My new road bike - Page 3

johnnyb44 · 9th July 2016, 19:31

Wow !! I completely forgot all about the old BSA bikes and the Tomahawk..
Cheers buddy :-)

clf · 9th July 2016, 19:37

I learned to ride on a tomahawk Lol. that year I got a blue Raleigh boxer and my sister got a Raleigh budgie.

neilb740 · 9th July 2016, 19:39

Quote:

Originally Posted by clf

I learned to ride on a tomahawk Lol..

they were great for pulling wheelies

johnnyb44 · 9th July 2016, 19:39

Was the Raleigh boxer the smaller version of the Grifter.

mininuts · 9th July 2016, 19:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by neilb740

My first proper bike was a BSA Javelin. The one in the picture isn't mine but it was identical.
I was taken to the local bike shop to try it for size in September, my mum and dad had been paying for it in instalments.

5 minutes sitting on it then it was whisked away back into the store room until Christmas. Longest 4 months of my life wobbling around on my old second hand Raleigh Tomahawk (remember them!!)

I had it for years until some scumbag nicked it from outside a chippy.

YES! I too had forgotten about BSAs. That Javelin looks very familiar to me, must have had a mate that owned one back in the day

I've actually got a complete Raleigh Tomahawk which I bought a few years ago to restore. I bought it because it was my first ever "bicycle', although it have stabilisers fitted for a while until I learnt how to balance.
I'll have to get around to restoring it, thing is, I don't what to do with it once I've done it as I may be a little too big and heavy to ride it

mininuts · 9th July 2016, 19:46

Quote:

Originally Posted by johnnyb44

Was the Raleigh boxer the smaller version of the Grifter.

I think it was. I had a Grifter after the Tomahawk, pale metallic blue with Sturmey Archer 3 speed hub gears IIRC

johnnyb44 · 9th July 2016, 19:47

The stabiliser would come in handy though coming home from the pub :-)

neilb740 · 9th July 2016, 19:47

Quote:

Originally Posted by mininuts

YES! I too had forgotten about BSAs. That Javelin looks very familiar to me, must have had a mate that owned one back in the day

I've actually got a complete Raleigh Tomahawk which I bought a few years ago to restore. I bought it because it was my first ever "bicycle', although it have stabilisers fitted for a while until I learnt how to balance.
I'll have to get around to restoring it, thing is, I don't what to do with it once I've done it as I may be a little too big and heavy to ride it

The Javelin only came in Red or Yellow.

Red ones were 5 speed, Yellow ones were 10 speed.

I remember something about it being law at the time that bikes had to have mud guards, so they used to put those totally pointless tiny ones on to comply with the law. But you still got a muddy stripe up your back whenever it rained

johnnyb44 · 10th July 2016, 20:54

I used to bike every Sunday morning on my new Peugeot bike to visit my dad who lived about 4 miles from me. I was only about 14 at the time and my parents had just separated. Every Sunday I would go to his bedsit to see him and he would get up to open the door stinking of stale beer from the night before and suffering from a severe hang over and to many fags. He was having a hard time dealing with it all and turned to the drink to get away from all his problems. Every week I tried to steer him away from the pub and encouraged him to spend his weekend with some quality time with me. One weekend I managed to get him to come out on his bike with me. He had a cheap and nasty racer that was a Woolworths home brand and was in pretty dire condition. I thought it was a good idea at the time and choose a route that would take us out of town and up into the Welsh mountains where there were no pubs ..Nice clear air and the country side would him do wonders I thought. After about 3 miles of solid climbing he collapsed on the side of the road coughing and gasping for air. All the months of heavy drinking and smoking had finally caught up with him. He sat there there for the best part of 15 minutes trying to compose himself and told me we will have to turn back home. My dad has always had a lot of pride and he wasn't to impressed that his son was now outpacing him, so when he turned back to go down this 3 mile long steep hill he had to prove he could beat me. As a youngster I was always up for a race and the pair of us went hell for leather down this road. I was in top gear and could not physically pedal and faster. I tucked down behind the handle bars and let gravity take me down this hill as fast as I could. I was well in front of my old man and doing in excess of 40/50 mph. The bike was starting to get very twitchy on the steering but I held my" bottle" and carried on. As we got into town i started to slow my bike up for obvious reasons. My dad though had different ideas. He was determined he was not going to lose this race and flew past me like a bat out of hell. I will never forget the sight. His bike was a death trap. The wheels were buckled , the brakes were shot , and the whole thing was as rusty as a 5 year old Chinese motorbike. As he flew past me doing god knows what speed, his bike was literally shaking apart in front of me. Within a few moments he was gone in the distance and I could not see him any more. When I eventually caught up I was greeted by a giant hole in a hedge to which he was laying the other side in someone's garden. His bike was a right off. The front wheel resembled the crescent of the moon and the forks where pushed back into the frame. After picking himself up and dusting himself down have a guess where we went. ......
You guessed right. ....The pub.

clf · 10th July 2016, 21:22

Quote:

Originally Posted by johnnyb44

Was the Raleigh boxer the smaller version of the Grifter.

