5 comments about Somewhere Fast.

1. Bob Beltz tells a story that probably sounds a lot like his life, and definitely sounds like my life. I'm three years older than him, not a former Presbyterian minister, and I'm not into motorcycles. But the rest of it is so written to me! There is talk in the book about the "man's journey," which I've never really been into either. There was something weird about thinking of my life as going through the same twists and turns of all men. Well, OK - I get it now.
   
   Beltz's character, John Calvin's life is a mess in his mid-forties. He does what many men have done, a long road-trip on a Harley, to try to get some perspective on it. He's got a list of people his friends have recommended, who might be able to help him in that project. He's messed up his marriage, his relationship with his kids, his career and his relationship with God. John is also a former Presbyterian minister, so that last one is really important. He roars from town to town and learns a lot. But it's in the events following a completely disorienting experience that bring him down so low he can decide exactly how to crawl back up.
   
   I think I'm not alone, among middle-aged men, in being in a crisis stage myself. This book took me into the crisis in a way that nothing has been able to do before. His observations are true. It's definitely a Christian book, but there's nothing preachy about it. Real people talk about real things, including God.
   
   "Somewhere Fast," is now officially one of my favorite books of all time. I'll be loaning it out a lot and giving it as birthday presents. Maybe someday all of us Holy Fools will get together and throw a party for Beltz. He deserves it. This is a great book.



2. Bob Beltz tells a compelling and unpredictable story that seems to capture the yearning so many of us feel but wouldn't know how to articulate. His characters ring true and his prose is visceral and insightful. I'm no motorcycle fan, but I believe this story works for everyone who has realized that life truly is a journey - with quite a few unexpected bumps along the way.



3. Bob, a wonderful read that provides an insight into the male psyche - and a wonderful spiritual journey all on the seat of a Hog! I want a sequel.



4. The protaganist in this novel has screwed up his life by having an utter meltdown while pastoring a church, eventually divorces his wife, has several affairs, then comes to a point where he hops on his Harley for a road trip to try to make sense of it all, and somehow in the process come to an epiphany about his life. I suspect that this "novel" is a distillation of a Bob Beltz seminar, nevertheless, I was engaged by and identified with much of the main character and plot. I agree to a large part with the psychological/theological premise, that is, the masculine striving to "ascend", the "crisis", and then the "descent" (which reminded me for some reason of Bill Hybel's Descending Into Greatness). It is flawed, however, for it's simplistic and contrived nature, which could be forgiven perhaps as literary devices except for the seriousness and complexity of its topic. There is for instance a rather one-dimensional take on the central theme. Although an elongated "crisis" stage is hinted at, the crisis described by any of the male characters in the book is of a brief and cataclysmic nature. It would have been interesting to have some insight into a more complex and, as I said, elongated and less cataclysmic "crisis", which in my opinion is perhaps more common. Another strange, and perhaps petty issue I have, is that all the characters from whom the protaganist seeks advice - are unmarried. Accidental? Or is Mr. Beltz trying to say something subliminally? I could not tell. The book is well worth reading however, and probably inspiring for many.



5. I finished "Somewhere Fast" yesterday, In fact, I started "Somewhere Fast" yesterday, just couldn't put it down, Wow, what a ride. From the first chapter to the last, I was on that ride. For me, the two toughest parts of the read were focusing on the next line through tears, and finding my place again after laughing out loud. I had a wonderful day yesterday and really appreciated our time together. Thanks Bob.

No comments about Hogs On 66: Best Feed and Hangouts for Roadtrips on Route 66.

4 comments about Well Made in America: Lessons from Harley-Davidson on Being the Best.

1. This book is OK (the last section is the best, in my opinion), but suffers from two problems: it seems to jump around alot and it is also pretty much a fluff piece.

   The book starts out trying to describe the management changes that occured at HD, then spends many pages discussing the various finance issues that came up when the management bought HD from it's parent company, then goes into sales issues then back to management issues. So, is this supposed to be a historical record or a management book? It does not devote enough time to either topic to do either subject justice.

   Also, this book is in my opinion a fluff piece. All of H-D's strengths are glorified while their weaknesses are rationalized away by saying that "everyone does it" (ex, H-D's earlier management was bad, but so was every other US company's).

   The last section on how to implement these changes into your company is good. If the rest of the book was written in this format it would have been much better.




2. This is an excellent story told in easy to read fashion. It details the comeback company of the 1990's if you ask me; Harley Davidson is. I've read it 2 times and working on the third time now. I'm not a business major since the book is business classified. I just Love Harley Davidson and read all I can about this wonder.



