More Zen.

I'm about a third of the way into 'Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance' and I'm enjoying it.
I had some misconceptions about it.
1) I thought it may be a bit 'Jonathan Livingston Seagull' - another cult classic from the 70's - it isn't, phew.
2) I assumed Robert Pirsig would be a hippy looking type - he's not (or wasn't) see photo.
3) I thought he'd be riding some huge Harley type bike - in fact it's a quite small 1964 Honda SuperHawk 350cc.
4) I hadn't realised that the book was based on an actual trip that Robert made with his son, Chris and friends, John and Sylvia Sutherland in 1968.

More excellent photos from the trip here.

It's interesting both as an introduction to philosophy and as a retro Americana travelogue.
Also worth noting that according to the Guinness Book of Records Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance is the bestselling novel rejected by the greatest number of potential publishers (121).