Ive got a Grifter I got 10 or more years ago.  It was a red Grifter with Burner steels, when I got it from the local auction for £2.  I stripped it and painted it silver hammerite.  With 3 speed alloys and steel cranks and alloy mudguards from a shopper bike.  I modified the frame with a seat tube from an old ladies bike welded into the frame, so the seat height is high enough and it uses a 25.4mm seatpin now.  I also fitted a Weimman centrepull brake to the new brake bridge I welded to the chain stays.  I fitted Raleigh Wild cat BMX forks. These have a clamp in the headset to hold the bars like a Strika.  So they have a long steerer tube to fit into the long headstock on Grifters.  Problem was theses forks are very long, mucked up the already bad steering geometry.  It gave a 42" wheel base.  I called the bike Supertanker or Super T, cause it was nearly as long as one.
I wrecked the 3 speeder hub so stopped using it.

Im thinking of recomissioning Super T.  It now has 20" Raleigh Max forks on it.  These have a quite long steerer tube, I cut the headstock down on the frame to fit them.  I cut the BB shell to a thinner width.  Normal bikes have 68mm wide BBs.  I fitted Alloy cranks from a racer.  Im going to fit a pair of gear mechs, so I can get 6 speed, like my Lil blue bike.  The front one has to be 31.8mm clamp size.  These are more common now as bikes are going to oversize tube sizes.  Have to get a road mech like a Shimano Sora, to suit with the road cranks.  The sproket on 3 speeders is 1/8" chain size.  These chains dont like deraileurs, Ive tried.  Shimano 18t cogs are pressed steel but are to big for the gearing I want.  Lil blue bikes got one on its 20" wheel, revs out all the time, even on 52t ring.  Saint John Street Cycles who advertise in road bike mags and Ebay list 3/32" cogs for £6, in lots of sizes.  Have to get my hand in my pocket for one.  I recut the threads with a normal BB cup.  But think I'll take the frame to my work to redo it with the proper tool. I got red grifter sticker for it.  Wanted XL ones but these were cheap.  I also got a job lot of suspension forks. A pair are 20" with a longish steerer tube.  May fit them.
 

--Last edited by wood5tock on 2007-01-03 23:15:56 --

that last pic is excellent, love the white walls on it, needs a bit of tlc but once done would look the nuts

Woah, what an awsome build!
I agree with Vegan - the whitewalls look ace (that's why I want them on mine!)
Keep us posted with this project - I'm liking it a lot.  

Quote :

Woah, what an awsome build! I agree with Vegan - the whitewalls look ace (that's why I want them on mine!) Keep us posted with this project - I'm liking it a lot.

That'll teach you for leaving yourself logged on to my PC! hahaha

Oh the white walls were on the wheels.  Got a pair of 175 BMX style tyres with gum wall.  Also got wheel discs may fit them, 2 both wheels.  Dont know though.

I have also welded up the cable holes in the toptube.  So they will run down the down tubes.  

I saw 35MPH on the beach with it.  Just before a big tank slapper on softer sand.

Also saw 133 RPM on that bike down a hill.  Just before the handle bars went out of focus.  Had a cateye computer on it

Hey heres a pic of my Silver Grifter, on a better camera

that SE looks in excellent condition, as for the grifter you were going to fit disks to, go for it!!! will be wierd but i think it will look goooooooooddddddddddddd!!!   As long as the suspension forks arent too long i think they will work well

Hey when I was using my custom Grifter before.  I had Look clipless pedals on it.  They are white leisure pedals with a flat side and the clip side.  I am thinking of refitting them.  They came with black shoe plates.  Can I use red arc plates in them?  
I got a set of Ultegra and Dura Ace pedals from Ebay and a pair of Look arc pedals from my work.  Only got one pair of road bike shoes though. So dont want to have to change the plates about.
Gonna build a couple of roadbikes from some late 80s Raleigh frames I have.  Need to get fit.  So these bikes will get the Shimano pedals.  Got some nice Campag cranks and gear mechs to go on there to

man that SE is LURVELY  when mine grows up i want it be like yours swwet as !  

