Hello fellow 3 speeders. Last week I found and purchased a 1953 Hercules Royal Prince, that was only 12 miles away from my home. This is my number 3 of 1953 Hercules that I own. Basically, the bike had good bones, so I went all out on its' rejuvenation. Shown below are the before and after photos of the bike.
Many of the front fork bearings were missing, the front tire and tube had a blow out, the front axel bearing races were pitted, the saddle was made in Taiwon, the hand grips were USA made, The chain had 2 links that were frozen, the rear clamp for the chain guard was missing, one of the pedals dust caps was missing, the kick stand was missing and the complete front brake was missing. Since these early 1950s Hercules are so rare, I had to have it!
I put on new Schwalbe tires/tubes, used original Hercules tan saddle, new matching tan hand grips, used Brooks tan leather tool bag, complete early Hercules front brakes, nice used front axel and bearing races, period correct Midland repainted carrying rack, Miller generator light kit with a stem mounted bracket, NOS Hercules pedals, Raleigh logo kick stand, new indicator chain and its' anchor and all new cables. Coming soon will be reproduction Hercules chainguard sticker, tan pannier bags and matching triangle bag to mount in-between the V portion of the frame.
After1
After2