AMF Hercules and Jr Roadmaster

[vwnthusiast]

This has been an awesome week. I'm super excited for these Craigslist finds especially the Hercules. Picked up the Jr for 35 (monday) and Herc for 30 (tonight).


Here's the Jr Roadmaster. Had this for trade but didn't seem like anyone was interested in it so looks like its getting a rebuild. Standard setup not much too look at.. all rubber tires, rusted.

and here's what im actually really geeked most about. The Hercules.

As you pull this beat up cover.. it unveils this super nice saddle in my opinion

Speedometer and What looks like a 3spd hub shift. The hubshift I didnt noticed until I was taking pictures of the bike haha.

The light needs a lil TLC of course

Blurry pic of the mini generator that powers the light up front

Keep any eye out for the double whammy build thread of these two

 

[Dr. Tankenstein]

I think the designers at Felt may have owned one of those Roadmaster Jr. bikes as a kid. :roll: :mrgreen:

When you finish the Herc, you could make an El Guapo Jr.
http://www.feltbicycles.com/USA/2010-Product-Catalog/CRUISER/ONE-SPEED/EL-GUAPO.aspx

Cheers,
Dr. T

 

[vwnthusiast]

that el guapo is looking stellar, i'm not a fan of apes personally but im sure i can conjure up something soon

 

[vwnthusiast]

ok my bro told me to look under the crank casing for a serial number.. and i wasnt really worried about the year of the bike.. but i started to get curious and such on the bike

found a stamped number on the rear of the seat tube with 222770.. and then i read you look on the rear hub.. i scratched off some of the nasty grease and dirt and i think i saw a 64 on there?... could use some more info on this situation


another thing.. there's TONS of stuff about england.. front badge says Hercules and Birmingham England on it plus a small sticker with a crest that says guaranteed english lightweight?
my hub also mentions stuff about england... so were these bikes produces in england?

 

[Wildcat]

There should be a digit or two for the month near the year, like 10 64. Those hubs have good chrome on them, I would let some liquid wrench or something soak in and then it will clean up fairly easily. Looking at the bike, it looks like it could easily be a 64. The paint is good on those bikes also, it will shine like new with a cleaning and waxing, just use mild soap and be careful of the decals, they may be damaged by scrubbing too much. That's an uncommon color, usually they are black, green, blue, or red.

 

[vwnthusiast]

sweet thanks man :beer:

 

[topoworld]

Cool Hercules!

The two clearest clues that I see about its age are the "AMF" sticker on the seat tube, which places it 1969 or older, as that is when Raleigh stopped making the Hercules and AMF started.
The other clue is the pincher type brakes.
The older Raleigh Hercules used mechanical linkage pull brakes that pressed the pads upward against the inner rim, rather than pinching the sides of the rim.

Great find, and a fun project!