“ But they only had 762 sets of alloy wheels, so a few came out with steel wheels on them. “ 768 special version jubilees were made, ” he explains. ” The holy place grail of Chopper gather, according to Sykes, is a certain version of the particular edition Chopper released for Christmas 1976 to commemorate the Queen ’ s argent jubilee the following year. “ Some of them come with pictures of the kyd next to the Christmas corner, and some have the original receipt with them showing how much they paid down at Halfords.
Chopper royalty “ It hush gives me a buzz, ” Sykes says. besides, since they were handmade in Raleigh ’ s Nottingham factory, the odd ‘ Friday good afternoon caper ’ with inverted stickers sometimes crops up besides. The cult of Chopper even has its own initiation myth : the late Raleigh graphic designer Alan Oakley, flying back from a research trip to the US to see the Chopper ’ s pre-cursor, the Schwinn Stingray, famously sketched designs for the beginning prototype on the back of an airmail envelope. Raleigh made three ‘ marks ’ but hundreds of different options three, five and 10-speeds dropped handlebars and a few rarities where the factory had to shift old stock and blended old parts with new. ” separate of the attract of collecting Choppers comes down to their diaphanous variety. I did a deal with a ridicule in America, for nine MkIIs and four MkIs for the bicycle. “ The most I paid for one was for a 10-speed, brand spanking new. Raleigh Chopper Hot One 2014 Collectible examples “ The most expensive I ’ ve seen went for over £7,000 and that was a box MkI 10-speed placid wrapped up in its box, ” Sykes adds. Prices on on-line auction sites start at around £100, although you ’ ve got to region with £500 to get anything near the two-wheel impressiveness of the shimmer, stickered steel you remember unwrapping to the soundtrack of Slade ’ s ‘ Merry Xmas Everybody ’ in 1973. ” These days, £7.50 and some saving stamps wouldn ’ thyroxine get you much vintage Chopper. Bearing in mind my dad was on £8.95 a week, it was a week ’ mho wages. My parents paid £7.50 for it along with 14 packets of Green Shield saving stamps. ” “ My foremost Chopper was a horizon blue sky one, which was second-hand. Before it, we had sit-up-and-beg bikes with gat brakes, and on the spur of the moment you ’ ve got this motorcycle which looks wholly different with a boastful wheel at the back and a short wheel at the battlefront.
“ It ’ s iconic, everybody remembers it, ” Sykes adds. But Raleigh sold 1.5 million of them, reportedly saving it from bankruptcy, and today no bicycle can claim to have such a cult following or collectors ’ market in the UK. And yes, the central-mounted gearshift mean they were groin-threateningly dangerous to ride. Yes, they were expensive : £32 for the first editions back in 1969, the equivalent of around £800 in today ’ randomness money. Sykes is besides separate of a global Raleigh Chopper Owners Club ( RCOC ), which every year sees 3,000 Chopper enthusiasts congregate near Northampton to celebrate all things Chopper. Reading: Raleigh Chopper: bicycle classic
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