1948 Hercules Popular Light Tourist
This Hercules Popular Light Tourist is another first-class restoration job by Patrick. As in all his work, there’s wonderful attention to detail.
The paintwork is lovely, with coach lines to accentuate it. Coach lines are one of Pat’s ‘signatures.’
The untrained eye does not necessarily notice coach lines, but even when not observed they provide added depth and subtlety.
The brightwork comprises either polished parts that were originally on the bike, or new-old-stock chrome items. For example, the handlebars are not Taiwanese repros; they say those essential words ‘Made in England.’ British chrome has a much better reputation for longevity.
Below, you can see the polished Hercules ‘H’ crank, with original Hercules pedals.
Pat even managed to locate an original Hercules saddle.
The Sturmey Archer 3-speed trigger controls a Hercules ‘B Type 4′ rear hub
And, most important of all, it rides like a dream.
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Here’s the Hercules when I bought it. It was among a batch of eight unrestored cycles I purchased to send over to Pat earlier this year. In fact, when I visited him recently, Pat had not quite completed its restoration as the German Hercules he was also restoring for me had had paint problems and he ran out of time. So I’ll be adding the final transfers and chain-case (as seen below) to finish it off.
If you compare the pictures of it unrestored and restored, you can see how much time and money has been spent on it.
They may talk about ‘mad dogs and englishmen’ but only a mad French fellow would put this much effort into a bicycle that most people would consider just a mundane workhorse. That’s true dedication to our vintage hobby, and that’s what makes this particular example so unique.
