Hercules Motor-bicycle

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Intrepid Wheelwoman

New Member
Oct 29, 2011
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Having mentioned the ideas behind this build elsewhere in the forum I thought it would be a good idea to start my own thread.

First of all I've dug out the frame and forks I will be using which are genuine Birmingham Hercules manufacture before Raleigh bought them out and turned Hercules into a Raleigh clone brand. I don't have an equivalent Raleigh frame to hand at the moment to show the differences between a Nottingham and a Birmingham frame, but there are quite a few differences with regard to frame lugs, frame geometry, construction details & etc.
As you might have guessed I'm very keen on Birmingham Hercules bicycles.





Unfortunately the celluloid centre of the headbadge has been broken out at sometime in the past which is a pity, but I think I can devise a repair.


I'll clean the frame and forks before I make up my mind whether to paint them or not. I'm fairly sure that parts of the frame have been brush painted in the past so if it looks too dreadful I'll just have to roll my sleeves up and rub it down for painting. It will be painted black of course.

I have a nice pair of wheels with Westwood rims fitted with new 26x2x1&3/4 tyres which should be the absolute bee's knees for this bike. The rear wheel has a Sturmey Archer 3 speed hub with coaster brake which should be dead corker too.
On the front I'll be installing rod brakes because they are cool and I like them. Fortunately all parts for rod brake bikes are readily available.


A nice aged Brooks saddle I already have and the mudguards will be the ones I purchased for my faux-Rudge powercycle project which didn't work out and is in the process of being dismantled.
The engine is of course a Villiers, - what else could it be. ;)

Hopefully the steel I ordered from Iron Maiden will arrive this coming week so I can make a start on the engine mounting parts. (Cool name for a steel supplier don't ya think?)
 

bluegoatwoods

Active Member
Jul 29, 2012
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Certainly a cool bike to work with.

But I'd beg you to not give up on the faux Rudge. I liked that idea right from the very start.

I think you mentioned somewhere that you just couldn't get engine placement right on that one. I suppose that could make the project not worthwhile. That's a shame.
 

Intrepid Wheelwoman

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Oct 29, 2011
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Good morning gentlemen, to answer your questions........

Cannonball, yes this is a rear mount engine project and in its own way very much an experiment. Whether it will end up with a tail wagging the dog type situation or not is anybody's guess.


BGW, it was with the greatest reluctance that I decided not to persist with the faux-Rudge. The problem lies mostly with the fact that I wear long skirts and I couldn't find a way to keep all that billowing cloth clear of the engine and the drive without making the bike lose its easy step-thru frame qualities. With my health issues and mode of dress a frame that I can step-thru is absolutely essential.
This is the reason why I like my old fashioned ladies bikes so much because they are so easy for me to mount and dismount from. It's also the reason why I built up my lovely Velo Solex powered Wu-Yang bicycle. The Wu-Yang is almost a perfect ride for me except that the exhaust from the engine is a mucky nuisance. My Wu-Yang is awaiting parts from France at the moment, but as they say that's another story.


Motorwheels are the other direction my experiments are going in and I'm hoping that they will provide a useful solution too.



Silverbear, I would not dare touch the sanctity of a Hercules headbadge, but yes there will be a 'Bee's Knees' logo somewhere on the bike when it's done.

Ludwig, thank you for the excellent illustration. As they say a picture is worth a thousand words.

 

Ludwig II

Well-Known Member
Jul 17, 2012
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One thing JC and I had discussed prior to starting the Cooper & Ludwig was the motorwheel, and I had half come to the conclusion that an amputated minimoto would do the job quite well.

 

Intrepid Wheelwoman

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Oct 29, 2011
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One thing JC and I had discussed prior to starting the Cooper & Ludwig was the motorwheel, and I had half come to the conclusion that an amputated minimoto would do the job quite well.
I did consider using a cut down 50cc pitbike Ludwig, but finding one in useful enough condition would cost more than my slender budget could stand.

I'm presently looking around for a 1960/1970s Raleigh ladies bicycle to give me a second bike for test purposes. Normally I'd consider a 1960/1970s bicycle to be too modern for me, but as a test mule it should be fine for the job.

At last traditional type bicycles are being imported after years of suffering fake mountain bike styled bicycles as the sole choice in the shops here in New Zealand. Most are from Europe and are very nice indeed, unfortunately they are also expensive with $NZ999.00 being a typical baseline price point (sigh).


