Zen and the art of

[bigdano711]

MOTORCYCLE MAINTENANCE, of course.


You may have noticed that I am a bit of a hippy. In fact, that was the first nickname, besides "pansy", that I can remember having. I was the youngest of three boys and cried for my mommy a lot, so I earned the "pansy". The never cut long hair at age 4 ~ 5 got me the "hippy". The year would be 1974 ~ 1975.


Anyhoo, it occurs to me that ZATAOMM is required reading for hippies. Of course I read it, and now that I am wrenching on a motorcycle again, by myself (no Master to teach me), things are starting to click in the recesses of my hippocampus where the residuals of that book live.



Any other hippies grock what I am laying down?

[Fast_Freddy]

Good book. I read it in the mid-70's and enjoyed it very much. When I was little my favorite toy was a plastic locomotive with a wind-up motor, gears, wheels, etc. that could be disassembled. I loved disassembling and reassembling that little toy. This continued when I got my 1971 Mini Enduro 60 in '75 and thru to today. Motorcycle maintenance has long been a big part of my personal zen.

[bigdano711]

YES!!! As frustrating as it is, in the end when it's all buttoned up and back together and you take it for it's first test drive/ride, the pure satisfaction of wrenching and doing it right and NOT depending on a mechanic....the rage you had just 10 minutes earlier when you busted your knuckles and the cuss words you didn't even know you knew coming out of your mouth...calling that feeling "a sense of accomplishment" just doesn't quite do it.

[Mudflap]

In the 1970s I was a motorcycle mechanic working in San Francisco. That was just a couple years after I spent a year in Japan as an exchange student where I visited several Zen monistaries. I read Pirsigs book thinking beforehand it had something to do with Zen. They say that when studying Zen, any book will do.

[TominMO]

In the 1970s I was a motorcycle mechanic working in San Francisco. That was just a couple years after I spent a year in Japan as an exchange student where I visited several Zen monistaries. I read Pirsigs book thinking beforehand it had something to do with Zen. They say that when studying Zen, any book will do.
Who woulda thought that great wisdom could come from a guy named Mudflap? You just never know..... :tup:

[GypsyR]

Family keeps giving me copies over the years. I was up to four at one point. I still reread my original dog-eared early 1980's version sometimes. Each time I feel I creep a little closer to really understanding the core metaphysics concept the book is about.

I particularly liked how he divided people into classic and romantic in the way they see things. It's helped me a lot in the repair business when I figure which type I am talking to I can better explain the process. In ways that don't make their eyes glaze over. Too much. I figured I landed in the middle of the divide years ago, which can be tricky. I've learned more to the classis way of thought over the years because that's where the money is. The "starving" part of starving artist is real and sucks.

Anyway, anyone who says they've read it always gets a notch up in respect from me.

[bigdano711]

There is a very serious component to "anger management" that is referred to, but for Pirsig I guess it was "frustration management". I can not remember if he wrote about it, but thinking of that long ass ride from the perspective of a 10 year old as a passenger behind a grown man on the back of a motorcycle...not just uncomfortable but boooooring. I'm sure I remember a break down or two and camping in the rain. Kind of unfair to put a kid thru it. They both end up getting a little testy and for me it is always hard to be angry when you are surrounded by so much beauty.


I promise to get some footage of what awaits me every time I open my front door. Somedays I believe I deserve it, other days I KNOW that I don't.

[Magician16]

I don't remember reading the book, but I knew what book you were referring to immediately, except in my mind the last word was Mechanics. Must have read it in my Hunter S. Thompson days.