Hercules Moped

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The Hercules Motorcycle existed for an astonishing 92 years, being made from 1904 right up until 1996 when the last one rolled off the German production line.

Probably best known for their 2000W Wankel-engined machine of the 1970s, the Hercules company were never scared of original thought, their avant-garde sports bike using a Fichtel and Sachs rotary engine which was the inspiration behind Norton’s twin-rotor rotary of the early ‘80s. Not all of their bikes were quite so strange however, the company relying heavily on profits from run-of-the-mill machines such as this Hercules 49cc moped to keep their odd-ball ideas flowing.

Their baby commuter was an entirely conventional, well made moped with a Sachs two-stroke engine. A rare sight on British roads, nothing is known about the history of this machine although it appears to be largely complete and is thought to date from around 1975. Transfers on the bike say 'Fiorucci' but as we could find no record of such a model we are not entirely sure what they mean or how they got there.

Sadly devoid of number plates, the paperwork has gone AWOL too so we are unable to tell the exact year of manufacture or who has owned it in the past. The good news is that it’s a runner, the vendor informing us that it goes nicely so this well preserved machine would make the ideal first step into the world of classic biking.