THIS TOOSHALLPASS
As a 72 year-old ‘classic’ motorcyclist who delights in the grass roots nuts and bolts of rider maintenance epitomised by RealClassic, I thought it appropriate to record the death on 24th April of Robert M Pirsig, the author of ‘Zen And The Art Of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values’. His book I am sure has inspired many such as myself, both for his descriptive values of motorcycles in their ‘romantic’ form and perhaps more importantly for their underlying ‘classical’ core components. His ‘classical’ approach advocated rider maintenance rather than the lazy ‘romantic’ abdication of owner servicing to the five-star spannering of main agents.
Thus, I would claim there are romantics for whom the powder-coated gloss of their bikes is far more important than the gutsy reciprocating values of an internal combustion engine. These romantics can surely be epitomised by those who trailer their precious machinery to venues looking for best in show rosettes.
I am sure that while acknowledging romantic showroom models Mr Pirsig would have positively favoured the well-used oilyrag variety of bike. For example I would prefer the patinated rusty ‘worst in show’ rather than cosmetic gems which metaphorically owe much to a ladies’ make-up counter.
Pirsig of course puts it better than I ever could. ‘We are at the classic-romantic barrier now, where on one side we see a cycle as it appears immediately – and this is an important way of seeing it – and where on the other side we begin to see it as a mechanic does in terms of underlying form – and this is an important way of seeing things too. These tools for example – this wrench – has a certain romantic beauty to it, but its purpose is always purely classical. It’s designed to change the underlying form of the machine.’
For me RealClassic embodies all the values Pirsig espoused, such as the joy of solving mechanical problems through self-discovery. Indeed he conjoined much of his theories of motorcycle maintenance with problems that we face as human beings. Moreover, I continue to regard my motorcycling as a journey of lifelong mechanical learning, and am thankful that my unrestored classical machines are still serviceable in an age of romanticised computer maintenance. RL Smith, member 8090 To each his own: Pirsig’s self-indulgent journalism and irrational punctuation defeated me long before I could become enraged with his casual disregard for the values of others. And folks wonder where the navel-gazing trends of today’s social media started? I could hazard a guess.