Charissa's Free Spirit

This is an early 1970s AMC Free Spirit that I restored for a friend, Charissa . It was originally a burnt orange color with a hint of metallic flake in the paint- it was a sharp color combo. This bike has a simple 1 piece bottom bracket typical of bikes of this era, the bearings were in good shape but the grease had long since been compromised. It had come from an estate sale, and at one point in the past I think it had been through a minor flood. Most of the "bones" of the bike were in good shape, but the rims were completely rotted out in about a 30 degree arc on both rims that I suspect was from sitting in water. Unfortunately I do not have a lot of "before" pics for this project. This was one of the first bikes I restored and I was not thinking that I would need pics later so not many were taken.

This was a pretty simple and fun restoration. I took it completely down to the frame, cleaned and polished all the components that were being kept (pretty much everything but the rims and spokes in this case). The hubs were cleaned in an ultrasonic cleaner and bearings were re-greased and laced into new chrome steel rims. These older single speed coaster brake hubs are bomb-proof and super simple to rebuild so it did not take long. The frame and fenders were sandblasted and powder-coated. I could not find the specific AMC color code for it, - but "Chevy engine orange" actually matched quite well. That is what I ended up going with in the end. I wanted to find something with a metallic flake, but I like the color and it keeps the fun and light personality of the bike.

And here it is finished - this was an easy fun project. If you are looking for a bike I highly encourage you to look at something older like this. these bikes have a lot of personality and it really doesn't take much to bring them back to life and enjoy them.