Orange chopper bike.

[mikeymoped]

My new chopper bike (the type with a 'crystal' gear knob, (not the tee handle my bruv got two years later). it was 1972 so..my twelfth birthday. I have never had that feeling again,not even with my first car. I looked after that bike; wish I still owned it!

[staffslad]

Re: Orange chopper bike.

My Chopper bike was orange as well. It was a 1970 model with the original style gear change lever. That bike took me all over the place and I was heartbroken when my mom gave it away one day when I was about 16. Yes, it had been in our empty coal shed for years and I had outgrown it, but I had such good memories of it that I could have cried.

[big kid]

Re: Orange chopper bike.

i wanted a chopper. didn't get one. i wanted a grifter. didn't get one. yet, my adopted sister did.

[staffslad]

Re: Orange chopper bike.

Choppers were great bikes. I can remember riding one that belonged to a relative before I had mine, and how much I wanted one after that. The Chopper was my last bike and I really wish I still had it.

[zabadak]

Re: Orange chopper bike.

We couldn't afford anything like that... :cry:

[Pussywillow]

Re: Orange chopper bike.

We couldn't afford anything like that... :cry:

Nope, same here.

I built my own in the end from old parts and a chopper saddle from halfords.

[marc]

Re: Orange chopper bike.

Wasn't there a scare about these bikes? One being, if you went over the handle bars, you could end up smashing your ribs when caught in the u of the bars. The other being the "stalk" at the bottom of the handle bars sometimes snapped. Can anybody confirm if this was an "urban legend"?

[Richard1978]

Re: Orange chopper bike.

Catching other body parts on the gear lever was another danger if thrown forward!

[staffslad]

Re: Orange chopper bike.

I remember that it took a bit of time to get used to the distinctive steering with its deep 'U' shape, but after that it was fine. I can imagine, though, that some riders could have come a cropper when first riding that particular type of bike before getting the hang of it. Speaking personally, I didn't have any problems after some practice on our garden.

I think when I had the Chopper in 1970 it was about £25 give or take a couple of pounds, so not really cheap. The bike was my Christmas, birthday and Easter present for that year and my grandparents put some money towards it.

[staffslad]

Re: Orange chopper bike.

A particular feature of the Chopper was that you had to take one hand off the steering to change gear, so I wonder if that may have contributed to mishaps.

[fynger]

Re: Orange chopper bike.

Easy to tip back as well

[staffslad]

Re: Orange chopper bike.

Despite that highly distinctive saddle, I am not sure how many riders would have tried to emulate chopper-style motor bikes by leaning back. Personally speaking, I didn't, sitting almost as upright or even as much as on a more conventional bike. I was quite young when I first had my Chopper so any controversies about its safety and design would have passed me by completely. I can't recall ever having had any mishaps that wouldn't have also happened on a normal bike. Others may have had, I don't know. I don't know if there were press/TV reports at the time raising concerns on the safety of the Chopper, but as I said, I was young at the time and if there were any, they would have passed me by.