Raleigh's iconic Chopper bike is facing an uncertain future as the company that owns the British manufacturer faces insolvency. Inspired by motorcycles from films like Easy Rider, the Chopper was a cultural icon of the 1970s. Our reporter, John Ward, looks back on his childhood with one.
A BMX Dream Dashed
In 1987, at eight years old, John, like almost every eight-year-old in Britain, was desperate for a BMX. Kids in his neighborhood looked effortlessly cool gliding by on the mini wonders, flying off kerbs doing tricks. BMX had arrived from the United States around the beginning of the 1980s and quickly became part of youth culture. John was hooked, glued to the screen watching the Kellogg's BMX Championships on Channel 4.
He begged and pestered his parents for ages, with only one item on his want list for every Christmas and birthday. He even wrote to the weird-looking yellow-haired bloke on the telly with gold chains who "fixed" things for kids to ask for one. A BMX.
The Surprise Reveal
But it was the 80s, and times were hard. John wasn't aware that a brand new BMX would have broken the bank for his hardworking father, Pat, a builder from County Tyrone who would move heaven and earth to please his children. One Saturday morning, his dad ushered him downstairs to say he had a surprise, a gift from a fella he met down the pub for a knockdown price. In the tiny backyard, a sheet covered the present of his dreams.
Excited, John whipped off the covering, imagining racing his new bike around the dirt track at the local park. But it wasn't a sleek and beautiful BMX. It was some ungodly looking contraption with long handlebars, one big wheel at the back, and a smaller one at the front, with the word Chopper blazoned on its side. "Er, what's this?" John said. His dad replied, "That's a funny thank you." After a strop, John took the extremely heavy, oddly-wheeled cycle out to the street and gave it a go.
A Tough Relationship
And boy did John fall in love. But it was a tough relationship. His dad said these bikes were cool in the 70s, but this was west London in 1987, and John was as far away from being cool as possible—a gangly, geeky, seriously shy mess with scruffy, curly hair and cheap Gola trainers. Riding this mysterious-looking machine around the streets of Ealing made him less cool and more of an oddball. Pals with BMXs pointed and started, calling him poor, weird, and a loser for daring to ride something different.
He couldn't go around the council-built dirt track or do jumps on the ramps, and it was so cumbersome it was like trying to drive a tank up a multi-storey car park. But John didn't care. It was a dream to ride. He grew to enjoy the tricky shifting up from gear 1-5 on its signature frame-mounted gear shifter. It was fast and steady, and with his arms outstretched on handlebars that were just a bit too far away to be practical, he felt like king of the road. Had he known what Easy Rider was back then, he would have felt like the coolest kid in the hood.
A Trendsetter Too Late
John rode it every day and long into the summer nights. He's had many a bike since, but nothing ever beats the memories of skidding along on that belter of a bike. He wasn't a weirdo; he was a trendsetter. But sadly, he didn't know it. A year later, a pal gave him his used BMX, and the Chopper was left to rot by the back gate. If only he'd kept hold of it. When he was in his 30s, self-titled cool hipsters were shelling out thousands for them. And he didn't blame them. They're so cool. He found out too late how lucky he was to have one. Long live the Chopper!
