need help identifing vintage bike

carbons2k · Jul 8, 2010

The girl that does my tattoos wants me to restore her bike. it was given to her from a friend and she wants to restore it so she can ride it on the boardwalk or something. Id like to get more info about it but I cant seem to find a name or tag on it. It looks to be an old AMC or even a Harley. The crank has me thrown me off tho. Any help would be great!

rms37 · Jul 8, 2010

The H in the sprocket is for D. P. Harris, the company that sold Rollfast bicycles as their primary in-house brand. The frame is an H.P. Snyder frame as evidenced by the forming of the crank hanger. Harris did not actually produce bicycle frames but had an agreement with the Snyder company to market the bicycles Snyder produced. The pattern of the darts on this frame is not typical of a Rollfast so the bike probably was originally branded under another name. It is an interesting frame as it is the first I have seen with such a clipped head tube. Most of the bike looks generally original but the fenders look to be replacement units.

icyuod2 · Jul 8, 2010

just guessing but i believe thats a hercules.

one on here somewhere (baby blue with cream tires)

should give ya enough to work with.
http://herculesmuseum.wordpress.com/194 ... ents-bike/
i'm thinking late 30's early 40's (theres a bunch of page links on the right)

carbons2k · Jul 8, 2010

Would it be something worth restoring you think?

icyuod2 · Jul 8, 2010

did ya check out the link?

somebody likes em enough to start the
Hercules Cycle & Motor Co Museum
A Hercules Bicycle – ‘The Finest Bicycle Built Today’

Wildcat · Jul 8, 2010

Hercules was a lightweight built bike. They had cottered cranks.

SSG · Jul 9, 2010

Its definitely an American made bike and not an English Hercules. It looks to have a ND Blackout front hub, which if correct would make a it wartime bike. As to the question "Is it worth restoring", that's a tough one. If it has sentimental value than sure its worth restoring. If its being restored it to sell in the future, then I'd say probably not since its likely worth less than the cost of a good restoration. It does look like its almost all there, and in decent shape. There is always the option of a budget refresh job.