RobbieTunes

Is this the before or the after?

"Hands up or the lawn mower is next!"

RobbieTunes

I did read that Zen book, and then I bought a VW van and picked up VW Repair for the Compeat Idiot, mainly because of the R.Crumb-type illustrations. After several hundred dollars, and still with an oil leak, I found that simply giving a shop $400 can solve many problems. I eventually sold it at a Dead concert, which I attended purely because I was told it would sell there, and I'd get cash. That turned out to be correct. I didn't ask where the cash came from, I turned over the title and beat feet.

I always fixed my own motorcycles, because they never broke down. Except the Triumph, which didn't really need a mechanic, it needed a firing squad. Luckily, a Triumph mechanic lived locally and that's all he worked on. I would imagine he'd seen the book and used it to start his potbelly stove on cold mornings. That kind of guy.

Somehow, getting custom parts onto my Harley was something it seemed the shop "had" to do. None of my Kawasaki's ever needed much besides maintenance and valve adjustments, and the service manuals were something like $8.00, written at 6th grade level, so even I could do it.

markk900

Like with bicycles, the Internet has removed a lot (not all) of the need for shops to do everything. Forums like this one go a long way to supporting those that want to do it themselves. But you are right: sometimes it's just worth it to pay someone.

One of the messages of Zen was to not fool yourself into thinking a shop knows better than you *just because* they are a shop - the *right* shop will do well, the wrong one will mess up much more thoroughly than you ever could.

clubman 

Did we read the same story? It's a philosophical travelogue in search of both a definition and appreciation for "quality" in ones life, while having little-to-nothing to do with fixing motorcycles. Definitely anti-ego.

The most illuminating mechanical story line reflects the BMW owners insistence that a home-made shim was an improper fix for his slipping handlebars and an expensive BMW branded/engineered solution would be a proper fix.

Anyone have an extra campy seatpost binder? I deserve it.

Italuminium

except the dude got shot in the afterword. That was a pretty sick twist. I liked the book better than you though. Didn't become more zen, so I guess it failed in that regard.

markk900

@Italuminium: you know that wasn't a twist but real life don't you? The original book didn't have the afterword because that event wasn't for several years.

Velognome 

I tried 3 times to get into this one and could not get past the 50 pages, I kept falling asleep; even at the beach! Go figure?

simmonsgc

I think it has mostly to do with my current job situation; I really connected to parts of it. That said, we all approach reading material through the lens of our current and past experience, I suppose...and as we say here, variety is the spice of life!

schwinnderella

I read Zen almost 50 years ago believe it or not on a 13,000 mile, 3 month ride around the us and canada on a 650 Triumph. I will confess I never really understood most of the book.

USAZorro

Cue jgedwa to come in and pwn us all. Took intro to Philosophy Freshman year in college, and finished the class understanding it less than before I started.

Saw some friends reading it in High School and asked them what the book had to do with Zen, and got uncompelling answers, so I took a pass on it. Guess I've been a bit crusty from an early age - never watched Rocky Horror Picture Show, Rocky movies, won't read Steven King novels, and although I can discern Hemingway's gift for lucid description, I can't stand reading his works.

Tigana, by Guy Gavriel Kay - now that impressed me.

gugie 

13k, 3 month ride around the US and Canada on a Triumph, you understood more than you'll ever know.

noglider 

I also didn't finish the book, but I liked the part I read. Maybe I'll finish it.

Motorcyclists and bicyclists aren't exactly the same, but we have a lot in common, and I have no hard feelings. I've never driven a motorcycle. I'm not against it. I just haven't gotten around to trying it yet.

Italuminium

Yes, I do. Can you use twist for actual events or is that word strictly reserved for plots?

TiHabanero

I recall reading the book and thinking to myself, this guy has traveled in my shoes, and we share many of the same thoughts.

bmc5733946 

I tried reading "ZEN" when I was about 21-22 and just thought the guy was an idiot, incapable of writing a comprehendible sentence. I tried again to read "ZEN" at about 55 and was convinced that my original thought was right. I am a mechanic by trade and have worked on everything from weed whips to earthmovers. There is such a thing as mechanical sympathy, some people call it common sense, some have it some don't. I just think Persig was trying too hard. I never made it past him explaining that no one knows how an electric light works, I knew then and I know now.

Brian

verktyg 

I put ZEN in the same grouping as "Trout Fishing In America".... Erica Jong's "Fear Of Flying" was more my cup of tea...

verktyg

Chas.

gugie 

It appears there are three types of people.

Those that haven't read ZATAOBM, those that read it and felt the vibe, and those that read it and didn't like it/get it.

Velognome 

Well, then I'm happy with both of me!

rhm

The Fan Man, now, oh man, that reminds me. That book really did resonate. I first read it at 18, as you describe. I was waiting for a plane at the Tel Aviv airport in 1979 (for some reason, back then, flights from TLV to the US left before public transport started running in the morning; so young Americans on a student budget traditionally camped out at the airport overnight. A lot of reading materials were exchanged). Anyway, I borrowed it, read it, gave it back to its owner, and forgot all about it. Strangely, I was given a copy for my birthday ten years later, and found, much to my astonishment, that it had permanently affected my speech patterns and my writing. It was, and remains, the only stream-of-consciousness writing I've ever read that actually worked. Of course it was a gimmick: thoughts flash through the mind so much faster than one can read them, let alone write them, that true stream-of-consciousness writing is impossible unless the consciousness in question is only just barely conscious. I laughed my as s off. Still do, when I reread it... But alas I lent out my copy ten years ago and haven't got it back yet.

Darth Lefty 

Remember that the narrator of this book is unreliable and hypocritical, he can't mesh himself with his suppressed alter ego and it leads to a crisis.