Hercules still going strong
Don’t get between Brian Miller and his childhood bicycle
Eight-year-old Brian Miller came a cropper flying down Cambridge’s steepest hill on his brand new Hercules bike about 70 years ago. The young speedster lost control and slid down the hill face first with gravel embedding in his hands and knees.
But it made for a great spectacle for his fellow Cub Scout mates who were watching from the bottom of the old State Highway 1 hill.
“You should have seen the sparks,” they said.
Brian was showing off his birthday present — a shiny black Hercules bicycle.
It wasn’t his first crash by any means. He once crashed a bike into a car at speed when he was 6 and has the scars to prove it.
“Bikes have been an important part of my life,” he says.
Brian, now 78, from Aongatete, decided to preserve the Hercules’ history and have it completely restored. The bike is 70 years old and Brian still has its perfectly preserved 50-year guarantee.
“I could see that the rust on it was superficial. I just had a lot of stories and history with the bike, so I decided to have it restored.”
The Hercules had been propped up at his parents’ herringbone dairy shed for about 40 years, then for several decades more in Brian’s cowshed.
As a boy, he rode the bike everywhere, to school, movies, dances, rugby, Karapiro dam, for errands and last-minute dashes into town to post mail before closing time.
He saved up for lights and a dynamo at 13.
He went on to master the art of “slow bike riding” with girlfriends.
The bike was retired from use when Brian left home and bought a 50cc scooter as a student, followed by a 150cc bike on which he toured most of New Zealand.
Tauranga cycle shop My Ride took on the challenge of restoring the old Hercules. A spokesperson said it was a pleasure to do the job, considering the bike’s sentimental value.
“It was certainly a challenge, with parts sourced from as far away as Australia and the United Kingdom, painting and chroming were done locally and as much as possible of the original bike was retained.”
Brian has not taken out the Hercules for a spin just yet — it might be more of an “inside bike”. He is an avid biker and has had adventures in Rarotonga and Paris as well as completing the Hauraki Rail Trail, Northland coast-to-coast cycle trail and his biggest ride, the two-day Timber Trail as a 75th birthday present.
“I know that going electric will extend my riding life quite a bit, I hope. But right now I am still enjoying my pedal bike.”
I just had a lot of stories and history with the bike, so I decided to have it restored.
Brian Miller