Review
"Masi wrote this book for the entire spectrum of garage mechanics, ranging from people like me who do routine maintenance but leave the tricky stuff to professionals, to hard-core motorcyclists who machine their own fork legs from billet aluminum and cast their own cylinder heads.
If you do any work at all on your own bike, from changing oil to grinding the valves, How to Set Up Your Motorcycle Workshop will make the job easier, your body less damaged from doing it, and the finished bike run better. Unless you have minions to wash you bike and check the tire pressure in the tires each morning before you go out riding, you need this book." -- Motorcyclist, February 1998
"If you live next to the best motorcycle shop in the world, where the mechanics always drop everything to help, then you probably don't need this book. Everybody else should consider it . . . a must-have for any serious motorcyclist." -- Rider
"It's an easy thing to say. . . "Build yourself a shop." And a stirring thought, too. But also kinda scary. It's one of those Great Notions that often end up forever parked, like that weed-smothered junker in the neighbor's yard.
"Not to worry. C.G. ('Charlie') Masi takes you there, making the journey from shadetree wrench to mechanic a relatively painless, enjoyable one. How to Set Up Your Motorcycle Workshop is likely the most comprehensive treatment of the subject ever. Here are the why, wherefores and hows of shop-organizing. . . the 'whens' are up to you!
"It's tough to internalize the wealth of information Masi has assembled here. A founder of Motorcycle Tour & Travel magazine, he lays out with great skill - and welcome mirth - the entire universe of building a bike shop. Tool selection, electrical wiring, heating, AC and lighting, welding, safe chemical storage, and oilspills are key topics. So are some ingenious and useful gizmos and, for the total tyro, budget and strategies. The many photos and illustrations are first-class. Of special interest to the make-space-when-possible crowd are sections dealing with where to put your stuff so it's most quickly accessible.
"Profiled by Masi, 30-year riding veteran and longtime technical editor, are motorcycle shops aplenty. He describes successful versions of garages for race bikes, restoration projects and classics, pro mechanics and general-purpose areas large and small.
"There's much to like about 'How to.' Beginners ready to move 'inside' are given an intelligent plan for inspiration, and advanced mechanics and race tuners receive reminders of how to simplify their lives. The safty issues alone are invaluable, given how easy it is to forget the basics. Every reader is made to think about the costs of making or deferring any decision. But with Masi's good humor, it's all done in a sort of subversive, easy to swallow style.
"This book deserves to be in your library. Or better, hardbound for permanent storage in - where else? - your new shop!" Motorcycle Times Nov/Dec 1996 -- Motorcycle Times Nov/Dec 1996
"Rated **** . . . If you wrench on motorcycles, especially for a living, this book is worth reading." -- Motorcycle Online
"What's great about this book is that it covers everything from small spaces big enough for a single bike to professional repair and race shops. In all of these spaces, one concern remains constant: where to put things. Masi goes into the theory of how to organize such an environment and illustrates his examples with clear, easy-to-read diagrams and photographs." American Iron Magazine, May 1997 -- American Iron Magazine, May 1997
About the Author
C.G. Masi, or "Charlie" to those who have to put up with him on a daily basis, was not born in a log cabin to poor immigrant farmers. He was born in Franklin, Massachusetts to middle class professional parents--both were school teachers. He was a middling student in high school, where he claims to have majored in "cars and girls." After a brief stint as an English major at Boston University's School of Education, where he says he really majored in "drugs"--it was, after all, the late 1960s--he quit to tour the country and has been somewhat of a gypsy ever since. He and his wife, Bonnie, have set up residence at 17 locations in five states. They have two grown children, who also live on opposite sides of the country.
Along the way, Charlie picked up a Bachelor's degree in Physics, a Master of Science degree in Astrophysics and a Master's in Business Administration. He has worked as a college professor, scientist, engineer and journalist. His journalistic credentials include well over 100 articles published in scholarly, trade and consumer publications, and launches of three successful magazines: Test & Measurement Europe, Motorcycle Tour & Travel, and Cal Lab.
Charlie currently writes regularly for Research & Development magazine, manages the Technical Articles Program for Hewlett-Packard Company's Test and Measurement Operation, and continues to author numerous articles for various publications. His interests, in addition to motorcycles, include aviation, amateur astronomy, target shooting and "anything else that looks like fun."
