stephennielson.com

Thats right! A typewriter! Amazing, huh? So here’s the story. As many of you know I do a lot of 4-wheeling. One of the trips that I take is called the Relic Run. This is a multi-day expedition done only with vehicles aged 1979 or older and camping gear that is in the spirit of the 1970′s or older. Last year, 2009, was the inaugural run of this event. We circumnavigated the Great Salt Lake and had a blast. This year we are heading to the High Unita’s.

So what does the typewriter have to do with this? We’ll I’ve been tasked with trying to stir up some media interest. One of the ideas that I had was to contact these various outlets with an authentic, type written letter in conjunction with our more modern techniques. Strange, perhaps, but also make us seem like a fun group.

So I asked my mom if I could borrow her old electric typewriter. What we have here is a Smith-Corona Coronet Automatic 12.

This is original ’70′s. My mom got it for her high school graduation in 1971 and took it with her to college and business school. It is mint, not a scratch or dent on it. Perfect working order. The only thing I had to replace is the ribbon. Even the carrying case is perfect. And it needs a carrying case, because it weighs a solid ton!

I haven’t typed too much on it yet, but all I can say is that it is satisfying. The weight that you have to use to push down the keys. The reverberation you feel as the arm strikes the paper. And of course, that sound. The wonderful typewriter sound. It makes typing on my Apple Slim Keyboard just feel, well, fake.

Part of me wishes that I could use a typewriter all the time to write. But it’s just not practical in todays world. It will be fun to use for this project, and probably future Relic Run‘s. As with so many things, I just have a problem with nostalgia. A typewriter is just so simple and reflects a simpler time.

Amazingly my wife, Tomi, is not a car person. This is quite strange due to the fact my obsession with cars is practically a sickness. She doesn’t like to drive, takes public transit to work and walks whenever she can. Earlier this month I thought, “I wonder if she would like a bike?” So I set about looking for a bike to get her to and from work, the store, park ect.
Staying with my mantra of not getting new vehicles, I started looking at older cruiser bikes. I felt like a cruiser bike would work well for her because every where she is commuting to is pretty flat from our house. So the cruisers comfy seat and wide handle bars would be nice. In my research I decided to find a cruiser from the late 60′s or early 70′s because these seemed a little lighter than the older ones.
I ended up buying a late 60′s Columbia Sports III from a floppy hat, skinny jeans wearing hipster. I was drawn to this bike because of its size, weight and the fact that it had a three speed hub, which I really liked. The hipster had claimed he had gone through the whole bike and it was in great running order. Like most things hipsters say, it was an overstatement. But the price was right and I knew, like most things I buy, I’d have to go through and fix and replace parts.

Classic style.

Strumy-Archer three three speed hub.

Hand grip shifter.

After riding the bike I decided right away that the hub would need to be rebuilt. But, like so many things, rebuilding the old hub quickly surpassed the cost of a new one. Since the bike is meant to be a daily commuter and not a show piece I decided to replace the 40+ year old hub with a brand new Shimano Nexus three speed hub built into a new aluminum wheel. I also decided to get a hub with a coaster break and get rid of the rear hand break.

Nexus Hub.

Nexus Shifter.

Next up, the original handle bars were quite pitted and somewhat narrow for a comfortable cruiser. So I replaced the 22″ wide bar with a new 27″ wide set. Also, the hard plastic grips were replaced with some nice squishy ones. To complement the handle bars a bottle cage was mounted so Tomi can enjoy her morning coffee on the way to work. Finally I added a nice wicker basket with a Lotus disconnect so she can haul stuff.

The old rawhide seat was replaced with a comfy gel seat.

The original fenders were nice, but tweaked just enough that they didn’t look right. Additionally, with the replacement of all the white accents with black, chrome fenders seemed to make more sense. And finally, I added head and tail lights.

So thats it. Pretty nice transformation. The only original parts are the frame and fork, main crank and pedals. Tomi is super excited and I’m looking forward to hearing how it rides for her.

I didn’t watch the Oscar’s. In fact, I never watch the Oscar’s because I don’t really care about watching a bunch of overgrown children playing dress-up and congratulating each other on how great they are. Additionally, they never pick good movies or actors to win. Basically, the academy sucks. George C. Scott had it right when he stayed home to watch hockey rather than accept his Oscar for Best Actor in Patton.
That being said, I was pleased to see that the worst movie of the 21st century, Avatar, lost to The Hurt Locker. Even though The Hurt Locker really struck me as just a modern day version of classic BBC series Danger UXB.

I don’t really like people who constantly have to show picture of their pets, but this was hilarious:

One of my cat’s decided to jump in a five-gallon bucket and curl up.

I felt I needed to add an update to the site. The past week or so I’ve gone from not doing much to being super busy. I’ve been pulling a lot of parts from junkyards for the 510 (and to sell). Also, a few friends with businesses have had me helping with a couple projects which. All of which has kept me for posting. So I apologize.

For now though, enjoy some vintage WRC: