Product Description
This memoir purports to be about the building of a beautiful vintage motorcycle from a cardboard box full of parts. But it is really about countless other and less tangible things: the passage of midlife, the joys and heartbreaks of fatherhood, the changing seasons, the beauty and sorrow of everyday life. As the author faces expectant fatherhood, he impulsively embarks on the quixotic project of rebuilding a 1941 Indian Chief motorcycle. The twists and turns of the … More >>
#1 by Mike Cussen (cussenm@pacfor.com) on July 2, 2010 - 6:35 pm
The author’s midlife crisis is solved by rebuilding a motorcycle and having a new baby. Starting over at 50. Some of the writing is a little simplistic, but the images are pretty clear. He does a good job of developing the several sides of Chaz, his mentor and nemesis. I found it strange that in the pictures there wasn’t one of Chaz. Did they finally go their separate ways? I also got the feeling that the author was leading two lives, that of a wannabe English professor who attended the college parties and that of a biker. The biker life was only to rebuild the Indian and I admire him very much for that. I think he enjoyed the biker life better. He also did a good job praising the knowledge of the older Indian restorers, Ken and Magoo. This is a good book and an easy read. Makes me want to go out and restore an old Triumph like I had 30 years ago.
Rating: 4 / 5
#2 by stephen morison on July 2, 2010 - 8:07 pm
Haefele’s book is beautiful and eminently readable. It came in the mail at 9:30 in the morning and twelve hours later I closed it, having read it cover-to-cover. I can’t remember the last time I did that. It seems to be about not just a motorcycle rebuild, although it most certainly is about that, but about America and Americans. Haefele, a man running from consumerism and the artificiality of the modern world, finds himself in a community of stragglers all orbiting about the pursuit of the art of the motorcycle. It is a touching and insightful tale, mostly because of Haefele’s artistry and honesty. I highly recommend it.
Rating: 5 / 5
#3 by Anonymous on July 2, 2010 - 9:07 pm
Is he a frustrated English Major out to write a book no matterwhat? That’s one explanation. Or perhaps been assigned a writingproject to augment counseling to deal with his end-to-end relationaltroubles with his son-from-first-failed-marriage as well as his ownfather-now-married-again-to-someone-not-the-author’s-Mom? That wouldbe another explanation. Or is he the tree surgeon overspending on anexpensive hobby he can’t really afford? Yes, yes, and yes. Thosewould be some author-centric comments, to which must be joined someexplanation of the motorcycle subject (the old Indian) and thedramatic sideshow issues (the types of people whom he encounters alongthe way to rebuilding the old motorcycle, and how commenting on themreveals the author’s own story).
Here’s what strikes me: Just whenyou think Fred has careened down the path of absorbing somelowest-common denominator biker behavior, he mentions having a Latt’ewith someone. Or having a dinner party at his house for poets andwriters. Then, from the other end, when he gets into a critique ofhis first failed marriage to a comparatively more-uptight academicwoman, he swings up into the trees with references to his preferencefor hanging out with marginal law-breakers who drink, cuss, and felltrees for a living. So in the interstices of all of that, he cleverlycatches readers who may be located anywhere within this spectrum ofmotorcycle enthusiasts.
For it is the motorcycle person who reallyloves this book. Anyone who has ever taken apart a lawnmover or amini bike will instinctively identify with the drama of getting theold Indian together and running, along the way meeting the types ofartisans so admired by Robert Pirsig, the author of Zen and the Art ofMotorcycle Maintenance.
Fred actually contracts-out a lot of thefabrication and procure ment of the rebuilding work, and this gets himinto the narration of the personality types involved in the process.It’s a little like East of Eden as we see the human frailties ondisplay, from low-down ripoff artists, to wannabe aritsans who may bebetter than Fred, but not as good as iconic perfectionists whom Fredalso meets, or hears about.
I can’t adequately capture his grasp ofpeople, because his language skills far outstrip mine. I especiallylike the use of the word “brio” to describe the way one guykick-starts his bike. What he does accomplish very well is anarration of how he fits into his own future, compared to how otherpeople are doing, and how he reconciles himself with his past, andartifacts from it (like his two kids from his first marriage). Theway he succeeds with the Indian then becomes incidental to the way hesucceeds, or finds some hope of succeeding, in reconciling his pastand building his future. So it’s a better ending than thelater-edition of “Zen,” in which Pirsig has to inform usthat his own son was stabbed to death in San Francisco–cutting shortthe father-son theme that Fred also covers. I hope Fred and Kyle getmore time together.
It’s Kierkegaardian, because it’s so intenselyintrospective. But it’s not, because Fred avoids the preachiness andperfectionism with which Kierkegaard tortures himself and his readers.Where is Fred headed beyond himself? We’re not sure. Is he moreprepared for the road ahead as a result of his Inidan project? Itseems so.
Favorite scene: Fred deciding to finish mowing the lawnwith a busted mower that has just spit out half of the inner bladehousing, as the mover gyrates wildly and the neighbors look on. Proofof the non-perfectionist streak that could have wrecked this book, ifFred had just given us a non-stop lecture about how perfect hisrestoration of the Indian had gone.
I flew through this book in aday. Then gave it to a friend. He read 60 pages on his way to theairport and sitting on the runway on the way out of town, calling mefrom the plane to discuss it. But then he also has a bike.
Error:Fred describes the same rider in two places as wearing first,motocross pants; and second, riding breeches. But don’t let this stopyou from getting the book…
Rating: 5 / 5
#4 by Mike Hinchey on July 2, 2010 - 10:10 pm
This is a short book, but the author manages to cram lots of information and exposition into a small package. This is really a journal of a middle-aged man’s attempt to restore a classic motorcycle, and the friendships and hardships the restoration engenders. Being a motorcycle enthusiast and owner of at least 25 bikes over the last 30 years, I liked the technical details and the wheeling and dealing involved in restoring an old machine in Montana. As an avid reader, I liked the flow and the atmosphere the author generated.
Rating: 4 / 5
#5 by Ralph Beer on July 3, 2010 - 1:03 am
Rebuilding the Indian is a joy to read. A smart, funny, and informative adventure that revolves around starting a new family at fifty and (as if that wasn’t enough) rebuilding a classic Indian motorcycle from, well, a “basket case” — that is, a couple of boxes of gunked up parts that could belong to just about anything except a Honda. I love this book.
Rating: 5 / 5