Bicycles BICYCLES

Raleigh Tomahawk

  1. Home
    2. >
  2. Bicycles
    3. >
  3. Raleigh Tomahawk

I received a Raleigh Tomahawk for my birthday (I can't recall which) and was bitterly disappointed since it was not the 3-speed Raleigh Chopper my parents claimed was too big. In glorious purple, the Tomahawk had a plastic chrome plate where the T-bar should have been but otherwise was a small replica of the Raleigh Chopper.

I rode that bike all over Guiseley and Yeadon for years, and couldn't part with it even when I finally upgraded to a 5 speed racer. My friends and I would play 'air combat', imagining we were fighter pilots gunning each other down, giving ourselves ranks such as 'Hyper-honcho' through to 'Turkey'. I had the most success when I teamed up with a mate riding pillion as a tail gunner!

The Chopper gear-change links could be kicked in a fly past, dropping the bigger bike into 3rd gear and making them a sitting duck for a straffing run, but the Tomahawk could always be wheelied by standing on the rear axel stems, something I thought was quite spectacular at that age!

Suggest an update

Author of this article:



Contributors to this article:

  • There are no contributors yet

Message boards

Discuss Raleigh Tomahawk on the message boards

Do You Remember Raleigh Tomahawk?

Do You Remember Raleigh Tomahawk?

  • Anonymous user
    on
    Have just bought a raleigh formula one that was rescued from a skip. It is silver and stickered up silver jubilee 1977. Is it a tomahawk?.
  • Anonymous user
    on
    Learnt to ride a two wheeler on this little Machine, dad took the day off work running up and down the cul-de -sac and held the saddle letting go for a sec until i got it. Old chap across the road said he'd give me 50p when I could do a wheely which I finally did on my grifter or was it the mag burner in yellow and blue? Proud Gedling/ Nottm lad now in Oz
  • Anonymous user
    on
    My First bike was a Tomahawk i loved it...have such found memories
  • Anonymous user
    on
    cracking bike from the 80s!
  • Anonymous user
    on
    I LOOOOVED my Tomahawk as much as my Budgie!
  • Anonymous user
    on
    My younger brother Dean and I both got Tomahawks for Christmas one year in the mid '70s. Mine was red and Dean's was purple. We used to ride all around Holmer Green and environs (woods and dells included) like we were Wyatt and Billy in Easy Rider. Buckinghamshire was a long way from California but now I live near Los Angeles. When the time came to trade up, I considered the Grifter but asked for and got a racing bike instead. Really wish I still had the Tomahawk though.
  • Anonymous user
    on
    raleigh tomahawks rule!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
  • Anonymous user
    on
    My Bro had one of these. Dangerous things they are, weight ration all wrong. I remember he once chipped his teeth trying too hard to do a wheelie (which was easy anyway) and hit himself in the mouth with the bar stem. Clumsy oaf.
  • Anonymous user
    on
    I had a second hand red Tomohawk when I was about 5 or 6 so 79/80 and it was the coolest little bike until BMX came along. I remember snapping the forks at least 3 times and each time old Pete who was the local handyman welded them back together until there was no metal left to weld. Saw a few for sale at the Raleigh Rally last weekend, cheap as chips!!
  • Anonymous user
    on
    Ah, the only bike in history that was actually easier to ride if you wheelied it. Gently lean back and the front wheel came up and you could go for miles - I even managed to go round corners on this thing while wheelieing. Tried a Chopper but preferred the little Tomahawk, purely for the fun of riding around everywhere on the back wheel..

Do you remember these?