1983 Raleigh Extra Burner **full resto thread - finished**

[dancetothedrummersbeat]

Back in the day, the Raleigh Extra Burner was always one of my favourite Burners, along with the blue/yellow and night burner. I remember spending hours looking through the catalogue and dreaming about one.


After doing a fair few builds over the years, I thought it was time to tackle a Burner, and the extra burner was the obvious choice. I managed to pick up this complete on ebay about 2 years ago. It was mostly there, but missing a lever and grips, 2 of the trickiest parts to find. One of the rear dropouts was badly bent as you can see. As it arrived










Looking at the serial number of the frame, it was made in January 1983, and by the surviving parts on the bike, it was phase 1 extra burner with rat trap pedals and foam grips. The phase 2 extra burner had plastic pedals and red/white f1 style grips.

Phase 1


phase 2


The bike required complete restoration. First up was the frame. After doing a bit of research, it seemed that RAL 3020 traffic red was the correct red to use on the fades.  I thought that with a bit of care, the fade could be achieved using regular aerosol spray paint. Joff kindly allowed me to use his home spray booth (R.I.P) to re-finish the frame. I stripped the frame, forks, bars and chainguard using synstryp, and then myself and Joff used white primer then white gloss on the frame & forks


We then masked the frame and forks






...and attempted to get the red fade done








We both felt that it was looking good, but getting the fade done with aerosols was tricky. Inevitably there was temptation on my part to do 'one last pass' with the red, which of course resulted in rogue blobs of red over white areas 
This meant re-masking the red and adding more white....


...and this continued to the point where there were multiple layers of red & white (my fault in searching for perfection - Joff said it was almost there, but it was me who wanted to do that one more pass  )

After taking a step back and looking at the frame & forks, I decided that that i'd bitten off more than I could chew, and sent the frame, forks, bars and chainguard to Superbike Dan. Dan stripped the parts, powdered the chainguard and bars in RAL3020, and the frame & forks in gloss white








Dan said that he was really busy, and really didn't want to attempt the multiple red fades, so he advised me to contact Mark Ralph who specialises in airbrush work. I sent the frameset to Mark, and didn't have to wait very long to get the frameset back. The results were amazing. Mark also clear lacquered the frame for me


Decals on


Next were the wheels. The rims were badly pitted/rusted and needed re-chroming


The hubs also needed re-chroming, as did the spokes. Raleigh burner spokes are a thicker gauge than standard spokes, and are not easily replaceable, so I carefully removed them, put them to one side and polished the nipples up which took about 4 hours.  I took them to my local chromer (Leigh metal polishers) who suggested that zinc plating them would be the best idea. A few weeks later I picked up my lovely shiny spokes, and took them, the rims and hubs to my local bike shop to get the wheels built up.

I went into the bike shop to check on their progress, but was told the spokes wouldn't screw into the nipples as the zinc plate had filled in the threads. As these spokes aren't readily available, I thought about a way to strip the threads to make them fit. I found out that most acids will dissolve zinc plate - some people use vinegar but it takes a while. I couldn't wait that long, so I decided to look for some sulphuric acid (car battery acid), which supposedly works better and faster. After a few calls to car parts/motor factors shops, I found a local one that stocked the stuff (£9 for decent sized bottle). I also found out that bicarbonate of soda (baking soda) can be used to neutralise the acid once you're done. So I went to the supermarket and bought:

A starbucks coffee drink in a glass bottle to use as a suitable container
Baking Soda, which I mixed with water
Washing up gloves (pink of course) as seconds skin to my heavy duty workmans gloves
De-ionised water to prevent unwanted reactions - probably didn't need it, but what the hell
a container to neutralise the acid once done
a funnel
















The original 80's Cheng Shin snake belly tyres aren't that easy to find, especially in the required fat/thin combo. The front tyre was in great condition, and just needed a good wash and a coating in autoglym tyre dressing. The rear tyre literally fell apart as I removed it from the rim. Luckily Ant (factory pilot) had a nos 1.75, which he kindly agreed to sell.


more in part 2..