Yes, it was. Mine was a metallic blue version. My friend had the older yellow one.

I have seen a few Grifters being converted to BMXs in the past, although they weighed a ton!

9th July 2016, 19:31	#21
johnnyb44 I really should get out more....... Rover 75 Join Date: Sep 2013 Location: north wales Posts: 2,705 Thanks: 1,774 Thanked 902 Times in 507 Posts	Wow !! I completely forgot all about the old BSA bikes and the Tomahawk.. Cheers buddy :-) __________________ Replaced pcv filter, springs, plenum spy hole mod,Bonnet cable divider mod. Wax oiled.Air con recharged. Auto box oil changed , Jules plenum guard fitted .Smoked wind deflectors fitted.S/S Compensator.Club Grill Badge kindly donated by Andyg2011..

9th July 2016, 19:37	#22
clf This is my second home MG ZT CDTi Join Date: Jan 2014 Location: carrick Posts: 7,859 Thanks: 3,494 Thanked 2,657 Times in 1,973 Posts	I learned to ride on a tomahawk Lol. that year I got a blue Raleigh boxer and my sister got a Raleigh budgie. __________________ It is not gloss primer .............. it is duct tape silver!

9th July 2016, 19:39	#24
johnnyb44 I really should get out more....... Rover 75 Join Date: Sep 2013 Location: north wales Posts: 2,705 Thanks: 1,774 Thanked 902 Times in 507 Posts	Was the Raleigh boxer the smaller version of the Grifter. __________________ Replaced pcv filter, springs, plenum spy hole mod,Bonnet cable divider mod. Wax oiled.Air con recharged. Auto box oil changed , Jules plenum guard fitted .Smoked wind deflectors fitted.S/S Compensator.Club Grill Badge kindly donated by Andyg2011..

9th July 2016, 19:47	#27
johnnyb44 I really should get out more....... Rover 75 Join Date: Sep 2013 Location: north wales Posts: 2,705 Thanks: 1,774 Thanked 902 Times in 507 Posts	The stabiliser would come in handy though coming home from the pub :-) __________________ Replaced pcv filter, springs, plenum spy hole mod,Bonnet cable divider mod. Wax oiled.Air con recharged. Auto box oil changed , Jules plenum guard fitted .Smoked wind deflectors fitted.S/S Compensator.Club Grill Badge kindly donated by Andyg2011..

10th July 2016, 20:54	#29
johnnyb44 I really should get out more....... Rover 75 Join Date: Sep 2013 Location: north wales Posts: 2,705 Thanks: 1,774 Thanked 902 Times in 507 Posts	I used to bike every Sunday morning on my new Peugeot bike to visit my dad who lived about 4 miles from me. I was only about 14 at the time and my parents had just separated. Every Sunday I would go to his bedsit to see him and he would get up to open the door stinking of stale beer from the night before and suffering from a severe hang over and to many fags. He was having a hard time dealing with it all and turned to the drink to get away from all his problems. Every week I tried to steer him away from the pub and encouraged him to spend his weekend with some quality time with me. One weekend I managed to get him to come out on his bike with me. He had a cheap and nasty racer that was a Woolworths home brand and was in pretty dire condition. I thought it was a good idea at the time and choose a route that would take us out of town and up into the Welsh mountains where there were no pubs ..Nice clear air and the country side would him do wonders I thought. After about 3 miles of solid climbing he collapsed on the side of the road coughing and gasping for air. All the months of heavy drinking and smoking had finally caught up with him. He sat there there for the best part of 15 minutes trying to compose himself and told me we will have to turn back home. My dad has always had a lot of pride and he wasn't to impressed that his son was now outpacing him, so when he turned back to go down this 3 mile long steep hill he had to prove he could beat me. As a youngster I was always up for a race and the pair of us went hell for leather down this road. I was in top gear and could not physically pedal and faster. I tucked down behind the handle bars and let gravity take me down this hill as fast as I could. I was well in front of my old man and doing in excess of 40/50 mph. The bike was starting to get very twitchy on the steering but I held my" bottle" and carried on. As we got into town i started to slow my bike up for obvious reasons. My dad though had different ideas. He was determined he was not going to lose this race and flew past me like a bat out of hell. I will never forget the sight. His bike was a death trap. The wheels were buckled , the brakes were shot , and the whole thing was as rusty as a 5 year old Chinese motorbike. As he flew past me doing god knows what speed, his bike was literally shaking apart in front of me. Within a few moments he was gone in the distance and I could not see him any more. When I eventually caught up I was greeted by a giant hole in a hedge to which he was laying the other side in someone's garden. His bike was a right off. The front wheel resembled the crescent of the moon and the forks where pushed back into the frame. After picking himself up and dusting himself down have a guess where we went. ...... You guessed right. ....The pub. __________________ Replaced pcv filter, springs, plenum spy hole mod,Bonnet cable divider mod. Wax oiled.Air con recharged. Auto box oil changed , Jules plenum guard fitted .Smoked wind deflectors fitted.S/S Compensator.Club Grill Badge kindly donated by Andyg2011..