3. This is an excellant example of a company that was near bankruptcy and able to pull itself together, reinvent itself, and again is a world class company. Many of the things that transpired with Harley can be subsituted into our business today. The culture of Harley is so unique that many people have the Harley Logo tatooed on their bodies! This is one of the best American business success stories I have read. Many ideas that were used to regain market share would help alot of manufacturing companies today if they follow a similar path as the Harley Execs did. In my oponion, Harley is right up there with baseball and apple pie. This story translates what people can accomplish when they have common goals.



4. This book gives an excellent glimpse into a company that committed most of the mistakes typical American companies make and found themselves in the same financial straits. But rather than giving in to a me-too attitude of trying to provide an inferior product with cheap foreign labor and cost cutting at every turn, they instead did things the American way - reconnecting with their customer base and creating a unique product that customers were proud to own.

   Any company that deals with American consumers ought to have this book on the desk of every manager in the company.

1 comments about Harley-Davidson Shovelhead and Evolution Big Twins 1970 to 1999 (Haynes Service & Repair Manual).

1. Had much useful info. Jumps between models, and is sometimes confusing which bike/engine version it's talking about. Index not that great. Still a decent book.

1 comments about Harley Davidson Flh/Flt Twin Cam 88 & 103 1999-2005.

1. This book is full of the information that you would use in a business or just at home trying to maintain your bike.

2 comments about Harley-Davidson Racing, 1934-1986.

1. Allen Girdler covers it all in this book. It has a lot of technical information as well as the history and background of flattrack racing. Lots of black and white photos. This is a must have if you are a fan of Harley Davidson racing and flattrack racing in general.



2. Alan Girdler has started from the beginning and lead me through the WRs, KRs, XLRs and into the XRs in a way that makes clear sense. I wouldn't have minded knowing how many of the given models were built, but given the way Girdler describes Harley record keeping, perhaps even they don't know! Anyway, if you are a dirttrack fan, you'll like this book.

3 comments about How to Hop-Up and Customize Your Harley-Davidson Bagger.

1. This is THE book to have if you are serious about making any changes to your Harley Davidson Touring bike. Lots of ideas and referances, lots of photos to show how the job is done in details. Absolutely recommandable.



2. Good Basic Book on bagger upgrades. I've done a few of the customiztions and plan on doing more. A good buy to get ideas of where and how to customize your ride.



3. I bought this for my husband expecting a more detailed book. Instead, it covers the very basics, and as to the hopping up, anyone who is familiar with their bike already knows all the tricks.
   
   Would be good for someone just learning the "tricks" on Harleys.

2 comments about Harley-Davidson Twin Cam 88 Models '99 to '03 (Haynes Manuals).

1. My husband loves this book, it has helped him with better understand the workings of his Harley. The item was exactly as described, shipped promptly and was exactly as described



2. It's simle too general, not contains detailed info like an official service manual. Lot of not usefull topics are covered, like service manual for Dumb.
   Generally I am not happy what I get.

1 comments about Growing Up Harley-Davidson: Memoirs of a Motorcycle Dynasty.

1. This book proves that dreams due come true. The book Growing Up Harley Davidson is about the life of a family whos dream came true one day. It also shows that dreams come true even if the odds of doing so aren't so great. The book proves that if two minds are working together that anything is possible. However, this book showed along with this is a lot of time and money. This book first caught my eye because it envolved a family environment. It talked about in great detail about each generation of the family receiving it and the changes they made to make it better. The most interesting part of this book was at the ending chapters. It discussed the selling and of the buyback of the Harley Davidson Company. This was interesting to me because during that time of the selling the qualtiy of the motorcycles were going dowm along with the families dreams. I would recomend this book to anyone who is interested in learning more about Harley Davidson Motorcycles.

3 comments about Illustrated Directory of Harley-Davidson Motorcycles (Illustrated Directory).

1. This book is great. A handy little reference that you can take with you as a quick reference to check on origianl appearance and overall specs. It also tells about how H-D bikes evloved year by rear and model by model.



2. I live in California, and there are racing bikes and Harley Motorcycles all over the place. It's nice to have some kind of reference for Motorcycles. I bought three copies, but this edition is the best in that it is portable and is very comprehensive. It includes relevant statistical information such as speed, engine size, and year; plus there is a written portion on the history of each bike. Many important Harley's, such as the XR 750 are covered. The Salamander/Motorbooks/Illustrated Directory series is very good and I highly recommend the whole series.



3. I found the Illustrated Directory of Harley-Davidson Motorcycles a very informative and enjoyable read, but field guide or reference book it is not- less a reference book/ field guide and more of a non-fiction novel about Harley Davidson.
   
   It required you to read it chronologically and is not very handy as an identification guide (there is no more than one picture per model listed). You have to read several pages before the page you are reading to really get what the author is talking about.