Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance - Chapters 4-9
Chapter 4 The group of riders wakes up from the motel around 6:30 AM, outside temperature is in the forties. They ride for a bit to Ellendale and stop at a diner for some food. John and Sylvia seem tired or upset but pass it off as being cold. The narrator goes for a quick walk while John, Sylvia and Chris wait for things to warm up. John does a funny bit about being Superman in his long underwear but calls himself Chickenman. Not a lot to reflect on here, just the difficulties of traveling in a group. Also in this chapter the narrator provides the reader a list of things he doesn't go on a motorcycle trip without.
Chapter 5 The group gets back on the road and I'm pretty sure they are headed through North Dakota towards the Missouri river. The other side of the Missouri river is an indian reservation. Motorcycle maintenance is briefly brought up again as the narrator recounts trying to help John with his handlebars by offering beer can shim stock to tighten them. Given the materials on hand this seems like the best solution available at the time but John opts not to fix them. Throughout the chapter the narrator seems to focus on his son Chris a lot and is getting slightly frustrated by how needy he is being. He is cold, he needs goggles, he wants to camp. Later in the chapter Chris storms off after dropping food and expressing he doesn't like the camping they are doing. The narrator reveals that Chris has been diagnosed with a mental illness but the matter is left at that.
Chapter 6 The narrator discussed the dichotomy of romantic vs classic thought in this chapter. Phaedrus was the one who inspired the narrator to think in this sort of dichotomy where you can lump things into two categories continually. He gave the example of systems that keep motorcycles going and how you may slice the system differently than the manufacturer does. This can lead to parts which are hard to find because they may actually be a part of a bigger system.
Chapter 7 The group is moving west on highway 12. The narrator just gave a brief the history of Phaedrus and casually mentioned that he was Phaedrus. He alluded to being in a mental health care facility and leaving Phaedrus there.
Chapter 8 I made the mistake of reading this chapter before bed and am writing this summary a couple days later and drawing blanks. I seem to recall some build up to the scientific method talked about in the next chapter.
Chapter 9 The narrator spoke about the scientific method in this chapter and how it could pertain to a motorcycle horn. He was quite focused on this topic and was almost hit by a semi near the end of the chapter. The group is leaving Yellowstone and heading to Iowa at this point.