Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance is a book we’ve featured before on Silodrome, it’s one of those must-read paperbacks that tends to quickly find a permanent place on the bookshelf of anyone who’s read it.
The book was written by author and motorcycle enthusiast Robert M. Pirsig, a highly educated man with degrees in chemistry, philosophy, and journalism. At age 9 Robert had his IQ tested and scored an astonishing 170, he would skip multiple grades in school, graduating at the age of 14.
Robert and his son did a two-up motorcycle journey from Minneapolis to San Francisco and this book, his first, is a semi-autobiographical look at the journey and a series of philosophical subjects far beyond it.
When Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance was first released it was compared to the writings of Dostoevsky, Broch, Proust, and Bergson, and many proclaimed it to be an instant classic. Looking back now 40 years later it’s clear they were right.
Robert passed away last year at the age of 88, he had a fascinating and oftentimes difficult life, but his impact on the world though his books and associated works will carry on unabated. If you haven’t yet read Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance you owe it to yourself to get a copy and add it to the bookshelf – once you’ve read it cover to cover of course.
Ben Branch has had his work featured on CNN, Popular Mechanics, the official Smithsonian Magazine, Road & Track Magazine, the official Pinterest blog, the official eBay Motors blog, BuzzFeed, and many more.
Silodrome was founded by Ben back in 2010, in the years since the site has grown to become a world leader in the alternative and vintage motoring sector, with millions of readers around the world and hundreds of thousands of followers on social media.
Ettore Bugatti was one of the early motoring world’s greatest characters, almost as famous for his gruff and oftentimes hilarious customer service as he was for his engineering genius. On dealing with a customer who was complaining about the lackluster braking performance on his new car Ettore yelled “I make my cars to go, not…
The US Army Survival Manual has been standard issue to soldiers for decades – saving countless lives over the years and becoming a de facto reference for not only military personnel, but also for outdoorsmen, survivalists, hikers, and overland adventurers. The internal layout of the book is designed to be simple and easy to navigate,…
This jet engine table was built from a decommissioned Tornado Fighter-Bomber RB199 power unit by the talented team at Custom Workshop – Marek and Grzegorz. The Turbo-Union RB199 Jet Engine The Turbo-Union RB199 engine is a three-shaft turbofan engine (with afterburner) capable of 16,186 ft lbs of thrust. It has a thrust reverser, single-crystal turbine…
Wolf & Wander Co. is a new clothing company dedicated to showcasing the work of up and coming artists and designers from developing countries. It’s often almost impossible for them to break through to the wider global market, and company founder Leo Davie hopes to permanently change that. Wolf & Wander Co. If that name…
This beautifully detailed Ayrton Senna sculpture is a life-size piece by celebrated artist Paul Oz, it’s comprised of 160 kilograms of raw bronze, and it carries the not-insignificant price tag of £199,000 (approximately $256,000 USD). In 1993 Senna said “If you take away Eau Rouge, you take away the reason why I do this”, for…
Introduction This is almost certainly the most detailed project we’ve ever featured on Silodrome. It includes a functioning pulse-jet powered scooter, accompanied by synthetic historic images, multiple handmade period-correct toys and kits, hand-painted posters, magazine ads, and an insignia chart – all made bespoke by Randy Regier to create the illusion that a jet-powered scooter, officially…
