UBRI : Ultra Burner, Re-Imagined.

[Midschoolfool]

Yup you saw that right, I am going to build an old bike 

When I thought back to my childhood I remembered the good times. Like my TRM and its inner knee bashing width. And my pristine Z-rims that I managed never to flex in two years and then a pikey grabbed my bike and killed both of them in about two minutes.

However, I rode on. When every one ditched BMXs in the early 90s I bought a mountain bike, rode it down a railway bridge and snapped the rear deralier (sic) clean off. So I got another BMX and rode until I was 17 then got a moped. Few crashes later and I was back on a BMX in around 1996. Because of this I have far more fond memories of riding mid school on bikes that could take a beating, as well as the added bonus of pretty much being a full grown adult and thus able to perform lots of things I could not as a kid. I was a very small kid, then shot up to 5'10 in my teens.

So yeah, I am a mid school boy. I even like a bit of new school, providing it's moving technology on. So it's no surprise I really didn't have any plans to build a Burner at all. Then I remembered the year they came out (before the U.S invasion of real BMXs) and I got a warm fuzzy feeling thinking about the Ultra Burner. That Christmas my brother got a Burner in red and yellow (it was stolen about three weeks after ) and I got a BMX so shit that nobody stole it. It had a cotter pin crank on it it was that bad, so I was always whacking the pins back in.

So yeah, I kind of fancied an Ultra Burner, but in my way. I watched a F&F on Ebay for a few weeks but it was expensive. About £150 IIRC. In the end I bartered with the seller and managed to get it to my door for £125. This was F&F and headset. I was happy enough with that. This is it here.



The head badge was still on, though very beaten and battered. The right side of the beak was kinked over but after about an hour of very carefully removing the rivets etc I managed to rescue it, straighten it up a bit, give it a light clean and then clear coated it.



That is one part of the bike I wanted to keep original and ratty. I even clear coated some of the dirt in, just as a holler back to the old days. I have ordered some pins.



So I can put it back on properly. OK, so the plan. This is the part where all of the purists go -



I thought about what to do for quite a while actually. I started looking for parts and soon the laughter began. This is a Burner, FFS. £100 for a battered old faded seat. £160 for a clean stem. £350 for a set of Arayas. etc. Some of the parts were not even out there. So, I decided to build it how I wanted it without giving a crap. If you want to pull some one's head off for ruining an original Burner take it up with the guy who bought it as a survivor and then saw the dollar signs and broke it up for sale as parts..

OK, so the idea was "Original or better". Bear in mind when my brain gets all nostalgic and thinks about BMX parts it does it from the inception to now. When I say better I mean things like deep walled double skinned wheels and so on. All of the things that made BMX better. I wanted them to look somewhat original or close, but the idea of building a NOS Burner ended when I saw the prices. Like I said, this wasn't ever really a good bike and it isn't now. It was soon demolished by the Mongoose, GT and so on. You know? the bikes that people actually restore. Burners are nostalgic, for good reasons, but not good bikes. So I also knew I was never going to ride it because it's heavy and far too short. I have bikes for riding already (three of them) so I don't need another.

So I decided that as I had already had a black UB in 1991 (friend gave me the F&F) that I would try and get as close to this as possible.



Or even better, with all of the parts I would have wanted to replace over the years. So I chose some alu bars with beautiful welds. The V is lower than original but they look gorgeous.





Mirage Suntour replica.



A real, proper seat clamp.



Decals.



Clone chain ring.



Full MX brake set up



Seat



Tioga Max Flo FC2 silver on silver (it just looks gold in the pic)



170mm crank arms, just in case I do decide to ever ride it



BB



Double trap 80s pedals.



Eclat grips.



So basically here is where I am at.





Still waiting on a few parts to arrive but mostly there. Frame goes in for powder end of next week

[Mikku]

Whilst I acknowledge and (now) appreciate the impact that Burners had on British BMX, I'm not and never was a fan of them (Aero Burners aside) but I do like a good build thread and am interested to see how this turns out!

[Midschoolfool]

Thanks. Yeah, Raleigh had their scouts out there in the USA watching things very closely, rounded up a couple of well known bmx personalities (Ruffell for example) and then pounced.

I love the frame because it was made here on our soil in Nottingham and that means a lot to me but seriously £60 for a set of foam Viscount grips? Lmao gtf outta here.

I predict that this bike will cost me £600. That is all in padset the lot. Now that's a massive kick in the nuts but I could easily have spent three grand. On.A.Raleigh.Burner.

I could buy any bike for that much money ffs.

So yes I feel innocent of any major crime. It's the guys pulling what little there are of them left into bits and greed.

