Author Topic: Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance author passes on...  (Read 19472 times)

Offline MIbrick

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Re: Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance author passes on...
« Reply #25 on: September 24, 2017, 09:12:20 AM »
Piffle!

A work that does that with infinitely more skill and less arcane verbosity is John Muir's How To Keep Your Volkswagen Alive and it actually helps the reader repair something. :giggles


I spent an inordinate amount of time in high school hunched over either my '73 Super Beetle or my best friend's (may he RIP) '70 Beetle with that book. Very fond memories. Wrenching on the Brick reminds me of that experience; simple systems, straightforward (for the most part) engineering decisions.


Having my hands in and on the bike, even if it's just checking bolt heads to verify they haven't come loose, is a visceral reminder of the symbiotic relationship I've entered with this bike: I'm keeping it alive and together so it can keep me alive and together. Wrenching is every bit as therapeutic as riding, just in a different way. I recall reading parts of ZatAoMM, but I'm not sure any of it stuck with me. Maybe I should re-read it. Or maybe I should just go for a ride...
  • Michigan
  • 1986 K100RS (ohne Tragkorb)

Offline stokester

  • ^ SuperNatural Motobricker
  • Posts: 802
Re: Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance author passes on...
« Reply #26 on: September 24, 2017, 02:26:24 PM »

I spent an inordinate amount of time in high school hunched over either my '73 Super Beetle or my best friend's (may he RIP) '70 Beetle with that book. Very fond memories. Wrenching on the Brick reminds me of that experience; simple systems, straightforward (for the most part) engineering decisions.


Having my hands in and on the bike, even if it's just checking bolt heads to verify they haven't come loose, is a visceral reminder of the symbiotic relationship I've entered with this bike: I'm keeping it alive and together so it can keep me alive and together. Wrenching is every bit as therapeutic as riding, just in a different way. I recall reading parts of ZatAoMM, but I'm not sure any of it stuck with me. Maybe I should re-read it. Or maybe I should just go for a ride...
Recommend a ride.  :mm


Not really trying to hijack this topic but...


The John Muir "How to Keep Your Volkswagen Alive" was my initial introduction to the air-cooled VW world after I was given a very rusted out 1969 Bus, which I traded for a great 1966 split window which served us for many years until transferred overseas.  The often humorous and detailed illustrations along with statements such as in the  "How to Buy a Volkswagen" section: "If it is a Bus, crawl around in the back and feel how it is to be back there. Look at the head lining.  How long will it last? Have happy people been back here balling and talking and laughing and living?" sold me on its practical use.


Today as a dealership Chevy "auto technician" I often think back to this book about its practical advice for the home mechanic.  With my daughters 1970 and 1974 standard Bugs at the house I still use it.


Wish there were more like it but todays vehicles with the extensive use of electronics/LANs/modules frequently require more than the average home hobby mechanic.
  • Yorktown Virginia
  • '94 K75S Dakar Yellow - '93 K75S Seiden Blau - '91 R100RT Bermuda Blue- '78 R100S Smoke Red

Offline Laitch

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Re: Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance author passes on...
« Reply #27 on: September 24, 2017, 04:46:15 PM »
Recommend a ride.  :mm
+1
Wish there were more like it but todays vehicles with the extensive use of electronics/LANs/modules frequently require more than the average home hobby mechanic.
On the other hand, today's vehicles need much less tinkering to run well, if you choose the right ones. I bought a 1995 Subaru Legacy station wagon and put 100K miles on top of the 130K that was already on it. The engine never gave problems. The electrical system never gave problems. The axles and CV joints were a different story but that was only because I was using it to tow trailers full of gravel and firewood. :giggles Those parts can still be repaired by a home mechanic, though.
  • Along the Ridley in Vermont.
  • 1995 K75 89,000 miles
I wept because I had no radials until I met a man who had no splines.
https://tinyurl.com/RillRider

Offline stokester

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Re: Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance author passes on...
« Reply #28 on: September 24, 2017, 06:22:44 PM »
+1On the other hand, today's vehicles need much less tinkering to run well, if you choose the right ones. I bought a 1995 Subaru Legacy station wagon and put 100K miles on top of the 130K that was already on it. The engine never gave problems. The electrical system never gave problems. The axles and CV joints were a different story but that was only because I was using it to tow trailers full of gravel and firewood. :giggles Those parts can still be repaired by a home mechanic, though.


