Rebuilding the Indian: A Memoir Tapa dura - 1998

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An absolutely charming and original book that will take its place alongside Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance as not only a classic work on bikes, but also as a touchstone for those looking for meaning in life.

Maybe he's losing his mind. Maybe he's having a midlife crisis. Or maybe he's simply fulfilling a lifelong dream despite its near impossibility. Fred Haefele -- a writer who can't get his novel published, an arborist who has sporadic work that's murder on his aging muscles, and an expectant father for the first time in more than twenty years -- impulsively tackles the restoration of a 1941 Indian Chief motorcycle.

This daunting project starts with a massive leap of faith -- the purchase of a "basket case" -- a $5,000 heap of indeterminate old Indian parts in a cardboard box. From this grab bag, Haefele will slowly but surely resurrect one of the most beautiful machines ever built. With limited mechanical skills, a budget that relies heavily on a Visa Gold card, and a cast of local experts, Haefele takes us around every curve on his rocky road to restoration: the thrill of finding an original spare part; the joy of completing a repair that was previously beyond his ability; the nagging doubt that he's insane and the bike will never be finished; the suspicion that, once it looks finished, it won't run; and finally, the sheer headlong, heart-thrilling rush of riding the gleaming midnight-blue "Millennium Flyer".

Fred Haefele writes with poetic ease about making something -- in this case, both a gorgeous motorcycle and a beautiful baby girl -- and how the most versatile tool in his kit, for both jobs, was the fervent wish to do it right.