1950 Hercules
 

I'm restoring a 1950 Hercules for an acquaintance who is sentimentally attached to the bike and also wants something basic to ride around the neighborhood. His dad bought the bike new in lieu of a car, which he thought was all that a young minister in the Seventh Day Adventist church could afford. He would make his rounds on this one-speeder and was also known to ride around for pleasure with his new bride perched on the handlebars. Slight bends in the top tube and the downtube where attached to the head tube suggest that things didn't always go so well. He was soon shamed into buying something with four wheels that didn't endanger his wife. Yet, the 1964 bicycle license sticker suggests that he continued using the bike even after he had turned respectable (sold out?).

The bike was eventually banished to the garage where it shamefully gathered dirt and rust. It was quite the mess when I got hold of it but the restoration is going well. I'll post some before and after pictures once I get further along and once I qualify to attach photographs (is it after 10 posts?)

The paint is far gone and the decals almost unreadable. I'll paint the frame (sage) and fenders (ivory white) and would also like to add decals that are similar to the originals. The bike has decals on the seat tube and the rear fender, in addition to an alloy headbadge that simply reads "H". The coolest thing about the bike, in my mind, are the cutouts in the chainring that read "HERCULES" (arranged in a circle).

I'd like your advice on finding decals that are similar to the originals, especially the decal of Hercules promising that this is the finest bike built to day and guaranteed for 50 years. The Hercules Cycle & Motor Company were sure certainly confident promoters of their product.

The following describes the three decals on the bike:

Decal with figure of Hercules and his shield (located on front of seat tube):

HERCULES

THE FINEST BIKE BUILT TO DAY

GUARANTEED FOR 50 YEARS

MADE IN ENGLAND BY

THE HERCULES CYCLE

& MOTOR COMPANY LTD

BIRMINGHAM - ENGLAND

Decal (in script), indicating the model name (located on front of seat tube, vertically):

Sports Model

Round decal on the rear fender:

THE HERCULES CYCLE & MOTOR CO. LTD

BIRTANNIA WKs BIRMINGHAM

I've checked out the outfits on Ebay based in Thailand who produce decals for vintage bikes but what they have for the Hercules brand isn't similar. I especially want that 50 year guarantee bit included in the decal.

Can you suggest other places I could search to find decals for this bike? In return for your help, I'll donate to someone on this forum the Perry coaster brake hub (it's the 2 star model) that originally came with the bike. I think it is functional but I didn't want to risk endangering my acquaintance's life so I replaced it with a new Shimano coaster brake hub. It doesn't have any rust. The date stamp is January, 1950.

I checked VeloCals and they have some Hercules decals.

https://velocals.com/hercules-hawthorne-decals/

https://velocals.com/hercules-amf-do...decals-1-pair/

This one from Thailand looks good.

https://www.ebay.com/i/323304619557?...SABEgJC0fD_BwE

This looks like one of the styles that you described above, colorful and nice vintage looking graphics, maybe 1950's. I'm no expert though

https://www.ebay.com/c/1631929654

This one from England on Ebay in the UK has an older style to it, with nice color.

https://www.ebay.com/i/253346592487?...yABEgLJ7PD_BwE

Thanks for the suggestions -- I'll pick the decal with most items in common. None include the 50 year guarantee but I guess the warranty did expire in the year 2000 so I have no grounds to make a claim about the bend in the top tube. They would have probably rejected the claim anyway since it was probably not designed to have your wife riding on the handlebars.

From what I've read, Hercules was the largest bike company in the world by the late 1930s and as the home country market became saturated they looked to the United States for new customers. The Sports model that I'm working on was a base level offering -- single speed with a coaster brake. Nothing about the bike suggests quality. Nevertheless, the company must have been proud of their heritage because nearly every part on the bike is stamped Made in England.

It's fun looking at the slogans used over the years. There's an early poster for Humber that proclaimed, 'Not Cheap but Good'. Later they they became the Aristocrat of Bikes. Rudge were Britain's Best Bicycle. Dunelt , Ride Awheel on Sheffield steel.
Hyperbole became the go-to favourite in the marketing toolbox. Sekine, The World's Finest Bicycle? Yeah right.

Moving on from the surface to the guts of the bike: I buggered one of the crank cotters when removing the cranks and so ordered a generic replacement from Universal Cycles. The replacement is the correct diameter but the bevel is different. Would you simply get the grinder going and start removing material until the angle looks about right and the cotter roughly mates with the axle flat or does this need to be more exact?

Sheldon Brown on cotter pins

please take detailed photos of any decals not readily available
and trace the image using this guide. This allows for the decals to be reproduced.