Mk2 Raleigh Burner Resto (or customising; not decided yet)

[ade36]

I have no doubt that this isn't the first Raleigh Burner thread on here but while I'm car-less (or at least without a car worth talking about) I needed something in my life to satisfy my urge to tinker with something. I always wanted to get myself a retro BMX, fueled by fond memories of my 8 year old self racing about on my white and orange, mag wheeled little slice of freedom.

After a few weeks of casual searching I had no luck securing anything worth buying within my budget, then, after a few too many beers I get a little over-zealous with the bidding and end up bidding on a shed of a Raleigh burner from Scotland (I live in Kent).

Long story short, I finally got it couriered back and could finally get a look at what I'd bought.



And this is it... Ok, I did want a Raleigh Burner, and a MK2, but it didn't have the mag wheels I was after and it's certainly not ready to ride.

Straight away, I need to find a new seat, (and ideally a lay-back seat post) and pedals, so if anyone has anything, let me know!

Following that, I think new bottom bracket and headset will be on the shopping list.  I'm gonna have a go truing the wheels, find new tubes and tyres, play with the brakes, then maybe I may have something ridable!

[awoo]

i have a very nice almost perfect condition aeroyal seat attached to a 531 layback seat post. its minty stuff though so wont be cheapest tbh

the seatpost is the same as this as it happens and the saddle is the same, only the white version.

[ade36]

Yeah, would be perfect... But undoubtedly a little out of my budget at the moment. Want to get it rolling and usable first; and ideally for as little as possible, then will start thinking about some better condition upgrades.

[TS]

MY vote is resto not customisation, but its your bike. Do as you please.

Looks a lot like my old NightBurner. Only sold it a couple of years back. I had that thing for about 27 years.

[grifterkid]

Oh for an old Burner...!!!

[randywanger_]

Resto retro pub bike!

[ade36]

Still not sure if the wheels are going to be salvageable as they're not the straightest and quietest I've seen! But had a bit of time to spare so thought i'd see how they'd clean up.

Started with this:



A few minutes of rubbing and got to this:



I do hope they can be tru'd up as whilst buffing the worst of the rust off I saw the original 'Raleigh England' stamp which spurred the resto urges on. Plus, I really can't afford to buy a new wheelset at this stage!

[ade36]

Unfortunately the Frosties stickers had to go... Funny thing is that I actually remember having these stickers myself!








Other random thing is that I'm having trouble finding the serial number; meant to be on the bottom bracket on mk2's but there's nothing there... Should I be worried?

[Deleted]

Serial number could be on the back of the seattube on the back of the bit where the red R sticker is

[ade36]

Mar 16, 2014 18:26:35 GMT @daaaaaan said:

Serial number could be on the back of the seattube on the back of the bit where the red R sticker is

Yeah, found it there, not very clear though and thought it was only the mk1's that had it there.

Hopefully sourced a replacement saddle now

After much trial and error I finally got the front wheel straight(ish) and true(ish). At least straight enough for it to be useable and infinitely better than what it was!

Then got started on the rear wheel which was much harder; all of the spoke nipples were rusted fast. 24 hours of WD40 soaking and i managed to free up all but three. Got a but forceful with them and now pretty sure the rear wheel is a write-off (the rim is octagonal, not round, the bearings are super noisy and now I've pretty much destroyed 3 spokes, well, they were destroyed anyway, I just made sure of it!).

Ahhhh!

The plan was always to go down the mag wheel route eventually but I certainly can't afford to do that yet. Just desperate to get it ridable so in a desperate plea has anyone got a rear wheel that will be suitable for a raleigh burner? Don't mind if it's not perfect, just after something that is useable (or can be made useable) and that is obviously reasonably cheap... HELP!

[93fxdl]

One of my other lives, is helping out at a charity that recycles old cycles, if you can detail what you want, will try and rummage through and see what's about, is a burner wheel same as other bmx type wheels, only trouble is, I am just south of Glasgow, so will need to organize transport,
Ttfn Glenn

[stevek]

Thanks for the Frosties stickers trip down memory lane. I had an all red (with red pads and tyres) Raleigh BMX, it was a smaller size but similar in design to yours. I think it was my black and white Raleigh Mustang (small mountain bike) I got after the BMX that had those stickers on it along with Monster Much spokies too.

[loudandproud205]

I had a Burner Aero, I had no idea what it was until recently.

It was all about the Kellogg's spoke reflectors that I should add that I couldn't have on mine as it had 5 spoke yellow mags on.

[ade36]

Mar 17, 2014 20:57:24 GMT 93fxdl said:

One of my other lives, is helping out at a charity that recycles old cycles, if you can detail what you want, will try and rummage through and see what's about, is a burner wheel same as other bmx type wheels, only trouble is, I am just south of Glasgow, so will need to organize transport,
Ttfn Glenn

Sounds similar to the place where I got this from in the first place! Rear wheel is 20" x 1.75". Other than that I don't know if anything is particularly different (although if I'm wrong someone please correct me as this is a learning process for me!). Obviously would prefer something era specific but beggars can't be choosers!

[ade36]

Gotta love the internet... Quick serial number search and found that this burner was built in March 1984; making it 30 this month!

Also found some rather cool original catalogue images of how the old girl would have looked:





1984 'Raleigh Burners' catalogue - BURNER (BLACK)
The Black Burner is a mean machine with
Gloss Black frame, fork, handlebar and
chainwheel disc plus Red livery. This is for
the BMX-er who wants to Burn off the
opposition in real style.
• Two tone grips,
• Lightweight pads,
• Aero style saddle,
• Thermoplastic platform pedals,
• Alloy seat clamp.
Quality items normally only found on
mega expensive machinery.
The Black Burner is not all style, it has a heart of -
• Raleigh Oval Competition Section
Carbospec 23 steel frame and fork
tubing,
• The wheels are bwlt with rugged 12G
spokes on hubs with strengthened axles.
• The headset has chrome steel bearings,
• The thermoplastic platform pedals with
Cr-Mo axles are mounted on a tough
one piece steel crank.
Gloss Black
Frame Size: Suitable for inside legs
22-30 ins.

[ade36]

Seat now found and fitted and gave the padset a wash:

[awoo]

looking good, what else is needed?

btw you can get super cheap decent enough quality bike spares from asda, £1.20 brake pads, £4 chain, £4 gear and brake cable set etc. i use them a lot.

[ade36]

Mar 24, 2014 22:54:58 GMT awoo said:

looking good, what else is needed?

btw you can get super cheap decent enough quality bike spares from asda, £1.20 brake pads, £4 chain, £4 gear and brake cable set etc. i use them a lot.

Top tip there. Pedals are now sorted so just a cheap rear wheel left to find...

[93fxdl]

Poped into the bike charity yesterday, no burner wheels as such, but a fair few modern bmx wheels with alloy rims, if you go modern,be as well to have a scout round local to see what you can source
Ttfn Glenn

[awoo]

whats up with the rear wheel? looks ok to me, only if there is a crease in the rim would it be wrecked