If you like bling, then this is the bike for you!
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The Raleigh Super Burner Mk2 was first released in 1984. It blew the minds of kids back in the day with the extravagant super-chrome gold Carbospec frame, the black and gold pads and the ‘Super Burner decals’. The MK1 Super Burner was released in 1982 and featured many differences like black forks and many other different parts. The Superchrome gold frame on the MK1 was brighter and suffered a lot less from fading.
The bike in question.
One evening, I was texting a friend about parts for another build. He then mentions how he has seen a totally original Mk2 Super Burner that could be for sale. The bike hadn’t been advertised anywhere and is what I would call a ‘word of mouth sale’.
I reached out to the owner through social media and we got talking. It was clear by the first message that we were on the same page. After receiving more photos of the bike and basic description of the story/condition, I knew I couldn’t pass it up. A few minutes later I bought it!
The story:
Let ourselves go back to the summer of 1984. The Super had just been released and all the kids were begging for one! In the 80s, there were competitions with food companies; if you bought a carton of juice for example, there would be a code on the inside which you could send to an address with the chance to win a brand new Raleigh Burner.
Luck struck gold and the lucky child of Chertsey won this brand new Raleigh Burner. After the bike was won, it went straight to the Coded Cycle scheme to have the family’s postcode engraved on the bottom to try and prevent thefts. Underneath the bottom bracket, you can see the KT15 (Chertsey, Surrey) postcode clear as day.
However, the bike did not see much light and day. It was ridden minimally throughout the summer and then put away in the garage until 2020, when the neighbour bought it.
The neighbour is a keen Chopper enthusiast and knows the bikes like the back of his hands. He stored it in his garage from 2020-2025 until I bought it.
The process.
After I collected the bike, I began to access what needed to be done to bring it to another level. Upon first inspection, it was clear that it needed a mechanical overhaul. The bearings were as dry as the Sahara Desert and there was small amounts of chrome pitting. This would’ve been caused by being stored in a slightly damp garage.
II started to carefully strip the bike down, being very cautious not to scratch any of the Super-chrome coating, as with age it can become very flaky. Lucky for me, there was a tiny bit of flaking on the handlebars only which was swiftly dealt with.
After years of storage, it was evident that the front and rear hubs had seen better days. They were very dirty. These parts are one of the hardest to clean as the dirt will not come off with a hose or pressure washer. Luckily, I have access to a Torrent hot wash, which is like a sandblaster, but a higher pressure hose which fires out hot water and cleaning chemicals to remove dirt effortlessly.
To the right, you can see the condition it was in when I picked it up. It gives you a general idea on what needed sorting. Below, it how those parts look after they were fastidiously along with every other nut and bolt to try and make this the BEST Super Burner Mk2 left in existence.
