1974 Raleigh Chopper Mk2 ‘Fizzy Lemon’ Shed Find. December 2025.
On the evening of the 30th November, I was enjoying my family Christmas do and then I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket. I received a message regarding a one owner from new Mk2 Chopper. I quickly prioritised this and cut straight to the chase. “I want to buy the bike”. I had only received a few photos of it and it was a bit of a gamble, but to my pleasant surprise it was a 74 Fizzy Lemon. It is an early Mk2, therefore some parts differ from others on a normal Mk2, like the seat and seat strap, frame number position and short reflector pedals. Anyway, if you didn’t know already, I love one owner bikes. They always have such a great story and history. This one however has got to be the most special one I have purchased for various reasons.
Now to name these reasons. Well, the first would be that the bike is totally original paint and chrome. The decals are in exceptionally good shape, especially the chain guard and that is really hard to find. It also retains all of the early parts and they are in very good condition too. I cannot believe it, but there are no rips or tears in the seat. Only a tiny gouge! Thirdly, each sticker on the bike holds a different story. For example, the Coventry Bees Gary Guglielmi sticker was placed on there as the first owner (Andrew) was a major fan of watching him race! The TSC Music Systems stickers were Andrews dad’s own company! How cool is that?! Lastly, the icing on the cake for me, is that Andrews dad kept the original receipt from when he bought the bike in Halfords in 1974 for Andrews 9th Birthday. These original receipts are solely extinct, as you could imagine. This one is also in fantastic condition, still showing the address of the Halfords dealer and how much he paid for the bike. In total it cost £42.60 with the expense of cycle insurance and a horn added (85P & 25P). The base cost of the bike was £41.50, which is just a little less than what they are worth nowadays…
As this bike remains it such original condition, bar the handlebars and grips, I will be stripping the bike to a bare frame, giving the frame, forks and chain guard a full clean and paint protection/polish. Then all the chrome work will be cleaned to my fastidious standard (whilst keeping everything original). No rechroming will take place. If the chrome is too far gone, then the part will be replaced with a good original chrome part. The bars are believed to be off a Halfords Scrambler and were replaced so that Andrew could adjust them. These will be swapped for originals along with the grips. As always, all the bearings will be replaced with new ones and re-greased, the hub will be rebuilt, new tyres, tubes and chain added and then all new old stock brake and gear cables.
The stickers which Andrews dad added will remain on the bike to preserve the history as much as possible! At the end, it will be in roughly the same condition as the Fire Bronze Sprint GT I restored before this. Totally original, yet show worthy and capable of riding miles and miles without fault. Keep your eyes peeled on the website as I will soon show some before and after photos of the frame!