[McQUEEN]

....So it's no surprise I really didn't have any plans to build a Burner at all. Then I remembered the year they came out (before the U.S invasion of real BMXs) and I got a warm fuzzy feeling thinking about the Ultra Burner.

I always thought the burners were a response from Raleigh AFTER the us invasion of real bmx's and Halfords Team Murray's knocked their Grifter and Chopper market??

[Midschoolfool]

....So it's no surprise I really didn't have any plans to build a Burner at all. Then I remembered the year they came out (before the U.S invasion of real BMXs) and I got a warm fuzzy feeling thinking about the Ultra Burner.

I always thought the burners were a response from Raleigh AFTER the us invasion of real bmx's and Halfords Team Murray's knocked their Grifter and Chopper market??

Not exactly sure tbh. It was probably more of a mass market thing really. I mean I personally don't remember hearing about BMX until about three months before Christmas one year. Which would have been the first year of the MK1 Burner. I did watch a docu a few months back (I blame that really, that was what got me thinking lol) and it said Raleigh were first to market but then hey, lots of wrong info out there.

Mine was made December of 1983. I really got a laugh when I started mapping out tape so I could measure the decal positions so I get it spot on when they go back.. I think it must have been the Christmas party, because whoever put mine on was clearly drunk

Look at the bottom bracket then the decals on the down tube.



And then this one. Not only is it offset it's also pissed, leading me to believe the crank had been fitted already and was in the way.



Any considerations I had about keeping the very few original parts I had original soon evaporated when I looked closely.



The lower third of the forks are like 100% touch up paint. It's weird because above about half way and up on the bike the paint is spotless. The bearings had no wear, the headset bolt has never been touched (because the corners go and expose the copper under the chrome) and so on. I have a feeling this bike was used for a while and then thrown in a shed with other bikes (hence the damage to the lower fork, probably another bike's pedals) and then left there for a very long time.

It also had the original end caps in the forks in pretty incredible condition. I spent a while very carefully removing them.





The forks took a rusty dump all over the floor ffs. Any way, soaked them in vinegar for 24hrs.



And they came out perfect. Will clear coat the outer bottom parts before refitting them

[Midschoolfool]

Finally the chain ring is on the spider. Long story short, I forgot about fecking BCD. It's been 30 years or more since I have used a chain ring. Mind you I won't take all of the blame as the chain ring itself was listed as 110 BCD but the spider wasn't listed as either, just "Old School Spider". Still, I am only out £11 so I CBA sending it back. I will likely hang it on the wall somewhere.

[Midschoolfool]

Afternoon all. Rained/winded in ATM, so not much to do. A couple of nights back I fitted the rim tapes, tubes and tyres. I also put some air in (I say some, 35 PSI max on these old things) and then put my dice on.



And there they are. Apologies for the slightly crap picture the light was playing peek-a-boo all morning and that was the best I could do given the circumstances.

I love how beefy they look. And they are not very heavy either, given the rims are all aluminium as are the hubs. Again the purists will cry, but I've always wanted a set of these wheels. I went from rags to riches in 1998 and after riding very basic generic wheel sets for three years I ended up on some Peregrine Super Pro sealed. But I always loved these deep Alex.

I got them from Bankrupt for the frankly insane price of £30. I guess mid school is out ATM but this is a pretty serious wheel set able to take some serious abuse for the money.

Now I am not superstitious but sometimes I believe I get signs. I had a couple of opinions on these from my own and a couple of others (these are going to make that little bike look mean) to "they are going to look stupid". However, when I looked at them I realised that they had cards on them inside the spokes. They are Raleigh made. God knows why, or what for, but there are cards on them detailing who made them (Steve) and where they were laced (UK).

Which is kinda weird if you think about it, given bankrupt sold them as Diamondback wheels. So I took off the Alex stickers, hit them with the isopropyl (as they were filthy) and I think they look like they mean business.

[Midschoolfool]

Score. OK, let me talk about the pad set. There is a guy who I think makes them. They are really lovely, but, not 100% spot on. The original pads are glossy. I know, I have seen a NOS set. The guy who makes them does them in a flat sort of finish. Nothing to worry about too much as my bike is far from accurate any way, but they are quite spendy. Again, that doesn't bother me too much but I was sitting around on Facebook today and these were for sale.



As you can see they are old school and they are glossy. They were also pretty cheap, as the guy seems to have a lot of them.



