The Chopper, manufactured by Nottingham’s Raleigh Bicycle Company, was hugely popular due to its ground-breaking good looks and wheelie capabilities. In 1973 a Mk2 Raleigh Chopper cost around £34 – equivalent to £361 in today’s money.”
It had never been ridden and had been stored in a bedroom.Ĭharles added: “Such is the power of childhood nostalgia a vintage Chopper is worth more than its original retail price. In 2020 a mint condition 1970s MK2 Chopper reached £1,250 at Hansons from a £400 to £600 estimate. In April 2022, Hansons sold a Raleigh Chopper destined for the skip for a total of £692 with buyer’s premium. We very much hope we can find a perfect new home for Abdul’s bike.” Design classics like this are ripe for restoration. It’s time this bike was loved by another.”Ĭharles Hanson, owner of Hansons Auctioneers, said: “These rusty relics from people’s childhoods in the 1970s and 80s open up a rich seam of nostalgia. “As with most promises it got broken time and time again - until my friend sent me the link to that story about a rusty Raleigh Chopper sold by Hansons. Each time it saw the light of day I promised I would get it repaired and restored to its former glory, and share memories of my youth with my two children. "It was moved from one place to another over the years. My siblings went on to ride the Chopper until, one day, it was forgotten and left in the darkness of the shed.Ībdul Sidike with his childhood Raleigh Chopper (Image: Hansons/SWNS) “I rode that Raleigh Chopper until I bought my first mountain bike. It became a significant part of my childhood, a physical manifestation of my father’s love for me. In a short time, I grew to love the bike and its character. They were pleased I had one again and we rode as we always did around the area and in the park. The shopkeeper kindly pumped up the tyres and I rode it home, feeling uncomfortable all the way and thinking, ‘nah!’ Looking at the Chopper, I thought ‘What can I do on that?’ Nonetheless, this was now mine. I couldn’t do a stunt if my life depended on it. I’d seen these around in all sorts of colours but they’d never made much of an impression on me. “My face fell when I saw the bright red Raleigh Chopper waiting for me. I skipped all the way to the shop with a big grin on my face, fantasising about this brilliant bike. I couldn’t wait thinking, ‘wow, my dad bought me a bike’. “A few weeks later my father told me to collect a bike for £10 he’d bought from a second-hand shop nearby. There was no way I could get another bike. It was stolen from outside a corner shop. “Sadly, I outgrew the bike quickly and bought a bigger BMX. Just imagine the value of £60 back then when a pint of milk cost 10p, a loaf of bread 30p and bus fare into the city 20p. "Eventually he agreed and bought a Hawk BMX from Woolworths for £60 - money he’d painstakingly saved to satisfy my whim. Back in the early 1980s, when the BMX Bandits film was released, I started pestering my father for a BMX bike. "He proceeded to tell me about a Hull Daily Mail story describing how a rusty Raleigh Chopper had sold for around £700. Explaining his decision to sell, Abdul said: “A childhood friend sent me a WhatsApp message, ‘Dude, you still got your Chopper?’ It is now expected to fetch up to £400 when it goes under the hammer at Hansons Auctioneers, in Bishton, Staffordshire, on June 28.Ībdul, from Balsall Heath, Birmingham, a director of an IT company, said the bike had originally been an underwhelming gift to replace a stolen BMX. The dad-of-two admits he was left embarrassed by his dad's £10 secondhand purchase at the time, but said he soon grew to love the iconic bicycle.Īnd after seeing that a similar model, which was destined for a skip, had made nearly £700 at auction recently he decided to get his valued. The company director had ridden around with pals on the classic bike during the 1980s - much like Mike, Will, Lucas and Dustin in the hit Netflix sci-fi horror. The battered Stranger Things-style bicycle had been gathering dust and cobwebs for the past 40 years in the back garden of Abdul Sidike, 46, in Birmingham. A rusty 1980s Raleigh Chopper which was bought for a tenner decades ago could now fetch hundreds of pounds at auction after being rescued from a garden shed.
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