[factory pilot]

Looks gorgeous mate .. really nice.. glad you got it finished 

[pickle]

Love it Andy, top notch as usual mate 

[Retrodan72]

Another belting build Andy, top job.

[CustardLips]

Nice work Andy. 

[BMX1973]

Rare Burner don't see many of them , great build   

[factory pilot]

The pictures don't do it justice .. it's really stunning in the flesh .. so fresh so clean

[griff]

Fantastic job on a bike I will admit to admiring in catalogues BITD (before heading to the women's underwear section)

[dancetothedrummersbeat]

...part 2

The bike came with Viscount foam grips as stock, but I just couldn't find any. Luckily, Biagio was selling some nos Johar Rad Grips at MK last year in the correct red/black colourway, which are virtually identical.

The levers were a big challenge to get right. The bike had one survivor left lever, but it was scuffed and needed re-finishing. I managed to find a right lever to make a pair, but that one had faded very badly.


The brake calipers were in really good survivor condition, and were far too good to consider re-finishing.





The problem was that I needed to get the levers done in a matching shade to the calipers. The colour needed to be a dark, almost orange shade of gold. I contacted a few anodisers, but they could only do the standard light gold, and not the shade I wanted. One anodiser said they could get the correct shade, and assured me that they would take a maximum of 2 weeks to do them - I helped them out by stripping and polishing the levers to speed up the turnaround time. Despite a few phone calls, they still hadn't been done 8 weeks later, and MK was looming 
I finally got the phonecall, and went to pick them up. At first glance the levers looked ok, and I was relieved to finally get them back. On closer inspection at home, they were completely the wrong shade - almost brown 
MK was only 10 days away, so I had no choice but to attempt to spray them myself. I'd bought a can of candy fools gold, and a can of metallic gold as a base coat.


base coat on


..then 6 coats of candy fools gold, and a few coats of clear lacquer




Most of the headset, brake hardware, brake blocks, rear reflector and bracket, stem, chainring, crank and seatclamp were in good condition, and just needed a good clean and polish. The 'R' nut for the clamp, Tange bottom bracket and rear chain tensioners were too far gone and needed re-chroming





new end caps for chain tensioners


The stem cap was badly scratched, so I stripped it and re-sprayed it using VHT anodise look spray, which I had used previously on the rims for my Falcon Pro Beta






The pedals still had their original reflectors, but the pedal ends were badly scuffed. I therefore stripped and re-painted them in satin black and re-fitted the reflectors


The seat was another big challenge. It was amazing to have the original Raleigh branded seat, but it had a number of very deep gauges and numerous scuffs.




Although it was a shame to lose the textured finish, I really had no choice, so the seat was sanded down by hand, and then carefully polished up. Care was taken to preserve the Raleigh writing to the sides. The whole process took about 20 hours!





I polished up the existing seat guts, and found a nos seatpost. I then re-riveted the head tube badge and the chain guard to the chainring




Steve sorted me out with a repro padset, and decals came from a few sources, including Del


Building started the day before MK....


..and continued into the night. The bike was finally finished (apart from fitting the chain) at 1.15am on Friday morning.


A quick trip to the bike shop at 9am that morning to get the chain fitted, and the bike was all done and ready for MK 

The finished build






















I'm delighted with the finished result, and the icing on the cake was that it won 1st prize in the old school street category at MK this year 



As always, there were a few people who really helped to make this build possible. First of all, Joff (Norty40) who kindly let me interrupt his working day and let me use his home spray booth. He also let my frameset stay rent free at his house for months. I'm also grateful for the numerous cups of tea and seemingly endless supply of biscuits. As ever Ant (factory pilot) was there to provide encouragement when it looked as though the build was doomed, for helping to do some light restoration on some parts, and he also let me have the sought after 1.75 tyre for a very reasonable price. I think the levers came from Paul (dp and chopper dude) - thanks. Leigh metal polishers as always did an amazing job on the parts that needed re-chroming, and superbike Dan worked his magic on the white and red powdercoat. Thanks also to Dan for recommending Mark Ralph to do the red fade using an airbrush, and also for clear coating the frame. He did an amazing job, his rates were good, and the turnaround time was fast. Thanks Mark  As always, Steve worked his magic on the padset, and Del on the decals. Most of the decals came from a guy via one of the Burner forums. For the life of me, I cannot remember his name. Retrodan put me onto him, and the decals are amazing. Thanks Dan.

