Zen and The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

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 CB77 Pirsig Photograph  -  The Origin


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Early this millennium, I received an email from a fellow motorcycle enthusiast. The email concerned the origin of the Pirsig SuperHawk photograph (see below). We carried on a brief exchange about this and I think it might be of interest to some. I am certainly fascinated with the way things tend to work on the Internet. In any event, here is what my penpal said:

"I believe the photograph you have of Robert Pirsig and Chris found its way to you from my long-gone ftp site (which existed before the web.) I do appreciate your disclaimer regarding the assertion that it was taken during the trip that Robert wrote of. Let's leave it as an unknown until Pirsig climbs out of his net-reticence and speaks to the issue. :)  (I have another photo of him working on that bike, taken around 1974. I'll put it aside the next time I come across it.)"

CB77: Pirsig with son Chris

"The picture was sent to me as a GIF file around 1991 by a chap in Sweden who found it in (I think) a German publication. I then put it on my FTP server, which was taken offline later in order to comply with some state regulations of the time. (I am an employee of the State of Minnesota.) We do not know who the photographer was. Those who went to the site for the photograph were largely persons on Usenet and a number of Harley and Euro-Bike enthusiasts I communicated with at the time."

"...BTW - I owned a 305 Dream in 1965 - a precursor to my next bad decision to buy a Harley. Further, Robert Pirsig was my neighbor in Hyde Park Chicago, but I never ran into him. The pictures I have of him working on his original 305 were taken by David Brill, a National Geographic photographer and bike rider. I'll get David's permission to send you the picture if I can find him."

Well, there it is. I can add only little at this point and note that the romance never dies. The future might bring us another rare Pirsig photograph. Stay tuned...

 

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