I got the bright idea of a "teaser" post from Alex over at Hank and Me with her new Bakfiets. This is a picture of the bike as found. It came from a town dump in NH! Why would anybody throw out such a beautiful and serviceable bike! Ticks me off more than a little bit. It was rescued by pastorbobnlnh a fellow Bike Forums member. He is more into vintage Schwinns, so it was passed on to me. It was rescued from his "magic" dump. That dump has produced more than a few nice bikes over the past couple of years including a nice Robin Hood that went to a new home in the Midwest.
But back to the Herc. I have finally cleared the project palette to the point that I have room on the workstand for it!
It is a 19?? Hercules Skyliner. The year has yet to be completely determined, it is probably between a 1947-1954, based on the paint, the name and the fact that Hercules was absorbed by Raleigh/TII in 1954. The bike has several unusual features: single speed freewheel and rod brakes being the two most outstanding. It was built at the Britannia Works in Birmingham, England...says so, right on the head badge. ;-)
Parts have been ordered! We hope to have it back together in time to take to the ABCE Tour in September. Stay tuned for updates!
Aaron
Slow Crafting
14 hours ago