Almost three years ago now I built up my Hercules tricycle from a brand new Indian built Hercules Ladies Heavyweight Roadster bicycle and a custom tricycle conversion kit. I also fitted up an electric hub motor wheel running on 24 volts provided by two SLA batteries. Small detail touches included a Bosch bicycle headlamp and a Miller dynamo. The bulb horn is just a Chinese made accessory; - works well though 
My tricycle gave me completely reliable service until the batteries finally died. So I purchased a new pair of batteries and was about to carry out some well needed maintanence only I became ill and my poor old Hercules was left sitting out in the Winter rain and weather. When I was finally well enough to rescue it I was horrified when I saw what the weather had done to my lovely tricycle. Rusty blistered chrome, faded paintwork, flat tyres....and the Brooks leather saddle was horribly twisted up and was an awful mess.
It was while I was cleaning my Hercules this afternoon that I realised that it would be a fair old piece of work to restore it to its former glory again. But if I was to simply clean it up in a way that enhanced its Winter ruin into a nice servicable patina of use then I could make a positive out of a negative.
I actually own a genuine English Ladies Hercules that is almost sixty years young and is very like the 'modern' Indian Hercules in many details. Unfortunately the quality of the fasteners and the chrome plate is nothing like as good on the Indian bicycle.
Due to its much better quality original paint and platework my English Hercules has a wonderful patina of use that I would never ever try to change because if it took sixty years to look the way it does why mess with success.
After polishing my tricycle's Winter rusted chrome with brass wire wool and an old fashioned soft wax polish things started to look better. The local emporium sells cheap toothbrush sized brass wire brushes and these made the coil springs on the Brooks saddle and the fork braces lose their rust flakes nice and quickly. Working the wax into the now clean exposed metal certainly made an improvement, - it's never going to look new again, but that patina has to start somewhere.
Wetting down the leather saddle and binding it tightly helped to get it back into shape. Dubbin will be on the grocery list this coming week and hopefully I'll be able to get the saddle back into a sitable condition again. If I get a spare moment tomorrow I'll take some photos and post them so you can see what I'm about.
My tricycle gave me completely reliable service until the batteries finally died. So I purchased a new pair of batteries and was about to carry out some well needed maintanence only I became ill and my poor old Hercules was left sitting out in the Winter rain and weather. When I was finally well enough to rescue it I was horrified when I saw what the weather had done to my lovely tricycle. Rusty blistered chrome, faded paintwork, flat tyres....and the Brooks leather saddle was horribly twisted up and was an awful mess.
It was while I was cleaning my Hercules this afternoon that I realised that it would be a fair old piece of work to restore it to its former glory again. But if I was to simply clean it up in a way that enhanced its Winter ruin into a nice servicable patina of use then I could make a positive out of a negative.
I actually own a genuine English Ladies Hercules that is almost sixty years young and is very like the 'modern' Indian Hercules in many details. Unfortunately the quality of the fasteners and the chrome plate is nothing like as good on the Indian bicycle.
Due to its much better quality original paint and platework my English Hercules has a wonderful patina of use that I would never ever try to change because if it took sixty years to look the way it does why mess with success.
After polishing my tricycle's Winter rusted chrome with brass wire wool and an old fashioned soft wax polish things started to look better. The local emporium sells cheap toothbrush sized brass wire brushes and these made the coil springs on the Brooks saddle and the fork braces lose their rust flakes nice and quickly. Working the wax into the now clean exposed metal certainly made an improvement, - it's never going to look new again, but that patina has to start somewhere.
Wetting down the leather saddle and binding it tightly helped to get it back into shape. Dubbin will be on the grocery list this coming week and hopefully I'll be able to get the saddle back into a sitable condition again. If I get a spare moment tomorrow I'll take some photos and post them so you can see what I'm about.
