going to put this on! My Silver Mk2 looks good on this!! As does Kens GS. Anyone who wants to see these bikes and many others such as choppers, BMX's, racers, shoppers, MTB, ATB's or if you have one and want to show it off or want any advice on them please pop over to my group on which Bobbybikes is a long standing and respected members just search Gaz's Grifter, chopper and old skool bike forum on facebook and join in the fun!!

[@bobbykbikes]

Thanks Gaz :) I had been saving it for a rainy day, but never got round to finishing the editing. Your bike looks great here :) really inspires me to get the finger out and get my prizzie up to scratch :) great idea to promote the forum on here Gaz, and nice to see that we have a new member from this :)

[@fairzanimations]

very cool nice job liked

[@bobbykbikes]

Thanks Fairz :)

[@jahno7154]

WOW I forgot all about the Grifter i always wanted one but we were too poor I must say they look tiny now they were gigantic back in the day

[@Mandydoesdomes-nx7kc]

I've just bought a grifter off ebay £102 I'm excited waiting for it to be delivered 😂

[@DRIFTER7]

When is the next available time chopper meet up

[@bobbykbikes]

Hi there, there is the Raleigh rally at Billing, Northhamptonshire the last weekend of September, I think this might be a more 80s orientated event but I've heard Choppers are welcome. There might be something in Blackpool in October, if you join the "Raleigh Chopper fun group" on Facebook you will be kept up to date on events, also mk2griftergaz's forum and group is a good place to find out about the events in the scene.

[@leonolanofficial4581]

I bought two forks new old stock but I'm not sure if there off a chopper or grifter because one is black is and the other is a maroon red

[@bobbykbikes]

Hi there, if they are from a Grifter they will take a 20 inch wheel (same as chopper back wheel) if they are chopper forks they will only take a 16 inch wheel (chopper front wheel). Maroon could most likely be Chopper, black could be Chopper or Grifter as both bikes came in black

[@leonolanofficial4581]

Bobby the maroon are smaller than mk2 forks and the black are the same in with as the chopper but longer

[@Mr71paul71]

If you can fly a Raleigh grifter then you can fly anything

[@sirrichardrichard5655]

Twice as heavy as a race bike

[@davefool6815]

Really bad bikes when I was a kid.... Still bad now