No head gaskets?
  • Yorktown Virginia
  • '94 K75S Dakar Yellow - '93 K75S Seiden Blau - '91 R100RT Bermuda Blue- '78 R100S Smoke Red

Offline Laitch

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Re: Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance author passes on...
« Reply #29 on: September 24, 2017, 10:07:05 PM »
No head gaskets?
Nope. Up here, head gaskets were a well-known problem with the Outback 2.5L engines. Mine had 2.2L engine.  :yes We liked those.
  • Along the Ridley in Vermont.
  • 1995 K75 89,000 miles
I wept because I had no radials until I met a man who had no splines.
https://tinyurl.com/RillRider

Offline TriSpark

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Re: Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance author passes on...
« Reply #30 on: September 25, 2017, 07:49:31 PM »
Read it and thought it was a lot of hippy nonsense.


When he said they stopped at the roadside to adjust the chain on his BMW, I knew it was total BS. 
  • Chattanooga TN
  • Red 1987 K75s

Offline Martin

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Re: Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance author passes on...
« Reply #31 on: September 25, 2017, 08:53:05 PM »
Timing chain? :hehehe
  • North Lakes Queensland Australia
  • 1992 K75s Hybrid, Lefaux, Vespa V twin.

Offline The Mighty Gryphon

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Re: Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance author passes on...
« Reply #32 on: September 25, 2017, 09:04:36 PM »
Martin, didn't you know that BMW built an overhead cam boxer engine with pushrods back in the late 60's.  One of the few that were built was bought by a hippy writer.
  • In my garage in Marilla, NY
  • '91K100RS White/Blue
Current:
'91 K100RS16V "Moby Brick Too"

Past:
'94 K75RT "Ilsa, She Wolf of the SS"
'92 K100RS16V "Moby Brick" (RIP, deceased in a vehicular assault)
'94 K75S Special Edition Dakar Yellow "Cheetos"
'89 K100RS Special Edition "Special Ed"

Offline Martin

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Re: Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance author passes on...
« Reply #33 on: September 25, 2017, 09:43:23 PM »
I've never read the book but it looks like I'll have to find a copy and give it a go. I do however refuse to buy a copy maybe our local public library has a copy. In 1937, Ernst Hene rode a supercharged 500cc overhead cam BMW 173.88 MPH, setting a world record that stood for 14 years. Ernst Hene died at the age of 100 in 2005.
Regards Martin.
  • North Lakes Queensland Australia
  • 1992 K75s Hybrid, Lefaux, Vespa V twin.

Offline Christopherguzzi

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Re: Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance author passes on...
« Reply #34 on: September 25, 2017, 10:39:07 PM »
Read it and thought it was a lot of hippy nonsense.


When he said they stopped at the roadside to adjust the chain on his BMW, I knew it was total BS.


Speaking of which, this is one of the reasons I chose to buy and resurrect my K75C, with shaft drive instead of a chain.  Not to mention a bunch of other advanced design features like a single sided swing arm, fuel injection, water cooling, gear indicator, side stand retractor, etc.  Which makes me think it a poor decision by BMW to build so many of their models chain driven these days along with other basic/cheap features such as a traditional swing arm and forks, single disc brake up front, etc. which I think reduces them to the status of any other bargain bin bike out there.
  • Little Canada, Minnesota
  • 1986 K75C
Christopherguzzi

Offline JPaganel

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Re: Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance author passes on...
« Reply #35 on: September 27, 2017, 12:10:22 PM »
I've read ZAAMM several times, and found a new layer to the book every time.

On some levels, it's downright scary.

People who complain about not enough bike stuff being there seems to have clearly missed Author's Note, which is literally the first thing in the book:

Quote
What follows is based on actual occurrences. Although much has been changed for rhetorical purposes, it must be regarded in its essence as fact. However, it should in no way be associated with that great body of factual information relating to orthodox Zen Buddhist practice. It’s not very factual on motorcycles, either.

  • Minnesnowta
  • 1986 K100RT, 1996 R1100RS

Offline jakgieger

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Re: Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance author passes on...
« Reply #36 on: September 27, 2017, 12:51:43 PM »
 :bmwsmile   JPaganel...well stated
  • Kansas USA
  • 1989 K100rs se
"What we've got here is failure, to communicate.  Some men, you just cain't reach.  So you get what we had here last week.  Which is the way he wants it...Well, he gets it.  I don't like it any more than you men do."

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