[dancetothedrummersbeat]

**bump**
resto thread now finished.

*After building the bike up, and it winning it's category at MK, I decided to sell it and let somebody else enjoy it. As I have numerous other bikes, I would probably never ride this one which seemed a shame. It's now gone to a good home 

[Retrodan72]

Andy, I've just sat down with a brew and a Yorkie on my break at work and enjoyed this thread. What a labour of love and a massive headache of a build for you.

The bike looked great in the end pal, shame you sold it pal.

[dancetothedrummersbeat]

Andy, I've just sat down with a brew and a Yorkie on my break at work and enjoyed this thread. What a labour of love and a massive headache of a build for you.

The bike looked great in the end pal, shame you sold it pal.

Thanks Dan - it was a real labour of love, and the toughest build I've ever done, despite the bike being almost complete when I bought it. I have bills to pay, and I would probably never ride it, as I ride most of my other ones. It seemed a shame to just leave it to gather dust. It's gone to a good home - someone who had one back in the day 

[Retrodan72]

Andy, I've just sat down with a brew and a Yorkie on my break at work and enjoyed this thread. What a labour of love and a massive headache of a build for you.

The bike looked great in the end pal, shame you sold it pal.

someone who had one back in the day 

So we'll expect to see it on eBay within the week. 

[Taipan]

Brilliant read  lovely bike and quality build  ,love reading stuff like this and how people over come the problems they come up against along the way,but I cant believe you had to go to a bike shop to fit a bloody chain! after what you already had done lol 

[oldschoolace]

Cracking build Andy 
So much more satisfying when you have put the hours in restoring stuff like you have then just shelling out for a box full of nos bits
 

[NORTY40]

Love your build threads Andy 

Your attention to detail and your obsession to get things just right is to be admired . I'm glad you got there in the
end mate . It sure turned out to be a stunner and deserved its award at MK 

[dancetothedrummersbeat]

Love your build threads Andy 

Your attention to detail and your obsession to get things just right is to be admired . I'm glad you got there in the
end mate . It sure turned out to be a stunner and deserved its award at MK 

Thanks Joff. I've updated part 2, and given all those who helped the credit they deserve. The build would never have happened if it wasn't for all of you 

[dancetothedrummersbeat]

^ a few years ago i was wrestling with a chain for over an hour. I broke my chain tool, cut my hand, and got generally hot & bothered. Never again! My local bike shop are fantastic, and quite often do those little jobs free of charge for me👍

[Ady]

What a cracking build mate and great attention to detail.
My sister had one of these on Christmas Day in 83 .
Rode it twice and left it outside to rust away the spoilt little @@@@ 
I like the choice of newspaper to mask the frame there are a few numbers I have saved in my phone..

[dp and chopper dude]

Great build thread! Posts like this is what I love about  It turned out great. I'm glad it won it's class at MK.
Thanks for the mention too 

[superbikedan]

This turned out awesome mate and was a pleasure to see it at MK and win 1st place

Glad to help as always

[dancetothedrummersbeat]

This turned out awesome mate and was a pleasure to see it at MK and win 1st place

Glad to help as always

A massive part was down to yourself and Mark. Thanks again Dan. 

[factory pilot]

Awesome build thread and another awesome bike Andy .. well deserved to win 1st in Street
It's a shame it had to go .. I would have liked to have stared longingly at it for a bit longer 

[CustardLips]

Great attention to detail as always Andy... nice work. 

[monkian]

Awesome work Andy. A real labour of love