SE is nice, needs a spoke protector but other than that its all origional!   nice bike

Hey ive got a bunch of spoke protectors but they dont seem to fit on a 3 speed hub.
Fit on a MTB ok though as theres more space on the hub.
My SE is fairly rusty.  Like a proper bike should be.

not sure about the spoke protector? are they proper sturmey archer ones?

yeah they say Sturmey on them.
But will be from Racers as they have a ridge on them that doesnt fit behind the single sprocket.
Got one on my Arena racer.

oh, the only thing i can think of is getting a proper grifter/chopper chain guard and if that doesnt fit i have no idea what to do

Hey I got a front deraileour from EBay for my Grifter.  Its a 31.8mm, Shimano Acera, I think.
Have to get the Grifter out and get it sorted.  I stripped my 3 speed BMX.  Its half length twistgrip may go on the Grifter.   I will try the spoke guards again. May put the 2 spacers on the spoke side of the cog

I finally got round to working on my Custom Grifter.  Or Super T as its called.  Thats short for Super Tanker as its big, long and slow steering.

I looked at the acera front mech.  No fixing clamp bolt and cable bolt.   Oh I'll just take them off another mech.  Er no.  The fixing bolts smaller and so's the cable bolt.  I got a Stainless bolt from my box, thats the fixing bolt.  Nothing for the cable though.  Have to file it down.

I took the rear wheel out.  To fit a Shimano 18 tooth cog to it.  These are thinner than Strumley ones and so can use 3/32" chains.  I got a Strumley spoke guard.  But could I get the spring clip back on?  I took the 2 spacers off.  Fitted one thick one.  Still no joy.  Took the dust guard off the driver.  No joy.  Fitted one thin spacer.  Yeah the clip went on.  But the hub is no longer clicking, no drive
I took off the cones, oiled in the holes.  No joy.  Think I'll build another hub into there.  Its a 28 spoke SA hub on an alloy rim.  So Ive got a few of those.
I fitted the wheel into the frame.  Grr the cog sits right beside the frame.  Ho hum.  The chain ring sits beside the chainstay.  So should give a good chainline then.
May fit my Campag crank from my racer.  It sits a way out from the frame.  So wont hit the stoopid chainstay.
Sanded some of the frame and the rust comes off ok.  Oh a bright side.

I pulled my hub to bits.

Clamped the grey screw in bit of the hub, thats behind the sprocket, in the vice.  Then turned the wheel.  It came off easily.  The freewheel pawls were rusty and sticking.  So I cleaned them up and refitted them.

Thats the clean pawl sitting on the rusty hub innard with the stuck pawl.

I pushed the pin in and mangled the spring  
so got a spring out of an old hub I took apart, from a roadster.  
But Im having trouble getting the hub bearings set up.  I cant get the cone spanner onto the cone, it gets trapped between the hub and the spacer.
Oh the hubs a 1987 one from a shopper bike, hence the white wall tyre.  

I was working on my Grifter today.

I got a Raleigh Estelle girls tourer bike.  I stripped it for parts.  Its 5 speed, so Im going to see if the spoke guard goes on a 3 speed.  They are beveled at the centre, so they hit the spokes on a 3 speed hub.  Will try the spacer behind it.

I took the chain from it.  Fitted the Grifter ok.  Ive got Racer cranks and a narrow Shimano cog on it.  I adjusted the brakes and put a longer BB axle in it.  I tried Raleigh Pioneer cranks on it.  But they are the same measurement as the ones on it.  May need to fit newer low profile cranks on it.  But the inner ring misses the frame now.

I havent fitted the gear cables.  The 3 speed one is to short.  And I dont know if I'll run full length outer casing, or put cable stops on the down tubes and then a bb cable guide.  The front mech, Shimano Acera, doesnt have a cable stop on it.  
I also need to fit a different stem.  Its got BMX bars in a MTB stem.  The Raleigh Max forks take a 21.1mm, 3/4" stem.  So I may fit a BMX stem, got a few Burner stems.  But I want the bars to be a bit further forward than the short BMX stem puts them.

looking good, are you going to leave the paintwork as it is or are you going to pait it? the white walls suit it like that!

I was out on the bike just now.  I have fitted a Burner SR BMX stem.  Its off my 3 speed BMX.  I may fit its bars too.  I had extended the grip section of those bars so I could fit proper grips and bar ends to them.  
I still havent fitted the gear cables.  But went on it, in a 42X18 gear.  Its got a 52 ring on there too.  It went ok.
I have got the stars and stripes Grifter stickers.  It was a red Grifter when I got it from the auction about 12 years ago, for a £1 or so.  So it will get sprayed red.  Ive got boxer mudguards too.  Dont know if they'll stay red or be black though.