Now I have a few options. Leave them plain (which I actually like) or try and stencil paint them. I have a plotter which cuts vinyl so it's not out of the realms of possibility. Will think more once they arrive but watch this space

[deeman]

If you have a plotter should be easy to stencil the Raleigh on with plastikote or similar....they should look spot on, good score 

[Midschoolfool]

Thanks man. I have also found some iron on silver stuff that can be fed into my plotter also, so yeah, sure I will come up with something

[Midschoolfool]

Few Burner purists out there will want to start a lynch mob 



Have never done a LSD so this should be fun

[griff]

Or you could have bought Nick's OG one for under £300 posted and done a resto
Your money and all that but it seems like you're spending a lot just to build a bike that not even the Burner fans will like - they care deeply about details that most of us on here don't give a toss about (reflectors anyone?)
I can see how people that had a burner BITD would maybe want to build a factory spec bike and can respect that (to a degree lol) but no amount of 'upgrading' is going to fix the shite geometry, has nothing to do with being a purist

Anyway don't mind me, just my two penneth

[Avro]

..not sure where this thread is going or where it came from. May be click bait but meh.
Restore a Burner, great, it was all I ever had back in 1982 (all I ever had). If I were restoring a Burner it would be a blue and yellow tough and it would have to be spot on. I would take as long as it takes because it would take me to 1982, I would love the chase but bide my time. Up-grades? Sure I made them, many, but if I could go back....

[Retrodan72]

Mate. It's your bike so do it how you want it but seriously consider whether or not those grips, seat clamp and spider ate the way you want to go with it.

Personally I'd go with a set of repop A'me grips in blue from pauleddie off eBay (£13.45), a DC seat clamp from Alan's (£12) and a Sugino spider off a RAD member for £15 or so, spending the extra £40 will give you a better looking bike IMHO and something you'll be happier yourself with long term.

[Midschoolfool]

Or you could have bought Nick's OG one for under £300 posted and done a resto
Your money and all that but it seems like you're spending a lot just to build a bike that not even the Burner fans will like - they care deeply about details that most of us on here don't give a toss about (reflectors anyone?)
I can see how people that had a burner BITD would maybe want to build a factory spec bike and can respect that (to a degree lol) but no amount of 'upgrading' is going to fix the shite geometry, has nothing to do with being a purist

Anyway don't mind me, just my two penneth

I welcome opinions man don't sweat it I just have a different philosphy to most that's all. I never had a Burner as a kid. I wanted one bad, as mine was awful (Atlas.. Cotter pin, came from a toy store of all places). So yeah, of course we used to get all the catalogues (Granthams, Freemans etc) my mother used to be an agent for Freemans so we always had those. And I used to sit and stare at the bike section for hours. So yeah, it's fair to say I wanted a silver Ultra really badly.

But.

Few things about me. 1 - I like to do things my way and that will seem a bit skewed and off piste because I am autistic. So I don't really care about emotion so much but logic. If I had this Burner what would I have swapped out/spent my pocket money on/changed. And that would be most of it really. It will never make sense to any one but me.

2. I never sell anything that means something to me. I am not a hoarder, far from it, but I don't do fads. So that means that this Burner will have right of passage in front of my fireplace in my bedroom (because the fireplace is massive) and will never be moved from there unless I get evicted or die. I have three SEs atm, I will never part with those either. I bought a Mike Buff last year and swapped out the wheels etc.. People said "How can you do that?" and I just replied "Because this isn't Mike Buff's bike it's mine".

And the same goes for this Burner. Why would I want what absolutely everybody else had? nah, just not me man.

..not sure where this thread is going or where it came from. May be click bait but meh.
Restore a Burner, great, it was all I ever had back in 1982 (all I ever had). If I were restoring a Burner it would be a blue and yellow tough and it would have to be spot on. I would take as long as it takes because it would take me to 1982, I would love the chase but bide my time. Up-grades? Sure I made them, many, but if I could go back....

If I could go back I would have bought ten Burners and deflated the tyres and put them in storage for 30 years. Same goes for a lot of what I had as a kid. I paid £30 for my TRM Freestyler frame in 1986. They now sell for £1500+. But you just never know what is going to be worth what and you kinda don't think that far ahead. We'd all be rich mate, all of us

This thread is not click bait it's just me building a bike and taking every one along for the ride. I am not envious or jealous I love seeing people happy. Kinda like in The Shawshank Redemption where he gives away all of his beer and sits and smiles. I love reading threads like this. I love seeing people express themselves etc.

If I could go back I would go back to the 17th of October 1981 and tell my father not to play football that day. I would tell him that he had the same heart condition his older brother had and had to have a double bypass for. I would get him to the hospital and he would still be here now. Sadly I can't do that. He died that day and was DOA when he got to the hospital.

Had my father lived I would have had this bike and then some. But he didn't, and you just gotta roll with the punches. I was going to avoid old school bikes completely if I am being totally honest. Why I chose the Burner is a mystery because it really is poor.

