hi all i was rummaging around in my loft the other day and found this. i had been talking to my dad about rebuilding it this summer so here it is. im not sure where to start with this the forks appear bent and i think the rear hub is gonna need a lot of work but other wise its in a pretty good nick.

hi and welcome christof.

what a nice find you have made.  

you should be able to find a pair of replacement forks, try posting in the wanted section of this forum or keep your eyes on ebay as they may turn up on there.

as for the rear hub if you are unable to fix it they are often on ebay for a reasonable price.

once you get started keep us all informed of your progress and any problems you have will no doubt have been tackled before by other members.

Hi Christof welcome to the forum  

Your bike looks in good condition.

The seat and handle bars look complete with no chunks missing. Are you going to do a ground up restoration to new condition or just a general tidy up.  I think a stripdown and clean with new transfers would make a big difference. I'm sure Jaydog has some nos transfers for sale.    

hi and welcome wot a bike you've got there, if you do need a rear hub i have a few, but like the guys have said post in the wanted.   all the best.

hi, forks dont look bent from the pic it looks in good cond to sart with so you have your self a good project

hey are the forks wobbly and then tight when turning the bars?  Maybe bent steerer tube.

Whats wrong with the hub?
is it not getting gears, or just rusty?

hi guys cheers for all the welcome.

well to answer some of your questions, i wasnt sure what i was gonna do with it to be honest i couldnt decide whether to strip it down and do a huge reso on it or just tidy it up and have fun on it or do a custom. then this weekend came and sunday evening i stripped it down so iguess ill just build it back up and replace what needs replacing.

the forks i think are bent because i had to pull them aprt from the wheel to get it in and then when i came to take it out again it was jammed in there but its not too bad i hope.

i was surprised to say the least how good nic it was in having been in the loft for the best part of 13 years its completely original too still  got raleigh brake blocks and everything.

here are a couple of pics from the weekend


only took an hour or so to strip it right down haha


box of tricks


anyone got tips on how to get the grip of i tried the old wd40 but its well glued on


this is the only chunk out of either the seat or bars and its only small


i tried to get the cranks off but when i undid that small bolt they did not budge any help would be good


this fell out of the forks i thought this was meant to be attatched it the part that the tem bolt screws into.

sorry for the long post. and if any one know hwere to get a set of the stickers that on this bike that would be great. cheers guys

Hi put each end of the handle bars in boiling water for a few min's and then pull off the grips, as for the cranks use a vice as a press to pop the cotter pins, i think that their is a post in "how to info". the wedge that fell out the fork's attach's to the handle bar stem bolt to stop the bars/stem from moving, as for the decals either Jaydog or eBay. the forks ain't bent on the wheel spindle their are locating points machined onto the cones to help prevent the wheel from falling out.  hope that helps.

hello guys and gals. well it been a very long time since i posted here or even updated this. my cercumstances changed and to be honest working on the grifter wasnt really top of the list. but anyway things a back to being good now and i thought i would dig it out again and crack on with it. i did manage to get it sprayed before i stopped working on it however in the interveening yeah it has got badly scratched so it is off to a sprayer in the next week to get done properly.

here are a couple pics for you all to see where it's at.









as you can see it has become very custom not so much of resto now haha.

alecw35 im not sure whats wrong with the hub it looks in good condition just doesnt select gears but now im using mags i havent really looked into it.

its good to be back  

hello mate - don't think i'd discovered this fine forum when you last posted!  looking good on the resto/kustom front - the mag wheels give it a real retro 80's feel!  

I love grifters with mags!!!!  
Looking good.

I bought a grifter with mags a couple of years ago.

Now replaced them with orignal Grifter wheels.

that looks awesome supergrip - the bronze frame, black mags

i too love grifters with mags, dont know why but they just work so well. love yours supergrip anyidea what those tyres were.

This is my old bike from when i was a nipper. Chris is my talented younger brother and has saved my much loved old bike from a lingering retirement in the dark and spider riddled loft of our parents home(with yearly threats from pops to through it in the bin!!)

I have seen the pretty much finished article and its looks amazing!! I had so many happy hours on the old grifter, hurlting donw big woodland hills, way before the days of MTB's and down hill racing. several times I came off worse than the bike following an altercation with stubborn tree stumps ( did someone mention bent forks )

So its brilliant to see it back on the road and looking suhweeet. I have even got a hankering to get myself a cheap ebay bargain to rebuild as i dont think im getting my old one back now!!

sounds like the 3 speed hubs gummed up or rusty.

old Raleighs need there forks pulled apart to get the wheel out, as they hold the cones on the hub.  No locknuts fitted, kinda silly.

Any pictures of the finished article then?

oldskoolcool  

do you need different forks (not grifter forks) to put mags on a grifter?

Needs chrome, lots of chrome get polishing man !

well as you re all dieing to see it i ve got a quick snap of it ill try and get some better picks of it up soon. im pleased with it, i love it. got a couple things to alter but its finished more or less.



theres a fair bit of chrome on there, 4737carling you dont need different forks jsut make sure you get mags with 10mm axel on it. my forks actually got even more warpped in the heating process after painting took massive pressure and a bit of grinding action to get them to fit back on the wheel. well i hope you like it from what you can see in this pic.