Product Description

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #805589 in Books
• Published on: 2005-09-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 234 pages

From Publishers Weekly
An Indian, Haefele explains at the outset, is a make of motorcycle not built since 1953 but highly esteemed by American bikers in the 1930s and '40s. A Montana tree surgeon and an ex-teacher of creative writing, Haefele (City of Trees) set out to reconstruct an Indian, and that task gives the principal thrust to this memoir. The rehabilitation project involved searching for abandoned machines, negotiating for old parts, purchasing replacement parts when originals were not available and keeping an eye out for "basketcases"?a motorcycle built from a hodgepodge of makes?from which valuable parts may be salvaged. Also included are accounts of the birth of his third child (the first of his second marriage), the vagaries of Montana weather and portraits of other bikers. But all else takes a backseat to the machine, and such a focus limits the book's appeal to readers equally committed to or fascinated by the construction of a what he calls a technological "work of art."
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews
An entertaining if somewhat flawed look at how a middle-aged hobbyist finds new meaning in life through rebuilding a classic motorcycle. Haefele is a frustrated novelist and academic who works, albeit happily, as a tree surgeon. Deciding after visiting an annual motorcycle rally to invest in a vintage American-made Indian Chief motorcycle, he finds himself friends with bikers and other assorted characters whom he would normally avoid. In the end, he finds that he has much in common with these folks, even as he has managed to sell his first novel and, by books end, is back on the academic trail chasing down university jobs. Because of the setting (Montana) and motif (motorcycles), Haefele's book is doomed to comparisons with Robert Pirsig's Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. These similarities notwithstanding, Haefele is able to guard himself well from any influence anxiety, though in one particular scene where he uses beer can slivers as a maintenance tool, the similarity is a little too close. Haefele's style is more relaxed and he isnt, for the most part, prone to the didacticism that mires down Pirsig's work. Unfortunately, the bottom begins to fall out when, for instance, the ``naming ceremony'' for his newborn daughter, Phoebe, is juxtaposed against the episode in which he names his motorcycle the ``Millennium Flyer.'' By the end, Haefele has dubbed his biker friend and tree-surgeon assistant Chaz the ``mythical trickster'' who has kept him going on his quest to rebuild his bike, and even more clumsily, he draws open comparisons between the clothes bought for his daughter and the parts bought to help build his cycle when most readers would catch the similarity on their own. These slips are not enough to ruin Rebuilding the Indian, though, which leaves one curious to see his forthcoming novel. -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Review


"You don''t have to love motorcycles, midlife crisis stories, or even redemption to love the good writing by Missoula''s favorite arborist in this gently humorous memoir reissued, like an orchid, after its first flower in 1998."—Montana Magazine

(Montana Magazine )



“Haefele was a writer who couldn’t get his book published, an arborist whose livelihood just might kill him, and an expectant father for the first time in 20 years when he tackled the restoration of a 1947 Indian Chief motorcycle. The book chronicles the restoration of the bike—and the resurrection of a dream.”—Missoulian

(Missoulian )



“Haefele describes how his search for vintage parts eventually involved an entire community of fanatical mechanics, impoverished motorcycle collectors, and renegade bikers—a collaboration, he realizes, that gave him skills as much social and spiritual as practical."—New Yorker

(New Yorker )

“This remembrance of turning a box of junk into a gleaming Indian Chief has a universal roar. Just the right mix of gearhead details and personal reflections.”—USA Today

(USA Today )

"What Haefele writes about wonderfully, in his mellow, understated way, is how the Indian project became a test of his love and resolve."—Esquire

(Esquire )

Customer Reviews

Best Present I ever gave my husband
Ladies - if you're husband is an "Indian Motorcycle Lover" this is a great present for him! I gave this to my husband last Christmas and it was by far one of the best presents he ever received in our 23 years of marriage. He couldn't put it down. A must have for anyone who has an Indian Motorcycle and especially who rebuilt it. Hope this helped - blessings to all! Anyone reading this - do you have another Indian suggestion for me - I'd love to give him another great book for this Christmas!

Wish I had found it sooner.
I found "Rebuilding the Indian" on the clearance shelf of a bookstore in Napa, California; for just $9.99. Being a motorcyclist, I figured I'd pick it up. If it turned out to be an awful book, well, only ten dollars wasted.

But what a pleasure it turned out to be. Not just a book about restoring an Indian, it's more about the Author's journey through life, his failed first marriage, his blissful second marriage, and the birth of his third child. Putting the bike back together seems to be a metaphor for his life, as he attempts to resurrect his writing and teaching careers. The restoration itself is an exercise in frustration and hilarity, and an experience I can entirely relate to; doing whatever it takes to get the bike running at the very end, when you need that last nut or bolt, it's midnight, and nearest bike shop is closed. It's no Hemingway novel, to be sure, but it's easy to read, entertaining, and touching to the soul.

If you're into motorcycles at all, or have ever contemplated buying a basketcase of your own, this is a must read. Highly recommended.

Thumbs up for Rebuilding the Indian
'Rebuilding the Indian' is not a step by step "how to" book on motorcycle restoration. It is the personal journey of a man finally beginning his dream. He had to do it with limited finances but with the support of a great family. Having taken similar journeys I found it a great read. It was fun to learn the same characters can be found in Montana collecting and saving rare motorcycles and parts as in the more densly populated areas of the country.
The author was not only a motorcycle enthusiast but writer that was able to become published.