Dan - just saw your post as I was about to post. The grips are a take on old grips. I like that. They have like Ame patterns on them and the ends remind me of Oakley. I don't know if you can get a DC seat clamp because the Burner frame is massive, but I will be honest I don't really like them that much. Silly, as I have the brakes and etc but yeah, not a huge fan of those clamps.

It's all subject to change too. I am thinking now about putting a big fat 3pc on it. Dunno though, I don't have a single bike with a 1pc so that's why I have stuck to it so far.

[griff]

Crack on then - if it makes you happy then nothing else matters 
Was just confused as you said you wanted to get it as close as you possibly could to the pic you posted and then went off in another direction

[Midschoolfool]

Crack on then - if it makes you happy then nothing else matters 
Was just confused as you said you wanted to get it as close as you possibly could to the pic you posted and then went off in another direction

Yeah I know I can put out mixed signals sometimes. I also tend to rush into things too. Had I known how much it would cost I may have avoided it. I say may because I don't drink, don't smoke, don't go out much etc. So hey, every one has things that make them happy

Originally I thought I would do it as original as possible, then I saw the prices and state of the parts being offered. I want a new burner, like brand spanking new. Within about ten minutes I knew that was not going to happen. You would be looking at £2k+ to get all of the right parts and then have them restored/refurbed etc. So yeah, that was when I decided to do it my way and do it better than original. It's like I said before man, people are buying these whole, pulling them to bits and then asking stupid money for them.

I'm not worried about what it costs to do it this way. It will be sub £650 and I will have it for the rest of my life

[dancetothedrummersbeat]

A good read this. It wouldn’t be the way i would have done it, but we’re all different. Give 10 people the same frame & forks, and give them the same build brief, and they will all build it differently. Build it for yourself, and as long as it gives you enjoyment, then you’ve done a good job. 

[Midschoolfool]

A good read this. It wouldn’t be the way i would have done it, but we’re all different. Give 10 people the same frame & forks, and give them the same build brief, and they will all build it differently. Build it for yourself, and as long as it gives you enjoyment, then you’ve done a good job. 

 

Exactly. That is the beauty of BMX and the almost endless pile of different parts, frames, etc.

[Midschoolfool]

Afternoon all not much happening ATM because I am waiting to take the frame in for powder next week. I was going to send it to SBD but it would have cost me a tenner in packing (lagging pipe) and then £30 in postage. I asked my local guy if he had the clear and he does, so we worked out a fair price. It's literally 30m from my mother's house so very close..

Yesterday I put together the bars, stem, levers, cables and grips. Very happy with how they turned out. Little bummed over how crap modern anodizing is (it's like piss weak) but what can you do?



Now to talk about something else, the seat post. As you guys know (if you read my threads) I have a 2017 Mike Buff I changed around a bit. I bought a carbon fibre seat post for it but decided to take it off again. Any way, the post on that (it's a SE repro fluted post) is 27.2 and the Burner is 38.6 or something mental like that. Any hoo I looked for a shim but they were all coming up at like £12 in black. I don't want anything black on the bike. So I eventually found this for £3 in Hong Kong, ordered it a couple of weeks back and it came today.



This is the post here.

[Retrodan72]

I hope your local powder guy does the buisness and gives you the result you want with this pal. I know £40 may seem a lot of money but it's very cheap relatively for the piece of mind knowing that you're giving your bike to the most experienced BMX powder coater on the game.

Fingers crossed for you buddy.

[Midschoolfool]

I hope your local powder guy does the buisness and gives you the result you want with this pal. I know £40 may seem a lot of money but it's very cheap relatively for the piece of mind knowing that you're giving your bike to the most experienced BMX powder coater on the game.

Fingers crossed for you buddy.

Thanks man. I have read Google reviews and his work is very good and he's a genuinely nice guy too. TBH the last guy who I got to powder for me did an amazing job he just over charged me something rotten. Which this guy is not doing. I'm just stressed about the cost of to and fro and so on. And the risk, as Dan said that couriers won't insure bike frames so you have to lie and tell them it's just parts etc.

[Midschoolfool]

OK so I got out the Buff and swapped the seat posts back. Not sure why I removed the carbon one.



Such a beautiful bike I really am humbled by it tbh. Any way, I now harvested the seat post that will be going on the Burner. It's fluted and really lovely. I also put the arms on the crank.



And TBH? I love both. I also spotted this after Avro posted on the museum trying to date them.. Looks like this one was made in '84 which would make it a great bargain @ £16. Every one else wants £35 for the bloody things.

[Midschoolfool]

Started on this earlier too

[Midschoolfool]

NOS pad set came. Very happy, though the stem pad needs heating to stop it trying to go flat. Will do that at the end.