The Monet et Goyon design of motorwheel is not so far distant in overall design from a fully rear engine mounted friction driver installation that it would be fairly easy to test out both designs at the same time which should be interesting.



 

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Intrepid Wheelwoman

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Oct 29, 2011
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Back again! I just had a very interesting thought. If I was to make myself another motorwheel frame similar to this one I'm building for my tricycle; - only this time I put the engine the other way around and fit up a stub axle in the bottom bracket to mount a Puch 16inch moped rear wheel (of which I have two) I could be onto something.



By pivoting what was the chain stays off the rear frame dropouts I now have what would be a nice and tidy rear mount motorwheel.
It's a bit too late in the evening for me to go rushing off out to the workshop to try it and see, but tomorrow is of course another day :D

.weld
 

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Intrepid Wheelwoman

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Oct 29, 2011
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My Raleigh bicycle has arrived, - a bit rusty about the edges but she will scrub up alright :)
The bicycle turns out to be a Raleigh 'Campus' not a 'Calypso' (need to get my eyes checked), - so it seems I'm the new owner of a schoolgirl's type bicycle.



I haven't dug about in the dirt on the 3 speed hub yet to see wot year it is, but I'll have a proper look at that later. This bicycle should make a very good test mule for testing motorwheel designs on while I'm rebuilding my Hercules project.
 

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silverbear

The Boy Who Never Grew Up
Jul 9, 2009
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A day will come when these aging 3 speeds, especially those made in England with Sturmey Archer hubs, will be much sought after. They are nice bicycles in their own right and for me they have instantly increased in value with the experimental work cannonball2 has been doing with the hubs as roller drive transmissions.
SB
 

Intrepid Wheelwoman

New Member
Oct 29, 2011
2,830
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Hauraki District, New Zealand
A day will come when these aging 3 speeds, especially those made in England with Sturmey Archer hubs, will be much sought after. They are nice bicycles in their own right and for me they have instantly increased in value with the experimental work cannonball2 has been doing with the hubs as roller drive transmissions.
SB
That's very true Silverbear. This 'new' Raleigh of mine is on the 'modern' end of what are considered to be 'old school' Raleighs so there wasn't a lot of interest in it as compared with a 1950s version of the same bike. It has a brand new tyre on the front wheel so really I virtually purchased it for the price of the new tyre and tube and got the rest of the bike thrown in free.
These are nice bikes to ride, reliable and completely unfussy to maintain. I have a modernish, but shabby faux styled mountain bike with 15 speed gears that sits at the back of the carport as a spare bike and I could never see the point of having all those gears myself. Whenever I ride it I spend more time being confused about the click shift type gearchange mechanism that I do actually enjoying the ride. My daughter likes it, but I'd much rather be riding one of my faithful old 3 speed bikes instead.
 

silverbear

The Boy Who Never Grew Up
Jul 9, 2009
8,325
670
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northeastern Minnesota
That's very true Silverbear. This 'new' Raleigh of mine is on the 'modern' end of what are considered to be 'old school' Raleighs so there wasn't a lot of interest in it as compared with a 1950s version of the same bike. It has a brand new tyre on the front wheel so really I virtually purchased it for the price of the new tyre and tube and got the rest of the bike thrown in free.
These are nice bikes to ride, reliable and completely unfussy to maintain. I have a modernish, but shabby faux styled mountain bike with 15 speed gears that sits at the back of the carport as a spare bike and I could never see the point of having all those gears myself. Whenever I ride it I spend more time being confused about the click shift type gearchange mechanism that I do actually enjoying the ride. My daughter likes it, but I'd much rather be riding one of my faithful old 3 speed bikes instead.
I have the same reaction to multi speed bikes beyond five speeds or so. Three is more like it. A mountain bike I'm currently working on has 18 speeds and that's dinosaur stuff with what's out there now. I suppose it is a matter of getting used to, but maybe it has more to do with marketing the idea of more is better instead of enough is just right.

As for a motor driven geared transmission I think three speeds is just right and two would do. Something for low speed and something for high. On a bicycle the difference between slow and fast is not so very great in terms of mph, not for me anyway.

I wonder why it never occurred to me to lace up a fat tire wheel with an old 3 speed hub. If ever you needed help it was with a heavy old cruiser. I will never again pass by a 3 speed S.A. hub without saving it.
SB